Rollei RPX 400 - 120 Film

My usual go to film is good old reliable [****] but I just wanted a bit of a change. I had read good things about the RPX 400 and thought I’d give it a go. I’m so pleased to say that none of the reviews where wrong, this film is beautiful to use and does give great results. This is my second roll and I exposed this one for shadow detail in zone 3 and reduced the 14 min developing time down to 10.5 min in [****] at 1 to 1 dilution. I will be using this film again very soon.

Worked well in my Holga in very bright conditions on Dartmoor and in more subdued light under the trees. Need to get some more for my latest purchase a Lubitel 166B - it's addictive this film lark!!

Experimented with this film on a bright sunny day so to cut down the light I used a Yellow filter to enhance details in the stonework. The film was processed in Rollei RPDX developer for the suggested 10 min . I loved the range of tones reproduced the stonework seemed to glow. It is definitely a film I will return to

I exposed this film on a Rolleiflex T TLR with ASA at 200 and developed in Ilfotec HC at 1:31 dilution for 6 minutes. The negatives were photographed with a macro lens and imported to Lightroom for post processing. My experience is that this technique produces very flat digital files but with all the information retained to produce a fine tonal range with which to work.
All of the shots on this roll were in woodland in low light but with occasional pools of dappled sunlight.
The film coped well with the occasional high contrast shots, and gave beautiful rich shadow tones with good detail retained. Examining the sky area at magnification in the attached image revealed very fine grain.
The film dries flat.
Currently this film is slightly more expensive than HP5+ and a lot cheaper than Tri-X, so well worth exploring. This is my first roll used but I will be ordering more.

First off, RPX400 definitely does have amazing tones. The tones are very rich and yet still hold a lot of detail. This sample picture of a tree shows what I mean.
There is some grain. In this 120 format I can just about pick up some grain but it's unobtrusive and definitely not unpleasant. Sharpness is good and overall I'm quite happy with the results.
With the mood and tones the film delivers I'd say its a perfect landscape film. It's really well suited to it. Probably not my first choice for portraits, but great for most other uses.
I would say it probably needs slightly more exposure than 400, but that's common with a lot of films.
It's not going to replace my HP5 for general use any time soon, but it stands up very well. For landscapes I might even say RPX400 is better.
Overall a good film and I'm glad I gave it a shot (no pun intended).