Martin – that’s very similar to the Hasselblad kit I had for a few years, although I usually ended up using large format, as it turned out that the amount of effort to use the equipment to get the desired result was similar. What type of photography do you want to do with it, and what do you visualise as the kind of black and white image that you would like to create? If it is landscape, using a tripod, that will point in a different direction than hand-held, more dynamic photography, and a different choice of filters. I also think that using colour film, which might subsequently be converted to monochrome, is a viable approach – but I would use slide film, not C41 – the reason being that slide film, despite a more limited tonal range, will give better tonal definition – the richness of black and grey – which I’ve always found to be more diffuse and less satisfactory with C41. I’ve never had good results with XP2 either. YMMV.
If you’re able to develop B&W film at home, the choice of developer is also integral to the choice of film. With the slower films (ISO 50 – 100), I have consistently found that the staining developers give the tonal definition, range and edge effect that help to produce the final print I had in mind when taking the photograph. PMK Pyro was a developer I used for many years, and now that this has become difficult to source, I’ve found Moersch Tanol to be a more than decent substitute. These developers doesn’t work so well with faster film, and you may get better results with a more conventional developer – Ilford Perceptol has often worked for me with faster films, for example.
For landscape / studio on a tripod, I’d try films like Ilford Delta 100, FP4, and Pan F, with a developer like Tanol. Fuji Acros is also worth trying. I’ve tried many other films, and like the look of many of them – but try getting an Adox film onto a developing spool!
For other work, I’ve never got HP5 or Delta 400 to work well for me, so tend to push Delta 100 to ISO250, and then develop accordingly in something like Perceptol. This image was actually taken on a Hasselblad 501CM with a Distagon 50mm lense, using Delta 400 (at ISO 250), and developed in Tanol – although I like the composition, I can’t print this greater than 8x8 inches, because the grain is excessive, and I wish I had taken a different camera and film with me on that trip;