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OK, here's a question that's probably hard to answer...how do I figure out which film I want and need? I understand film speed, and I'm going to experiment with different speeds and lighting environments...but are any specific brands better or worse then others? I've seen some color pictures a while back with SUPER vibrant colors that was supposedly just how the film was. Do I just try everything and see which I like, or is there at least a "tried and true" to get me started?
For black and white, most people will tell you to start with Tri-X. It's got good tones and grain and is very tolerant of a certain amount of over/underexposure. These things make it a good starter film so you can get used to how film reacts to different conditions and as you gain more skills predicting, you can move on to more sensitive film.
As for color, I think there's a wider range of opinions on this. I haven't been that impressed with Fuji Superia but I know others quite love it. Some color films that are known to be quite vibrant are Kodak Portra or Ektar. I just shot about 7 rolls of Kodak Portra 160 and love the colors. I've also shot some Ektar and when it's good, it's really good, but it can also go pretty wrong, and it's a very finicky film so it doesn't take much to go wrong. I think you'll have to do a bit more experimenting on your own with color than with b&w to decide what you like.
Here's an interesting blog post about Ektar vs Portra: http://www.thephoblographer.com/2011/11/18/spending-two-weeks-with-kodak-ektar-and-portra/ Apparently, Portra is a good film for scanning. I hadn't heard that before I went poking around for this.
But yeah, you're going to have to a lot of shooting to figure out what films suit your style the best.