By far my favourite of all the Delta films (which isn’t hard, there are only three) and my favourite of the mid-speed Modern Films (Delta, TMax etc.). Delta 100 is what I expect from a modern film, sharp, fine-grained, and can do anything you want it to without any major issues. Unlike the faster films, this one can work with pretty much any developer I throw it in and loves any lighting situations. And while as an indoor film it can suffer from rather harsh reciprocity failure, if done right, you don’t have to worry.
Film Specs
Type: Panchromatic B&W
Film Base: Acetate
Film Speed: ASA-100, Latitude: 50-800
Formats Available: 35mm, 120, Sheets
Roll 01 – Rodinal
While not a personal favourite developer with Delta 100, which is strange, Rodinal does a good enough job to show off the more modern look and feel of the film. And despite being a 100-speed film I did notice a bit more grain with the film than I was expecting, but nothing too serious, the grain is of course, far less noticeable if you bump up the negative size to sheet (4×5) in my case. But you still get bright, clean negatives with tones across the scale.
Technical Details:
Hasselblad 500c – Carl Zeiss Distagon 50mm 1:4 – Ilford Delta 100 @ ASA-100
Blazinal (1+25) 9:00 @ 20C
Roll 02 – Kodak HC-110
If you want to show off what Delta 100 can do, there are two developers; the first is DD-X, the second is HC-110. These both show what Delta 100 can do, blacks are black, whites are whites, and there are so many shades of grey in between they could write some terrible books about it. Not to mention you can adjust the dilution to get the level of contrast you want. Personally, I find with B it’s a little too contrasty, and E does it just right. Not to mention you maintain the same level of sharpness and fine grain you’d come to expect from the film.
Technical Details:
Rolleiflex 2.8F – Carl Zeiss Planar 80mm 1:2.8 – Ilford Delta 100 @ ASA-100
Kodak HC-110 Dil. E 7:30 @ 20C
Roll 03 – Ilford DD-X
Like my review of Delta 400, rather than use Kodak TMax developer, I went with Ilford’s DD-X. And by far this is my favourite developer to use for this film. Even with the 35mm size, you get a beautiful film with amazing contrast, tone, sharpness, and fine grain. Everything you would expect from a modern emulsion and grain structure. And to be perfectly honest, DD-X and Delta 100 are my favourite combo for DD-X as a whole.
Techincal Details:
Nikon F2 Photomic – AI-S Nikkor 50mm 1:1.4 – Ilford Delta 100 @ ASA-100
Ilford DD-X (1+4) 12:00 @ 20C
Roll 04 – Kodak D-76
As with Kodak TMax 100, you can show off exactly how well these modern films take to classic developers, while I haven’t used the stock dilution with Delta 100, the 1+1 shows off the beautiful contrast, tones, and fine grain you get with the film. And while it is a longer developing time, the extra effort is certainly worth it. And if this is the results from 35mm, I would love to see how much better it would be with medium and large format.
Technical Details:
Nikon F5 – AF DC-Nikkor 105mm 1:2D – Ilford Delta 100 @ ASA-100
Kodak D-76 (1+1) 11:00 @ 20C
Final Thoughts
Delta 100 is one of those films that you cannot do anything wrong with. No matter what you develop the film in, it gives you solid results. And if you’re looking for that solid modern look in your images in the street, in portraits, landscape, and architecture this film will deliver it to you. Like any of these modern films, however, it is hard on your fixer, and you’ll probably want to give it another minute or so from the standard time of 5 minutes, and pre-wash and hypo-clear is a must to clear off that purple anti-halation layer that does stay on your negatives.