The classic reference for black and white photography (indeed, any photography) is Ansel Adams' "The Negative", which I strongly recommend. Also look at collections of photographs by Adams, Edward Weston, Cartier-Bresson, etc. ; with "The Negative" as your reference, you will understand more clearly how these images were created, both technically and aesthetically.(posted 8850 days ago)In terms of films, if you are not equipped to handle your own processing, try Kodak's 400CN or Ilford's XP2, which you can get processed and printed at a colour lab, and which will deliver results that are very similar to conventional black and white films. If you want to dive into your own processing (it is easy), then Tri-X is indeed an excellent choice. It's not usually worthwhile asking a lab to process conventional b&w film.