Just bought my M3 - What film?

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andrew00

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Hey there,

Thanks to everyone who gave advice below about my M3 or M6 dilemma, I decided to go with the M3 which I've now bought! It's coming to me soon with a 50mm V2 Summicron, so hurrah.

I've setup a test shoot for a week's time with a friend and his fiance, thought it'd be a cool way to test the camera and give them a bit of a wedding gift.

I want to shoot colour and b+w - can anyone recommend some films that play really well with the above M3/'Cron combo please? Esp for people shooting.

For colour i'm currently thinking new Portra and for b+w I'm thinking either Tri-X or Neopan 400.

Cheers!
 
B&W : KODAK : TMAX400 (sharp), TX400(grainy,tolerance on wrong exopsure)
ILFORD : HP5+ 400 (very nice and sharp film,very nice with ID11)
FOTOKEMIKA-EFKE(Croatian oujeaaa :D) : KB 400,50,100 (cheap but very good film)
 
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I'm setting myself up for a flaming here, but I don't like Ektar with Leica glass - I guess the subject has to suit the film.

Portra 160 is very nice for colour, and I like Ilford XP2 for B&W (for situations where I can't be bothered with metering). Acros 100 is a cracking film, but perhaps a bit stark for skin tones. FP4 would be a good choice for traditional (real?) B&W for people shots.

Most of all, enjoy shooting with the M3, and enjoy the results
 
I keep hearing about how good Ektar is...can someone start posting some images shot with this film? Thanks in advance, once again.:angel:
 
I mainly shoot on an M3/Summicron, so will chime in even though others on this forum have tons more experience with different films.

B&W: Legacy 400 from Freestyle photo is both cheap and very good. I have had good results with Tri-X and Ilford Delta 400.

I second the votes for Kodak Portra, which I think is a stunning color film. I shot a couple of rolls of Ektar - I liked the results too, although the colors are almost TOO saturated, and I did not go back to it.

Good luck with your M3, you have made an excellent choice.

Randy
 
Although I have a busload of Kodacolor 200 in the cellar, I'm swinging over towards Fuji films. The Superia films (I bought them rebranded in Germany) are real nice, more of a pastellish look to colors.

I think that will agree with the Summicron and a wedding real nice.
 
Another vote for Portra (either 400 or 160) and Tri-X. Portra produces gorgeous colors, and is a great film for people portraits.

I've used Ektar (mainly for landscapes) and have not been blown away by it. If you want to use a nice slower color film, I'd recommend Fuji Reala, although that's been difficult to find in the U.S. of late.
 
For B&W I like Arista Premium 100. You can get it at Freestyle.

I'll also mention Kodak Ektar 100 my favorite color film..
 
Thanks for the replies!

From what people have said it seems that a lot of it comes down to personal choice and what feels right.

So I think what seems smart is for me to get a couple rolls of Portra & Tri-X, as I've shot them before and then also to get a few of Ektar & HP5/Neopan to try and basically see what I think is best for me?
 
Oh whilst I think about it, and to save starting a new thread, my meter isn't the most reliable so I was going to pick up a Voigt VC II, do they play well w/M3's? Seem a perfect fit to me!
 
andrew00 said:
Oh whilst I think about it, and to save starting a new thread, my meter isn't the most reliable so I was going to pick up a Voigt VC II, do they play well w/M3's? Seem a perfect fit to me!
Click to expand...

That's a good little meter, particularly if you want to put it on the accessory shoe of the camera. The one I prefer to use these days, though, is a Gossen Digisix, which is small, and can be used as both an incident and reflective meter.
 
As expected, you got as many differing answers as (well, almost) as many people responded. Why don't you go ahead and try whatever film you have been using until now? (You know the saying, "the devil you know etc.) Then take from there and experiment with something defferent, in your new M3 outfit!
 
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