Recommend some film?

[emill]

Hey all,

I've been shooting digital for a while now but I recently adopted my father's old Pentax Spotmatic II camera and I've gained some interest in using this camera occassionally. It takes beautiful photos but I'm wondering if anyone who has had a lot of experience with using different types of film could recommend something good and possibly what to stay away from. And where would be the best locations to process the film (anything local?) -- how much of a difference does that make?

Thanks in advance for any help

[Flea77]

Well I need a little more info to help you out. Are you looking for B&W or color? Print or slide? Inside or outside? Moving subjects or static? Day or night?

I will cover a few just for grins.....

My favorite B&W medium speed film is Ilford FP4+. The Deltas are good as well, as is HP5. Color print in good outside light, I like Fuji 160C. For processing, if B&W do it yourself. For what a few rolls cost to process you can outfit yourself and have it done in minutes. For color, I send mine to North Coast Photo.

Allan

[The Philos]

I like Neopan better than Ilford FP4+ - it seems to be more lively. I like Provia for my color slides. You can get a kit from Freestyle to develop color at home as well.

[tropicpine]

Slower films will give you a sharper picture. The slower shutter speed required for these films will show off any camera movement by blurring the whole image. Movement of your subject will blur. Be sure to use it on a bright day or use a tripod. To see the difference shoot the same subjects with an asa 400 and an asa 50 film.

I've always been a fan of Ilford Pan F+ (asa 50).

BTW: Welcome to the dark side.

[venchka]

Best bang for your buck in B&W film: Arista Premium 100 & 400 from Freestyle Photographic. The film is actually Kodak's Plus-X and Tri-X. Good film dirt cheap.

Kodak's latest & greatest color negative film is Ektar 100. I just got my first roll back. Punchy colors, super sharp, no grain. Kodak Portra 160 VC is very nice. Fujifilm 160 S or 160 C are nice as well. Fujifilm 800 Z for mixed light indoors or low light outdoors is the best fast color film around.

Freestyle online has everything. Houston Camera Co-op is the closest place to NW Houston with film and processing related stuff.

Join us sometime when we are out wasting film.

[wclavey]

I second a bunch of Wayne's recommendations...for 35mm B&W, I would start with an order from Freestyle of a few rolls of each of the Arista Premium 100 & 400. We know exactly what film it is and how it will behave and there is no reason not to take advantage of Freestyle's negotiating strength.

I tend toward the Fuji color films for slides and I have to admit that the only color print film I shoot gets cross processed as B&W. So someone else needs to fill you in on those... again, I think Wayne has made some good recommendations. The Ektar 100 really does look great from what I have seen posted, but I have not shot any of it myself.

If you are serious about trying B&W film but do not have the interest in processing it yourself, then you may want to consider one of the C-41 processed B&W films. Then you can try the camera out with the B&W film and have it processed at wherever you get fine film processing (walmart, rite aid, walgreens, etc.). I know absolutely nothing about those films except that my son used them when he didn't want to develop at home. Someone else would have to tell you what's available there and how well it works.

[venchka]

Kodak BW400CN and Ilford XP2 super: Black & White film that any 1 hour lab can process. Nice stuff. The Kodak flavor does an outstanding job with flesh tones and is smooth and virtually grainless. The Ilford XP2 film has more of a Tri-X look and actual grain. Both work better at E.I. 200 or 250, not the box speed of 400. Ilford claims good results from 50 to 800. I haven't tried that.

Walmart has, or very soon will, remove their mini-labs from the stores. No more in house developing. They will send the film to a Fuji lab for processing.

A couple months ago the Target store at 290 & Spring Cypress had a working Fuji Frontier lab. It may stll be there. I tried a Walgreens on HWY 6 south of West Rd. in Copperfield. Didn't like it.

Good luck.

