B & W 35 mm film recommendations for street photography

<p>Hi:</p>

<p>I have an upcoming trip to Quebec City as well as Montreal, together lasting one week. I own a Canon EOS Elan 7NE film camera that I used to shoot mostly color slides until I went digital a few years ago. I am planning to shoot some 'street photography' style pictures (I use the term loosely) with the Elan 7NE. By this I mean 'decisive moment' photography in black and white film, with a 50mm f/1.8 prime lens, with a hope to have some contrasty images including people, abstracts etc, at varying times of day and lighting conditions including overcast. Does anyone have a link to, or suggestions for 35mm roll film for this kind of photography/ aesthetic, with reasons behind why you would use one emulsion over the other?<br>

FYI, I am not interested in recommendations for alternate cameras, or 'better cameras for street photography' etc., since I cannot change my camera</p>

<p>Thank you, and your help is much appreciated in advance.</p>

<p>Sanjeev</p>

<p>Either ISO-400 or ISO-100 film, depending on what you think the lighting will be. 400 will give you a higher exposure when you are in the shadows of the buildings, thus giving you more flexibility from bright sun to deep shadows. But with a fast lens, you could probably get away with 100 speed film. </p>

<p>My own 100 speed film is Ilford Delta 100. No specific reason other than I just started up using that film when I got back into B&W, and I just chose to stick to it as my standard. </p>

<p>Go classic. Tri-x.</p>

Definetly Tri-X!

<p>Consider also Ilford HP5 - my own choice.</p>

<p>Definitely HP5! :D</p>

<p>Tri-x has bene many people's standard for this type of shooting for over 50 years. The choices today are wider, depending on if you want chromogenic (such as XP-2) films or traditional films.</p>

<p>Interesting... Nobody likes T-Max?</p>

<p>Hello Sanjeev,<br>

Alongside the issue of ISO100 and 400 I think you need to choose a film upon deciding how it is to be processed. Those who shoot a lot of black and whites and have been processing at home swear by Tri-X. If you are have it processed as a one off at a lab I don't think the choice is wider. If processing is an issue don't rule out XP2 or the CN400 type chomogenic films. Processed in C41 chemical, with a little bit of care in Photoshop, they can look wonderfully contrasty, but not to everybody's taste. </p>

<p>Tri-X. It's more forgiving of exposure and processing errors than T-Max.</p>

<p>I would go with TriX, HP5, APX400 or Neopan 400.</p>

<p>Starvy Goodfellows makes a very important point. If you don't do your own processing, who will, and how will the negs be printed?</p>

<p>Anything that is ISO 400 is ideal.</p>

Ilford HP5 is superb. That said, I've been running a lot of Ilford XP2 lately rated at 200.

<p>Hello, there are quite strict laws regarding photographing people in the province of Quebec that you should be aware of. Please refer to this article:<br>

<a href="/street-documentary-photography-forum/009s0V">http://www.photo.net/street-documentary-photography-forum/009s0V</a></p>

<p> </p>

<p>@ everyone: Thanks for your time and suggestions.<br>

@ Bruno: Thanks for the heads-up. I became aware of these laws as part of my 'research' into street photography in Quebec- in fact i read that link you have mentioned several days ago. I have no commercial interest in these images, as I am not a professional. However, I will try to limit obvious usage.</p>

<p>I like Tri-x</p>

Also, keep in mind that if you take a photo in Quebec and post it to a web site, you must write the caption in French.

<p>Tri-X or HP5. Same smell. My gosh, are a lot of people agreeing on something here? I will mark my calendar :)</p>

<p>I would recommend Tri-x emphatically due to the very good price of Arista Premium you can still get for a little longer at freestylephoto.biz (repackaged Tri-x).</p>

Andy, I hope that was just a joke...because it isn't true.

XP2 if you need to scan, HP5 if you work old school, Delta 100 if you work old school and have enough light.

<p>Foma 200</p>