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Nation Photo B/W 400

 

​Over the last year there have been several 400 speed B/W films propping up (including my Skyline 400). One of these has been Nation Photo's B/W film which has surfaced in a small part of their saturated photographic store. I was interested by the low price (only 2.50 euros!) and having been in Paris anyway for a trip I decided to pick up a roll...

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The roll itself was simple with a paper label and minimal packaging. One thing to mention is Nation Photo has given you a DX code (automatic users you're saved) by shortening the label to only take up half the canister. The film felt quite thick however curled quite a bit, this is relevant later. With high hopes I loaded it into my trusty Leica R4 and started shooting. After all 36 exp I developed in Rodinal 1+25 for 5 mins. Here are the results:

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After looking at the finished results there are a few things I would like to talk about. The first point is the relatively grainy look, although it isn't anywhere near Skyline levels, some shooters may not like the look so much. Personally I'm a big fan of grain so this didn't bother me. Secondly the film did not handle extremely well when there were 2 opposites of light in 1 photo, like a statue against the sky. Admittedly most B/W films struggle with this but its more something to watch out for. 

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Aside from that, the film performed very well, staying fairly sharp and consistent throughout. Overall I am quite a big fan of the results and think that this is ideal for budget film photography and situations when that £11 roll of hp5 is just too expensive for the situation.

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I may be stocking some Nation photo 400 in the store soon so look out for that.

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