C-41 films like XP-2 Plus are good for your situation, but the best prints must be made on a real B&W paper by a printer who knows the idiosyncrasies of the films. Having your color lab print on what they have on hand is probably not the best way.(posted 8445 days ago)If you need to maximize image resolution, I recommend T-MAX 100 or Delta 100. APX 25 is no longer produced, and it requires more careful attention in exposing and processing. Ilford Pan F Plus has grain about comparable to or more visible than TMX, and offers slightly less resolution. TMX is not too forgiving but because it's at least widely used, so many decent lab worker should know how to do it right.
On the "sharpest" argument. Chromogenic films use dye, and because dye particles spread and overlap, they result in lower granularity (not grain - there is no grain in processed C-41 films to begin with) at the cost of lower resolution because of this exact reason. Even Ektar 25 offered comparable resolution to T-MAX 100. Konica Impresa 50 doesn't offer anything like TMX in terms of resolution. These things are apparent on their specs, and consistent with my experience. In my understanding, Ilford does not publish their nominal resolving power on their film spec sheets. Regardless of any marketing hype that Ilford may or may not have made, XP-2 Plus is not the sharpest film, at least in terms of resolving power.
Someone might want to comment on the "longest tonal scale" argument.
However, I think XP-2 Plus is a really nice film. Sharpness and grain are not the only factors that determine the image quality. But, I just don't use XP-2 Plus.