Film Recommendations

What is the best film for a tourist in a city? (that is, a film that

gives best results for cityscapes, street photographs, but also

decent results for ocasional portraits, etc)

 

I'm interested in both negatives and slides.

Fuji Reala for negatives if you're going to be outdoors.

if color - Kodak UC400 or Fuji Reala Superia 100<p>

if B&W - Kodak Portra BW 400 ( C-41 processing )<p>

<a href="http://www.antiquecameras.net">www.antiquecameras.net</a>

Eduard,

 

Well, if you beleive the Kodak hype - MAX 400 for everything and your pictures will be sharper, clearer, ... ;-)

 

Seriously, Fuji Sensia 100 is a nice all around consumer slide film for the types of situations you describe. Fuji Superia-Reala for a 100 speed outdoor print film. Indoors I prefer Fuji NPH 400, but Superia XTra 400 also does a decent job.

 

Try a few before your trip to decide what YOU like.

 

Mike

You might consider trying the Agfa Vista series of films. Inexpensive, good colors, good all round film.

If you have a walgreens in your area the film is available there as their house brand. It is available from 100-400. Not the best film in the world, but maybe the best for mixed situations (a citiscape, followed by a portrait, followed by street photography).

A great slide film for city scapes, street scenes, and people is Kodak Professional E100GX Film. It is extremely fine grain, high color saturation without being artificial, and gives very nice skin tones of all complexions. I recommend E100GX over E100G for your situation because it will be warm balanced which will be nice for outdoor shots at any time, but especially shooting in open shade, such as into shadows of buildings or under awnings, vendor booths, street market tents, etc. It will help avoid the blue shadow syndrome.

 

E100G or even the consumer Elite Chrome 100 would be good choices if E100GX is not available.

 

Also, I like having E200 in my bag, because it tames the harsh mid-day sun with slightly lower contrast and saturation than the other films mentioned. It also digs into shadows extremely well due to lower contrast. A good choice for street scenes, parades, shade covered places. Also, it can be pushed up to 3 stops if needed (EI 320 w/ push-1, 640 w/ push-2, 1000 w/ push-3).

I put my vote in for Fuji Reala.

I like to shoot Kodachrome and Fuji Provia for slides, Ilford Delta 100 in 35mm and Agfa APX 100 in 120. I also like Fuji Reala when im shooting negs.

I very much like Provia for citiscapes. Some describe this film as being "cold" which could be good for architectural shots, especially with a polarizer for a deep rich-colored sky. However, this film is not the best (though not the worst either) for portraits as it can mess up skintones. Astia is probably the best slide film for people shots, but probably has neither the contrast or saturation that you need for dramatic architectural shots. Honestly, Tri-X is great for street photography, though be warned--this film has extremely low saturation! ;)

Although I generally think of it as more of a nature-oriented film, Kodachrome may do what you're looking for--it is pretty well saturated, and yet handles skintones very well. There are some things that it doesn't do as well as more modern films, but not much that I expect you'd have to worry about as a tourist in a city. If it helps, I'm going to Philadelphia tomorrow, bringing two cameras (an SLR and a TLR), and I plan on keeping Provia in one and Tri-X in the other (though I also have some Velvia, Kodachrome, and Reala in my bag)

Provia, yummy.