"The look I'm after is B&W portraits where you can see every pore & blemish in all their beautiful/ugly glory."(posted 9407 days ago)Doesn't seem like you're using the right film for that. Try Ilford Pan-F with the sharpest Nikkor you can get your hands on, preferably something like the 105 f/2.5. If you must use a C-41 process film, try Ilford XP-2. Overexpose one stop to gain more contrast. But really, to get what you want, you need to do your own developing and printing.