[studiocygnet]

The last couple posts bring up one thing to think about. If you are eventually going to scan your negatives to show on the internet (like here at TPF) color film or slides and that black and white C41 process stuff scans much easier than straight up black and white. Lately I've been shooting Fuji color negs specifically for black and white Photoshop processing. For scanning you can't beat that Kodak BW400CN that Wayne mentions, I shoot mine at 320.

[Daniel W.]

What Wayne's said about the Arista films is right. When developed the base seems to be more purple in color than the Tri-X processed, but it doesn't really have any effect overall so I don't worry about it. There's something about processing your own film that's just magical.

For color, I've been using Arista's offerings again and Superia 1600, really whatever is cheapest. It's fun to experiment with cheap/expired films but if you want sharp and consistent images... stick to Ektar or Portra.

[chris00nj]

Asking which film to get is like asking which car to buy.

I'd alternatively recommend you start at the high end to see film's best potential. Then you can work your way down if you feel the lower price justifies the quality drop off. We're not exactly talking huge sums of money in cost difference for a few rolls.

Here's the lowdown

Color Negative Film - Ektar 100 - It's hands down the best. I also like Portra 400 NC for higher speeds. All color negative film is C-41 process, which is the process for the machines at any 1 hour photo.

Slide film - If you really want to see film's potential, nothing really beats slide film, although Ektar comes close. It's best use is outdoors in sunlight. Fuji's Velvia 50 or Ektachrome 100 are good choices. Exposure is more critical. I develop my E-6 at AZ photo lab in Houston.

Black and white - Even diehard digitial enthusiasts agree that black and white on film is better than the digital grayscale. Tri-X is a great film. It's been #1 for 50 years for a reason. however I haven't tried that many others. I also use AZ photo lab for black and white. Try shooting it before you jump into developing on your own. I only use b&w 10%-15% of the time, so I haven't felt the need to deal with my own developing yet. There are some b&w films that use a C-41 developing process, but I have been underwhelmed by the Kodak one I tried (BW400CN)

[venchka]

Chris,

The Arista Premium 400 mentioned above IS the one and only REAL Kodak Tri-X under a different label. Likewise Arista Premium 100 is Kodak Plus-X.

The Arista film sells for about half of the Kodak labeled film.

Bad news: You have order these from Freestyle Photographic, $25 minimum order & pay shipping. Delivery to DFW or Tyler area in 3-4 days. Houston takes takes longer. Go figure.

[optique]

Here is my experience with c-41 black and white:

Kodak BW400CN - Ok for scanning, minilab prints ok, darkroom prints on silver photo paper is troublesome to say the least.

Ilford XP2 super - ok for scanning, minilab prints terrible, darkroom prints on silver paper ok.

[studiocygnet]

Originally Posted by optique

Here is my experience with c-41 black and white:

Kodak BW400CN - Ok for scanning, minilab prints ok, darkroom prints on silver photo paper is troublesome to say the least.

Ilford XP2 super - ok for scanning, minilab prints terrible, darkroom prints on silver paper ok.

Yeah, I only use these for scanning. There is one other quirky thing to consider about these two. If you happen to be using a camera with a ruby window to wind the film, the numbers on the Ilford backing are printed very faintly, so it's extremely hard to see them through the window depending on the light, thus mis-winding the film and ruining the roll. I actually talked to Ilford about it, and they said it was a specific decision because sometimes the really dark black numbers burn through the backing and ghost onto the film itself, which I've never seen, but I suppose it's possible.

[studiocygnet]

So I was going through some scans from months past, and I ran across this negative. I popped it up in Photoshop. I love it when I get this result from my little 1937 folder, since I have to estimate the focus distance and depth of field in meters. It doesn't even need any sharpening in full size. In this low res jpeg, probably a little. But this is the straight scan without adjustment. So I'm thinking, dam, what film was this? Checked back to the negative, it's Kodak T400CN. I like it.

[venchka]

I like it too. And Walmart will develop the 120 size for $0.84 per roll and make 5x7 prints for $0.14 each. That's cheaper and easier than scanning everything to find out what to keep and what not to keep.