Black and White Film Types for Film Photography

Black and White Film Types for Film Photography

There are a number of black and white (b&w) films available for 35mm film cameras and medium format film cameras that can still be found in film photography stores. While there are also a number of special films that require unique processing, it would be best to work with the basic black and white film types and learn how the film works before using these special films. The two major brands of black and white films are Kodak and Ilford. Unfortunately, the best advice for any beginner using black and white film, like color film or slide film, would be to try a variety of brands and subtypes within those brands to find the right film for you.
How Black and White Film Works for Film Photography

The image on a black and white film negative is actually the inverse of the actual image. That is to say, all the areas that show white on the negative will be black on the print, and all black areas of the negative will show white. When printing onto photo paper, light is able to Black and white film print vs film negative pass through the white areas of the negative, resulting in more light hitting the paper, and leading to a dark spot. Of course, black areas of the negative are the opposite, resulting in less light hitting the paper to produce a light spot.

Simple black and white films are made of three layers. First, there is a light-sensitive emulsion layer that captures the image that will result in the film negative after processing. The emulsion contains grains of silver salt that are able to absorb light and react with a developing chemical to break down into pure silver and remove it to reveal an image on the negative. Second is a layer of plastic to support the emulsion. Third is an anti-halation layer that is used to capture light and refrain it from bouncing back to the emulsion. This final layer eliminates blurry images or foggy film.

The amount of silver salt and grain in black and white film decides whether the film is more or less sensitive to light. Fine grain film will require more light to produce an image and large grains will require less light to produce an image. The amount of grains on the film help determine the ISO film speed of the black and white film. Fine grain leads to slow film and large grain leads to fast film. To learn more, please see the ISO film speed page.