Black & White Films (A little commentary on Film Types) Black & White films can be divided into several categories.  Each has its own unique characteristics. Conventional B&W Films - Standard Black & White films before the introduction of Tabular films in 1988.  Characterized by thicker emulsions, larger grain, excellent tonal graduation and superior highlight detail. Tabular B&W Films - New thinner emulsion films that have more surface area but less depth.  Characterized by Super Fine Grain  & Higher Sharpness than conventional films but less tonal graduation and highlight detail than conventional films. Document B&W Films - Extremely high contrast films developed for document reproduction.  Also used for a variety of other subjects including landscapes.  Characterized by the Finest Grain and Sharpness available in a film, but limited tonal range. Orthochromatic B&W Films - An old B&W emulsion.  Great for people shots.  Superior tonal graduations.  In landscapes though, skies are rendered washed out. Chromogenic B&W Films - The new C-41 emulsion Black & White films.  They use dyes instead of silver particles.  Almost no control in the development process and not archival.  Enough said. Infrared B&W Films - Emulsions that are sensitive to the extended wave length of infrared.  The infrared scale is rendered tonally different than other black & white films.  A unique film for special applications or different creative perspectives. Transparency B&W Films - No film can compete with the rich tonal scale or luminance of a projected black & white transparency (slide). Conventional Films: Agfapan 25, 100, 400 - Good Tonal Graduation and Very Fine Grain.   A great all around film. Ilford Pan F+ - Longer tonal scale than Agfapan but not as fine grained.  Wide range of control. Ilford FP4+ - A Super all purpose film.  Exhibits great characteristics and does everything a B&W film should.  Highly Recommended. Ilford HP5+ & Kodak TriX - Very nice 400 Speed films.  Our picks for when higher speeds are necessary. Tabular Films: Kodak TMax -  A super fine grain film with limited tonal response.  More sensitive to processing errors.  A good film, but not always the best choice. Ilford Delta - Not quite as fine grained as Tmax, but with better Tonal graduations.  A good compromise between conventional films and Super Fine Grained Tabular films. Document Films: Kodak Technical Pan - Finest grain and Sharpness of any B&W film.  Tonal scale is limited.  Increased red sensitivity in this film creates an ever changing film speed dependent on the amount of red light that is present.  This makes it a difficult film to work with outdoors.   Infrared Films: Kodak Infrared - A true infrared film.  Must be loaded and unloaded in total darkness.  Greatest infrared sensitivity of all Infrared films.  Has large grain characteristics. Ilford SFX200 - A black & white film with some with infrared sensitivity. Konica Infrared - The finest grain in this type of film.  Also a black & white film with sensitivity to infrared. Note:  It is best to try each of these films for yourself.  They each have their own characteristic footprint that needs to be learned in order to locate its best subject applications in your style of photography.  A Dark red or Black (infrared) filter is recommended for use with these films.  Rangefinder cameras such as the Leica lend themselves well to this type of photography since viewing is not through the dark or opaque filter necessary when using this type of film. Transparency Films: Agfa Scala 200 - What can I say.  No print can match the extended tonal range and luminance of a projected transparency.  Everyone needs to try this film and see it for yourself.  I always have a camera body dedicated to Scala that I shoot alongside my favorite Black & White films.  It's not a replacement for print film, it has it's own unique category.  If you like huge 20x24 inch prints, just imagine a huge projected 5x7 Foot image of your favorite black & white scene with no grain apparent.  This is what I call Impact! Kodak Tmax 100 - Kodak makes a reversal process development kit for this film emulsion.  Yes, you can process your Tmax into a Black & White transparency film making Tmax a very versatile film indeed. The Bottom Line.  If you are using Ilford Delta or Kodak Tmax like most people, you owe it to yourself to try Conventional films as well as other film types before you decide that Tmax or Delta is the only film you'll ever need.  Most people automatically gravitate to the finest grained sharpest film possible, but this comes at the expense of tonal graduation.  Sometimes a good compromise can be best, or maybe you'll find that tonal graduation and highlight detail are more important than small improvements in sharpness and grain.  If you have a Leica, you already have superb sharpness, so why not be able to print all of the tonal ranges that are available in your subject matter?  Don't go solely by the manufacturers advertising, see for yourself and find what you have been missing.