Response to C41 or Traditional B&W developing?

Presuming that you are using 35mm or 120, the film with the finest grain, sharpest images, longest scale, and highest speed is Ilford XP- 2 Plus. It is especially good to use if you're having it developed commercially, as the machines running C-41 are designed to process color film, which is a great more precise than you are likely to get in all but the best commercial B&W labs. One you find a lab which will give you clean, scratch-free negatives, and B&W prints, you need look no farther. While the early chromogenic film, XP-1, may have had a slight problem with macro contrast, the latest stuff is as good or better than conventional films such as Plus-X, Tri-X, etc. (PS, I like to expose it at ISO 250 for better shadow detail and minimum grain).

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