Film Type

[dsmith]

I am trying my hand using film, coming from digital only. I am shooting with a Canon AE-1 Program. I was wondering what recommendations anyone has for what type of film i should use/will be best for landscape night photography. everything from right after sunsets to pitch dark. feel free to email me. thanks

Dustin

 

[ann]

color, or black and white?

 

[Katier]

Depends what your working on but :-

Black and White - Ilford is a a good choice. You have a few choices, most are BW processing but the XP2 400ISO is C41.
Night time - if your working in urban it's worth playing with Tungsten balanced film to cut down on the orange glare.
Color - depends what your working for. Quite a few choices. You can still get Kodakchrome if you shop around but it's awkward to get processed. Fuji Velvia is another good colour reversal film. I use Fuji Superia colour negative film in my MF camera.

 

[randerson07]

What kind of processing options do you have? do you have a good lab near you?

If you shoot cheap film, and your meter is bad, and the lab stinks, then you will be disappointed with the film experience.

If you have a good lab and can get your hands on some pro film, whether its B&W, Color neg, or color slide, I dont think you will be disapointed.

Will you be scanning them? getting prints? or getting a CD?

If your scanning them yourself, processing turns out really cheap if you dont get prints, if your getting a CD make sure to request better scans, typically from a mini lab the scans are pretty low res and disappointing. If your getting prints, well Ive actually had decent 4x6s and 8x10s done at Target of all places.

 

[dsmith]

I'm doing pretty much all color stuff in non-urban areas. i dont worry too much about doing b&w becuase i can always make it b&w once i get it on my computer. we have no real labs in my area other then longs drugs, walgreens, and rite aid kind of labs. If i go to the camera store they send them off, however i don't know where they send them. i usually try and put them on a cd just so i can later put them up on my website, and get prints done when needed.

you can see some of my stuff (none of which was done on film) at
dsmithphotos.com
let me know what you guys/girls think. thanks

 

[Katier]

FWIW the best form of BW is using film. If your shooting film why not take two bodies and have BW in one.

 

[flea77]

i dont worry too much about doing b&w becuase i can always make it b&w once i get it on my computer.

Yes, but your D40 and photoshop (unless you are a PS pro and like spending LOTS of time with it) will not get you what really good BW film will. I can almost always tell a good BW shot from a PS color job rather quickly. Look at the detail and shades in this one for example:

This is a direct scan from a neg, no processing at all, not even contrast.

 

[dhilberg]

When I used to shoot with film I used Velvia, and Provia 100F. Occasionally I used Provia 400F (replaced by 400X), but it was awful expensive. I used it for sports mainly. Velvia is slow (ISO 50), so it's mainly for landscapes. Provia 100F is a great all-around super-fine grain transparency film.

 

[rlcphotos]

when I left film I was using Fuji Reala 100 great saturation

 

[Battou]

This is your first time with film, Get some of the Rite Aid 200 speed film and have some fun with it, use the sendout service at Rite Aid and then go from there.(Actually I am finding my self using Rite Aid film with some frequency lately, it's actually not bad.)

There is no point in spending a fortune on film and processing to use the best of the best only to find out that you succumb to some digitendancies. Shoot several rolls of the cheap stuffs and work your way up.

*EDIT*
These where both shot with Rite Aid branded film

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/black-white-gallery/158174-home-brew.html
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...lorida-hammer-blue-crayfish-blue-lobster.html