The black-and-white gelatin silver process, developed in the 1870s, remains the standard photographic process used with black-and-white films and printing paper. Commercially it is now generally only provided by professional and specialized labs. However, with some basic equipment it is easy to process and print black-and-white film at home.
Black-and-white chromogenic films allow you to shoot black-and-white images that can be developed conveniently with C-41 color processing and printed on color negative paper with a very slight sepia tint. These films are incredibly sharp with very fine grain—finer than the equivalent speed black-and-white film. The film responds in the same way as traditional black-and-white film when using color filters, and the negatives can be used to make prints on black-and-white paper in a home darkroom.
