Whats the best film you've ever shot?

<p>Whats the best film you've ever shot.</p>

<p>I loved the long tonal range, high sharpness and fine grain of Kodak Verichrome Pan, normally rated at ASA 125, but really lovely at ASA 400 when developed in Edwal FG7. But those days are gone.</p>

<p>To me, it's a toolkit, and selecting a favorite would be like selecting a hammer vs. a screwdriver as a favorite tool. As a teenager with my first real camera and no budget, I mostly used Tri-X, and liked that. Kodachrome 25 was lovely, probably what I most enjoyed using, but the furthest thing from my favorite in low light or without a tripod. I thought Fuji's NPZ 800 was amazing for its speed and color. But each of these three served a different purpose.</p>

<p>Provia 100</p>

Another vote for Provia 100.

<p>Color - Kodachrome (no longer produced), B&W - Plus-X (no longer produced)</p>

<p>Difficult question: among currently produced films I would choose Tri-X for black & white and Portra 160 for color.<br>

If out of production film is counted the list is longer: Black & white: Panatomic-X, Color print- Kodak Ektar 25 and Fuji Reala, for K14 color slide- Kodachrome 25, E6 slide Fuji RD 100, for E4 color slide- Fuji R100.</p>

<p>Pantaomic X was the best B&W I ever used, Tri-X the most useful by far. I've shot miles of it. Color film? Portra for negs, Kodachrome for slides. If I had to pick only one? Tri-X, hands down.<br>

<br />Rick H.</p>

Medium format Kodak Tmax 100 processed as a transparency by the Kodak kit, not the Dr.5 process. And medium format

Professional Kodachrome 64.

 

Both the reverse process Kodak Tmax kit and the medium format PKR are long gone.

<p>50-speed Velvia has always been my favorite for color slides. I only dabble in color negative and B+W, so no favorites there, but they're all fun to try.</p>

<p>Scala, Astia, HP5+ - toss a (three-sided) coin...</p>

<p>Kodachrome 25.</p>

<p>Although not used much, regretfully, Kodak Technical Pan film.</p>

Dont know if it is the best, but I liked it most: Fuji Reala.

<p>Panatomic-X in Diafine was my favorite for years, starting from about 7th grade.</p>

<p>About the time I could afford color, E6 Ektachrome came out, and so ER. (And with a 283 flash, so I could use it indoors.)</p>

<p>After my son was born, and I was doing more color negatives, VPS (Vericolor III), probably not so different from Portra !60. I first found out about VPS when I needed to copy some prints, and the local camera store told me about it. Otherwise, I might have worried that I needed to keep it cold all the time. I like the natural, not too bright, colors.</p>

 

A few:

Kodachrome 25 (but I didn't care so much for 64).

 

Provia 100.

 

Reala.

 

Older Tri-X, before the emulsion change toward

more sensitizing dyes.

 

T-Max 100.

 

T-Max 400 for push processing in Microphen.

<p>Tri-X in Rodinal, and Porta 160NC for portraits.</p>

<p>For news and sports, Tri-X was king. T-Max wasn't without its charms, but Tri-X, in most developers, was the best.<br>

For shooting the American West, no film gave me the tonal values I wanted the way Verichrome Pan did. <img src="http://richardbarron.net/traveller/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/Pecos-storm.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>I was always a fan of FP4+ in my closing days of black and white film use. Although I suppose I wouldn't go back, I often look back fondly on my days of obsessing over film/developer combinations and printing technique. There's something about the tactile experience of agitating reels of black and white in a tank and anxiously awaiting the results. In color, I loved Velvia and Fuji print films in general for their latitude. Strange how I love the ease of digital but miss film so much.</p>

<p>As a photographer of railway subjects, Kodachrome II, and later Kodachrome 25. Still use colour slide film however the market has declined; now it's Provia, and at that perhaps a roll every four to eight week. Reliable post-exposure film processing is the biggest problem these days. Canada has limited reliable resources; my last two rolls were processed as C-41; all the packaging states it was E-6 process however the technicians being none too bright felt they knew better. It all makes one want to stop doing photography of anything. For digital rendering would never do, itis not the same, to me and many others.</p>

<p>I have to throw in a vote for Ilford HP 5 120.</p>

<p>I'm a long-time Velvia 50 fan. However, the more I shoot Provia 100, I may have to change my mind. Provia has very good saturation, and doesn't make people look like Martians.</p>

<p>But the best shots of my favorite subject matter (landscapes, artistic color blocks) are always going to look best in Velvia.</p>

<p>I keep two bodies with me on a good outing, one loaded with Velvia and a wide and normal lens handy, and Provia with a tele and normal lens handy.</p>

<p>I really loved Kodachrome 200 Professional, given a fresh roll dead-on in color balance. A <em>pastel</em> version of Kodachrome 25.<em><br /></em></p>

 

<p>"Best film" is 35mm! Okay - just trying a bit of humor. My faves are Kodak Tri-x usually processed in Acufine! I shot a few thousand rolls for press work and it was terrific to work with! However, Agfa APX 25 & 100 processed in Rodinal totally pleases me with the tonal range and fine grain. I still shoot these from Minox to P67 and they still rock after decades!</p>

For me, hands down it was Verichrome Pan. Still is actually since I have about 50 rolls in the freezer. Every time, I pull a

just-processed roll out of the tank and the film looks luminescent. Such a wide range of lovely tones, I'm never

disappointed. It was a sad day when it was discontinued!