Another Film Question

[George W. Bush]

Hey, I'm putting together a small photography notebook to carry around in my camera bag with me. I've got a photo log to keep track of the pictures I take, a small glossary of terms, some contacts, and I made up the following list of what I have found to be the best (or most popular) films. I'm also making some copies up for some other people that are beginners, so I was wondering if people would like to offer some input as to whether this is a good selection of high quality films. Are there any films I should or should not have included in here, or if there is any unaccurate information in here it would be great if you can let me know.



Colour Negative Film:
Agfa Ultra 100: Highest colour saturation of colour negative films. Good substitute for getting the effects of slide film. A bit grainy. High exposure latitude for reliable results. Get developed at professional lab.
Fuji NPS 160: Designed specifically for portrait photography. Great skin tones and very fine grain. Sharp images and realistic colours. For more contrast try NPC 160, but give up a bit of grain and skin tone accuracy. For a faster ISO film try NPH 400, or NPZ 800.
Fuji Superia Reala 100: Very fine grain and vibrant colours. Performs well when rated as 80 ISO. Good all round film and cost efficient.
Kodak Ultra Colour UC 400: Great for portrait photography. High saturation, yet does not compromise skin tones. Finest grain for a 400 speed colour negative film.

Colour Slide Film:
Agfachrome RSX II 100: Medium saturation with realistic colours. Can be pushed to 125 for greater saturation and can be pushed as far as 200. Fine grain. Good slide film for portraits.
Fuji Provia 100F: Very fine grain but lower contrast and saturation. Good for macro photography and longer exposures.
Fujichrome Velvia 50: High contrast, high saturation and very fine grain. Great for landscapes. Sometimes rated as 40 ISO. Not often used for portraits or long exposures.
Kodak E100VS: High saturation and contrast but slightly more grain than other slide films. Good for long exposures but not recommended for portrait photography.

Black and White Film:
Ilford Pan F-Plus 50: Extremely fine grain with high resolution, sharpness, and edge contrast. Slow film, good for longer exposures. Great for enlarging prints.
Agfapan APX 100: Very fine grain and sharp focus. Great tonal range. Good results when rated at 64 ISO. Very reliable.
Ilford Delta: Comes in 100 and 400 ISO. The 100 is arguably the sharpest film in its class. Very fine grain. Both have good exposure latitude.
Kodak T-Max: Comes in 100, 400, and 3200 ISO. All have very fine grain and sharpness. Still is a film of choice for many photographers.
Agfa Scala 200x: The only black and white slide film available. Can be push or pulled from 100 to 1600. Very fine grain, excellent sharpness. Great contrast and tonal range. Only place to develop in Canada is a lab in Toronto.
Ilford SFX 200: High red sensitivity but not a true infrared film. Creates subtle infrared effect. Ilford makes a filter specially designed for it.


Also I have a Canon SLR that uses infrared frame advancement so I can't use Konica or Kodak infrared film.

Thanks for the help.

 

[voodoocat]

Velvia 100 is pretty good with long exposures. Grain is pretty much the same as RVP and reciprocity failure is minimal.

 

[drlynn]

Actually, I think you can use IR film, especially the Konica.

You might get some fogging along the bottom edge of the film, but as long as you take that into account with your composition you can work around it.

Also, I tend to like the Kodak Portra 160 films (160NC and 160VC) a bit better than the Fuji, but that's just my taste.

 

[George W. Bush]

Hey, thanks for the tips. I was also wondering what the difference is between velvia 100 and 100F. I heard that 100F was kind of a dissapointment in comparison to the 50. I haven't seen 100 anywhere and heard it was only released in Japan.

Also I have yet to try the kodak or Konica infrared film with my camera as I have heard mixed opinions of how much the film will fog. And I like Kodak Ultra Colour (used to be named Portra) at 400 speed, but I prefer the Fuji at 160.

Does this seem like a pretty good list to start off with?

 

[voodoocat]

100F is what i'm talking about. It's slightly more expensive than the 50. I've heard good things about it... have a roll still sitting in my fridge.

I also prefer the Portra films for portraits. First roll of the NPC 160 I shot was screwed up at the lab and I had grain worse than 1600 film.

 

[drlynn]

I've got some NPC in my bag, but I've been holding on to it for some portrait work. I've tried the NPS several times and the skin tones were great, but everything else looked washed out.