Film Question

mtnmanjc · Sep 26, 2004

Hey Everyone,

I'm a newbie to this forum and have a question about film. Is there a guide for the different types of film and the quality of the film? I"m familiar with the different film speeds, etc but am not well versed in the different films and what they are good for. For example what is a good film for portraits? Scenery? Wildlife? etc, etc. Is there a huge difference between film you get in the grocery store and pro films?

Thanks for any help you can give me!

JC

BernieSC · Sep 27, 2004

basically any film you buy in a store as long as its fresh film and has a good experation date on it will give you good photos being that you shoot it with correct exposure, focus etc... But there are some films that are better for certain types of photography. A lot of the pro film that is geared towards portraiture are low contrast which will give you smoother skin tones and not make the skin look red or yellow. If you go to a web site like bhphotovideo.com they describe the best conditions certain films should be used in. Personally I like the low contrast film like Fuji Reala which is in a series of film by fuji and Kodak makes simular films. Consumer film boast bright colors and thats fine but I find those films a little high in contrast and could get some over saturated skin tones but for landscapes especially with a lot of natural colors you might want high contrast and bright colors.

Also if you go to the manufactures web sites like kodak and Fuji they describe their film in detail and they also have spec sheets you can download on their films.

ksmattfish · Sep 27, 2004

mtnmanjc said:
For example what is a good film for portraits? Scenery? Wildlife? etc

Different film brands/types will have their own look, and only you can decide if it looks good to you. In general though, I use slower films for landscapes as they are finer grained and resolve small details better; I always use a tripod for maximum sharpness when shooting landscapes. For wildlife or sports/action photography I'd go with a fast film to deal with not only the movement of the subject, but the longer focal length lenses necessary to photograph wild animals, atheletes, etc... For portraits it can really depend on a lot of factors: can I use a tripod, how large will the photo be enlarged, maybe I want a grainy texture, etc...