Which films to try?

[eugene_perepletchikov]

Hi

 

 

I have mainly been doing night photography with my RB67.

 

So far i have tried both the Portra films, and have been quiet happy with them (mainly leaning to the NC at the

moment). I have also shot with the Velvia 100, which has yielded some quiet unpredictable results in terms of

colour and sometimes exposure, but i have been very happy with it.

 

Also i have shot on slow tungsten transparencies, which i didnt like and shot in the day with TMAX100 pushed 2

stops, which i liked a lot.

 

I am about to go away for a week and intend to do a lot of landscape shots (mainly daytime) and again some night

work. Just wondering if there are any other interesting films i should try.

 

I am not looking for necessarily accurate colour rendition or anything as i intend to heavily process these

images anyway. Just wondering if any other films might produce interesting results, colours, grain etc, aimed at

more surreal art photography.

 

Cheers

[connor_roelke]

Expired film would be interesting. Check ebay, a 10 year old roll of film can be had for less than a dollar. It might be completely normal or it could be really interesting.

 

As for new film, some Provia 100f would be nice to try as well.

[eugene_perepletchikov]

Hey Connor

 

Nice idea with the expired film. What can be expected from these fims? Also, does expired transparency film react differently from expired negative film or are the results similar?

[connor_roelke]

You can get crazy color shifts, often loss of film speed, things like that. If the film has been stored cold it's whole life, it should behave much like fresh film. If it has been laid in a box in someones garage, even a few years expired could have some crazy effects. If you are going for pure unexpected results, look for just that. 5+ year old film that has been sitting in someones garage. If you buy in bulk, the first roll should tell you more or less what the rest will be like, so if its nothing less than normal you can save it for more serious things.

 

I don't know much about expired transparency film as I don't shoot many transparencies at all. Processing is horrible where I live. I think I read somewhere that it looses film speed faster, though. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[kurt_evers]

If you shoot B+W, Fuji Acros and Ilford FP4 are absolutely amazing films.

[chris_waller]

Type B transparency film, shot in daylight, cross-processed. Then try photo-pointillism (that is, uprate a E6 film massively, develop in concentrated b+w developer (e.g. Ilford PQ Universal), fix, wash, bleach and wash thoroughly, then put through C41 - you'll need to experiment with dilutions and times).

[hiromu_kurosaki]

Just test one roll if you buy expired film lot. They are usually okay but not always.

[robert lee]

Try Fuji Acros. This film has essentially no reciprocity failure, which means you can expect a look closer to daytime shots.

[k5083]

I've been using Astia 100F in my RB and folders and like it a lot. But it is the opposite of surreal, it doesn't create color out of nothing the way Velvia does.

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

I, too, like Fuji Astia for transparencies. Very natural colors.

[eugene_perepletchikov]

Thanks for all the advice guys!

 

Decided to take some B+W stock with me, and will keep my eye out for expired stock too.

 

Cheers

[mikewilliamson]

Another vote for Fuji Acros, I'm a big fan.

[steve_swinehart]

You don't say what you want to do with the final results - that makes a lot of difference as to what kind of film to shoot. Or, are you just interested in testing a variety of films to see what kind of results are available? If you're shooting at night, you might want to try Portra 800.

 

When I had a lab available that would push color negative film, I've shot Portra 800 at ISO 1200 and 1600 with good results. But, finding a lab that will push color negative film is often difficult.

[le-plume]

Kurt Evers said:<blockquote>If you shoot B+W, Fuji Acros and Ilford FP4 are absolutely amazing films.</blockquote>

<p>That's absolutely right, but they're so different that it's almost strange do have them named in a single

sentence. With FP4+ you've got subtle grays, nice surface effects; with Acros, very sharp image, with emphasis on

lines. Ditto with Neopan 400 versus HP5+ for faster films, even though I find HP5+ to be less extreme than FP4+

in that respect - pretty much an all-prupose high-speed film, actually.

<p>Has anybody actually used low speed Adox/Efke? I've only toyed with the idea so far.<div></div>