Film choice

[The Lost Art]

I'm sure there must be a thread on here about this already but it's tricky to search for!

I'm looking for film recommendations. Colour and monochrome.
So far I've got some not so great results from Fuji Neopan 1600 and some really nice shots on Ilford Hp5 400. Are there better fast films you could recommend? Or anything I might prefer to the Ilford?

I buy most of mine from 7dayshop.com - Online shopping made easy ! which has a limited choice but good prices. What's the difference between Fuji Superia and Kodak Gold?

Thanks!

 

[dxqcanada]

What do you mean by "better" ?

 

[The Lost Art]

That's a good question, I guess I'm really asking for other people's preferences and their reasoning. I'm not very good at describing what I like about different films, but I've not been happy with my last two rolls of Neopan 1600. I can't seem to get a wide enough range of mid-tones or something. A lot of the photos have deep black and bright whites but the mid tones often don't look quite right and the grain becomes distracting.

I'm about to buy a few rolls of colour film but I'm not sure which to go for. I usually have a search through Flickr before I decide on something like this but it's sometimes difficult to know what's been done in post.

 

[Josh66]

For color, Fuji Pro 160S was always my favorite - but it's hard to find right now. I heard that it was discontinued, but Fuji's website still lists it as current production... Either way, nobody has it in stock.

Kodak Portra 160NC would be my second choice.

The Portra 160VC was just too much saturation for me...
All of the Fuji Pro films are good too. They're all getting hard to find though. I read that 400H will be the only one still being made soon...

A lot of people like Kodak Ektar 100 too. I don't like it for shooting people (unnatural skin tones), but for other stuff it's fine.

 

[The Lost Art]

I was thinking of getting something at 400 ISO, but I might try the Potra 160NC.

It's for a trip over to LA and though it's a bit of a gamble with the wet/overcast weather we're having here to use that kind of speed, I expect it'll be a bit sunnier over there!

What about black and white films?

 

[dxqcanada]

I have always liked the Ilford Delta films.

 

[Josh66]

They also have Portra in 400. It used to be 400VC & 400NC, but now there's just 'Portra 400'.

You should still be able to find the NC & VC versions for sale though.


I don't shoot all that much B&W, but I liked Fuji Neopan & Acros when I did. I need to get some more B&W film...

 

[The Lost Art]

I'll probably stick with the Ilford then. My last roll came out really well - far better than the Neopan.

I'm guessing that NC means "natural colours" and VC s something like "vibrant colours"?
I usually get my film processed at a lab and then I edit them digitally so I was thinking I could get the VC and then tone down the saturation when I need to.

 

[Josh66]

I'm guessing that NC means "natural colours" and VC s something like "vibrant colours"?

I don't think I've ever seen it in writing anywhere - but, yeah.

The NC gives you, well, natural looking skin tones. The VC has a lot more saturation, which can be good or bad - depending on what you're shooting.

 

[D-B-J]

I have always liked the Ilford Delta films.

Ilford delta film served me well when i used it for my traditional imaging class.

 

[dxqcanada]

... ah, who is developing your B+W film ?

 

[KenC]

For B&W, TMax 400 and 3200, developed yourself in TMax developer. You have to develop yourself to be sure you will get the results you're expecting. There are plenty of books and tutorials on this and it's simple and inexpensive. You don't need a regular darkroom, only a dark closet to load film into the developing tank.

 

[The Lost Art]

... ah, who is developing your B+W film ?

I use these guys: Photo Printing Online | Snappy Snaps | Order photos online, Collect in Store.

KenC: I've been reluctant to try developing my own film. Isn't it quite time consuming? I wish I knew someone who did it because then I'd at least be able to see it first hand before trying it myself!

 

[Proteus617]

KenC: I've been reluctant to try developing my own film. Isn't it quite time consuming? I wish I knew someone who did it because then I'd at least be able to see it first hand before trying it myself!

I'm self taught. Developing B+W is cheap and faster than driving a few miles to the local photo lab.

 

[djacobox372]

... ah, who is developing your B+W film ?

I use these guys: Photo Printing Online | Snappy Snaps | Order photos online, Collect in Store.

KenC: I've been reluctant to try developing my own film. Isn't it quite time consuming? I wish I knew someone who did it because then I'd at least be able to see it first hand before trying it myself!

Developing black and white film is easy and not time consuming. You can develop 4 rolls at once in about 15 minutes.

Check out youtube for demonstrations of b+w development. They'll give you a good idea for the process. Price wise, you'll save a ton doing it yourself. It cost less then 50 cents per roll for chemicals, and the equipment cost is around $75 new, much less if you buy used on ebay or craigslist.