what film?

[abhishek_rai]

<p>right this is a question i should of asked ages ago but i was so into buying new lens i completely put it off, till now. <br>

What film?<br>

currently using fuji colour 100, 36 exposures which is ****, i'm guessing since it dead cheap.<br>

£1.70 a roll not bad eh?<br>

but I really don't know does the type of film you use make diffrence in the quality of the picture or is it negligible. <br>

also would help if some would recommended me some films, specifically-<br>

100 iso colour<br>

400 iso colour<br>

a budgets 100-400 iso colour for lomo<br>

50 or 100 iso bw<br>

and 400 iso bw<br>

i'm not asking for like professional level, but decent like quality (if type of film makes a difference)<br>

and why can't i ever find cheap bw film of any speed.</p>

<p>thanks</p>

<p>abs~</p>

[abhishek_rai]

<p>opps forgot to add 35mm film</p>

<p>arigato</p>

<p>abs~</p>

[Andrew Garrard]

<p>Hi Abhishek.<br>

Choice of film, in my (limited) experience, tends to come down to what you're shooting and the conditions in which you're shooting it. For example, Velvia will give highly saturated landscapes (I've been out using some up on bluebells) but makes skin tone look horrible; XP2 is very fine-grain but also high contrast, etc. There's no one "good film", although there are "pro" films that might be slightly more consistent than the "consumer grade" stuff. For colour, don't forget to balance the kind of light you've got or filter accordingly (or fix it after scanning); for mono, don't forget your colour filters. I've mostly shot Velvia and XP2 (handy for quick developing) - and, in its time, HIE, but also a bit of the Ilford monos. I believe the ISO 400 T-MAX is considered exceptionally fine-grained; I steer well clear of high-ISO colour on the basis that it's always distractingly grainy compared to digital. Check the reviews and see what would fit the subject you've got.<br>

<br />I'm mostly replying because your pricing suggests you're in the UK. I used to buy most film from 7dayshop - they're still competitive, but film has got *much* more expensive recently. Calumet are worth a try for the more unusual types. No affiliation with either store, FWIW.<br>

<br />I hope that helps a little. Time for the input from the people with a lifetime's experience shooting film...</p>

 

[bob_sunley]

<p>For low price colour neg, anything from Fuji. 100, 200 400 speed, what ever you need. Labeled as Fuji or a store brand. Or Kodak Gold if you can find it there.<br>

High priced super fine grain colour neg, the new Kodak Portra 400, probably the best ever 400 speed colour neg film. If you are only doing 4x6 high street prints, see above.</p>

<p>Black and white, anything with Ilford brand on it.</p>

<p>The market for black and white films is a fraction of the market for colour, that's why the high prices.</p>

<p> </p>

[cole_paquette]

<p>color 35mm, Fuji Velvia is simply THE absolute best. not really affordable though, better learn how to regrow arms and legs.<br>

if you want a budget color film, I suggest you flip through the freestyle photo catalog. they have a LOT of affordable films.<br>

b/w, go with ilford. efke and adox are also good. ilford is (often) more affordable.<br>

of course, if you flip through freestyle, they have arista films, which are fine. not the best, but it's their generic store brand made by one or more of the big companies. cheap, works acceptably well.</p>

[mark_pierlot]

<p>My favourite colour print film is Kodak Ektar 100. In fact, it's pretty much the only film I've used since it was released in September 2008.</p>

[jcuknz]

<p>When I was using black and white and doing my own developing I bought slow film and pushed it to the speed I wanted. This was [out of business I believe] Agfa Pan F used at 100ISO which still had superior grain [ lack off] to Kodak product my workmates were using. I have read suggestions that some labs will 'over develop' for you if requested.<br>

Though developing your own film is not that hard with a minimum of gear and a black box with arm sleeves to load a daylight processing tank. The tank and a thermometer bottle to hold developer and fixer and a sink to wash the film after fixing, finally somewhere dust free to hang the film to dry. A daylight processing tank is light tight once closed but has light tight holes to pour chemicals into and drain out ... you would also need a watch to time the processes.</p>

[Karim Ghantous]

<p>If you have the time, see this piece about Fuji 400 negative film:</p>

<p>http://figitalrevolution.com/2010/12/17/two-buck-chuck-good-cheap-film-does-exist/</p>

<p>From what I can tell, it's a bargain.</p>

[hjoseph7]

<p>I really like Fuji Reala for it's natural colors even under difficult lighting conditions. Kodak Ektar for it's fine grain and Scan-ability. Kodak Gold for it's bright colors and for everyday use. Kodak Portra for accurate rendering of colors especially skin color. For slides, I like Fuji Velvia ISO 50/100 for its bright saturated colors, but I also like Kodak Echtachrome which is less saturated and more natural rendering.<br>

For B&W I have been using Kodak Plus-X 125 for 25 years as my favorite, I like the deep blacks and white whites. Most recently I switched to T-Max 100/400 for it's grainless look and smooth transition between shades. Occasionally I will use Kodak Tri-X 320/400, but it's not a good film for wide landscapes, or scenery. T-Max is much better for that, Tri-X is great for retro looking portraits, or subjects that fill the frame. </p>

[jpo3136b]

<p>You can save a couple of bucks if you bulk load or hand load the cassettes.</p>

[jon_robert]

<p>Here is a link to a few samples of the 2500 or so Film photos I took in Canada using nothing but Kodak Max 800asa<br>

http://family.webshots.com/album/546485075xudjwu</p>

<p>Since you said "i'm not asking for like professional level, but decent like quality (if type of film makes a difference)" <br>

800 asa will allow you greater flexibility for all around use and a great result for 4x6 prints. Like I said I shot over 2500 on one trip with only 800asa and had no complaints at all with the 800asa.<br>

Before I went digital in 2005 I settled on Kodak Max 800asa as the only film I needed. I had no need for anything other than it so I quit getting/playing* with others. I would buy the best price/bulk buy I could find on eBay and keep it in my freezer.</p>

<p>(*I can't stand B&W film. My wife got some free and stuck it in my pouch. I mindlessly installed it - took photos of the beautiful flower gardens - got them from processing - and was very angry at my wife!)</p>

<p>THIS IS IMPORTANT AND CRITICAL:<br>

Regardless ALWAYS over expose print film for brighter colors and whiter whites. Actually you are not technically "over exposing" per the film needs, rather you are properly exposing. What you are "over exposing" is the meter which assumes white is gray. This is why you are taught to over expose the scenes of snow. If you dont the snow will come out gray.<br>

A fool proof method is to set the camera asa dial to one film speed slower than what you are using and leave it. For example when I use 800asa I set the asa dial to 400 and leave it until I choose another film.</p>