The New NPH

March 2006

The new NPH film, now named 400H, from Fuji has been available for many months now. I've used it in 35mm and 120 formats and been very pleased.

Fuji claims very fine grain for this film. Well, the claim is not just for measuring with lab equipment; the claim is for seeing. I've used this film under the "NPH" moniker and come to know what to expect. I've made 11x14 prints from 35mm negatives and they look excellent. Provided that you've got a sharp image to start with (you'll need a good lens and a tripod), enlargements of 12x to 14x are not unreasonable with this film. Images at left are unprocessed samples from 4000dpi scans.

400H includes Fuji's fourth color layer for improved color. It works, and appears to give it an edge with flourescent and mixed lighting situations. Saturation is above normal, but looks "rich" rather than "pumped up." Maybe some tweaks to my scanning technique are the reason, but the 400H version appears to have a little more depth in skin tones than before. For portraits, I describe the color as "smooth" and "sweet."

Fuji also claims wide exposure latitude. NPH has always been a fairly "flat" film; not big on contrast. In fact, when I first used it years ago, I photographed landscapes and was not enchanted with the results: too flat. But, since I now scan the film to print, I can, to a large extent, adjust contrast as I want. The grain and color of the new 400H is smooth enough that the image doesn't get harsh or chunky with the contrast increases that I've employed. I scan in 16-bit mode when I know that I'll need to increase contrast more than a little; large contrast increases often don't go well with 8-bit images. A low contrast film is frequently the solution to photographing high contrast subjects without losing highlights or shadows.

My scan-to-print approach brings up another characteristic of NPH: It scans well. In 8-bit or 16-bit mode, I get clean, smooth, fine-grained scans. I recently scanned an image that had some very dark, yet important, areas. I got some noise in the original scan. I re-scanned with 16X multi-pass (each scan line is repeated sixteen times, the results are averaged and the noise effectively drops out). The negative challenged my scanner (the big Nikon), but 400H had the image and I was able to retrieve it.

Wide latitude and excellent scanning results are positive attributes in modern films. Although many photographers still print in the darkroom, printing from digital files has become more popular. For those of us still shooting film, exclusively or occasionally, a wide latitude film improves our ability to record highlights and shadows of "the view." We then need to be able to move that information from the film to the digital realm. In addressing those concerns, Fuji definitely gets it right with 400H.

I like the new formulation, and I will continue to use it regularly. The 400 speed easily gives me an extra one or two f-stops over other films that I use. This is especially valuable to me when using medium format. For a given field of view, I'm using a lens about twice the focal length that I would use in 35mm - and that means that I must stop down more for the equivalent 35mm depth of field. Does 100 speed grain in a 400 speed film make me happy? You betcha!

The other 400 speed film that I use reguarly is Kodak Portra NC. It is my first choice any time I'm using a filter that enhances or alters color. Portra NC is color-neutral: what you see in the viewfinder is what you get. I've gotten excellent results with it for landscapes and people. My choice between Fuji 400H and Portra NC depends on the situation and subject. I've never been disappointed with either.