First time film user, please recommend film. Thanks.

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adamli629

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Hi everyone,

I recently got a film camera, but I had never used any film camera before. So I have no idea about the B&W, slide, and print film. Could you recommend me some B&W, slide and print film?

Thanks!
 
What kind of subjects do you intend to shoot?
What kind of lighting conditions/time of the day do you intend to shoot in?
 
As the previous poster mentions, the kind of film that would be recommended would have a lot to do with the kind of lighting you will be shooting in and the subjects you will be shooting.

That being said, to give you a very rough idea of what's out there and what is currently preferred by many film shooters:

Black and White

A favorite film is Kodak Tri-X. Its ISO is 400, it can be used in low light situations. Some prefer Ilford HP5, same ISO as Tri-X. When you are shooting in better lighting conditions, i.e. more sun for example, you can use Kodak Plus X or Ilford FP4, both are ISO of 125. One of the higher speed films is Ilford Delta Pro, its ISO is 3200, so it can be used in very low light situations.

Color Slide

A popular film, especially for saturated colors, is Fujichrome Velvia. It comes in both 50 ISO an 100 ISO.

Color Negative

Kodak Portra is available in several different ISOs, so can be used in different lighting situations. It comes in 160, 400 and 800 ISO.

A newer film is Kodak Ektar 100. It is marketed as being fine grain.

I have made no attempt, whatsoever, to list ALL films available. The above is just to give you a general idea. What may be a good choice for a cloudy day in winter would probably not be a good choice for a sunny day at the beach. Different films have different characteristics beyond speed of the film, so that's another thing to keep in mind.

You didn't say whether the film camera you have is 35mm or not. If it doesn't use 35mm film, your choices could be different.

Hope that helps.

Ellen
 
Film nowadays is mainly a B&W affair. Start with Tri X. For colour I would avoid slides, they are the most difficult to expose correctly, start with a Kodak Portra 400 film and expose it at EI 200, then just drop at the lab and develop normally.
 
I disagree with mfogiel, I started to shoot slide film almost as soon as I started shooting film, and it's great. I think Velvia is a reason to shoot film over digital as the colours just blow digital away. If you can rely on good exposure, i.e. does your camera have Aperture Priority or Program mode? Then I think slide is far more forgiving than some people make out.

Shoot Velvia early in the morning or at dusk, and you'll see the colours I'm talking about.

For B&W, Tri-X is bullet proof, but also Rollei Retro 400 is nice, as is Rollei IR film ( you'll need bright light and an infrared filter, but the results are very cool). If you're not developing yourself, try Ilford XP2, a lovely black and white film which is developed just like normal colour film (C41 process).

For colour negative, I like Portra 400, and the new version look great, although I've yet to try it. Ektar 100 is a lovely film, but if you're shooting ISO 100 colour, then I'd tend towards slide film.

Don't be afraid to experiment though, and find your own favourites.
 
I would say - it depends on whether you prefer color or BW photos. Start with the one you like. If color start with slides - it is quite rewarding to look at nicely exposed color slides on a light table. Contrary to color negatives - it is much easier to judge just by looking at the slides whether the exposure was right or not. Also it lets you know - if the camera you just got works correctly (light meter, shutter).

For the slides:
- I would start with something like Fuji Astia, Fuji Provia (100F or 400X) or Kodak E100G. The reason is - they are not as contrasty as Velvia or Kodak E100VS which are a bit special I would not (and do not) use them as "general color film". Velvia is best for those low contrast situation when it can intensify those subtle sunrise or sunset colors.

For color negatives:
- it depends how much you want to be investig per roll. Consumer films like Fuji Superia or Kodak Gold are cheaper than the "pro" films like Kodak Potra films or the Fujifilm "Professional" films. The "pro" films seems to have smaller grain. Then there is the rather new Kodak Ektar 100 - very interesting negative film with strong colors - it gets rather close to a slide film, though it has larger exposure latitude.

For BW: - now we are talking 😉
- there the choices are great - but on a very basic level you can choose from "modern" films with smaller grain like Ilfod Delta 100 and 400, Kodak TMax 100 and 400 or "classical" films like Ilford FP4+, HP5+, Kodak TRI-X, Plus-X. The difference is - at the same speed the "classical" films have large exposure latitude (know as more "forgiving" to over/under exposure) and often very nice tonality, while the "modern" films give you smaller grain. There are many other films on the market which mostly fall to '"classical" class.

For the start I would go with one of the classical films - the ISO depends on what you want to shoot. As I am more of an Ilford guy I would go with FP4+ probably.

BW in C41:
- there are currently 2 BW films on the market which are processed like the color negative films with C41 process, but are BW. These are Ilford XP2 400 and Kodak BW 400 CN. Both are ISO 400 films (but many users expose then at ISO 200). I would choose these films if I would not be able to do my own developing at home. One small advantage - these films do not use silver to form image what brings advantages during scanning compared to "normal" BW films.

Now - I would definitely advice you to do you own BW developing - it is not that hard and it does not require not that much tools and gear. There is ton of information on the web how to do it. I use Jobo 1520 tank (again, there are many others).

Developer for BW
- for the start I would with something that comes as a concentrate and not powder. I have made a good experience with Ilford Ilfotec DD-X. It comes in 1 litre bottles and working solution is obtained by mixing it 1:4 with water. It gives small grain and films speed close to the speed the films are rated to (called also "box speed"). There are MANY others, but apart from Pyrocat HD I have only experience with this developer. Once opened, the concentrate seems to have rather good shell life.

Just to stress - different developers and developing techniques have very strong impact on the look of the final image, so you will need to find your way. There is no "best" developer or the "best" technique. It all depends on what you want to get.

The most important is - enjoy it! - that is what the film photography is about (contrary to digital 😀 )
 
Go to walmart and buy some cheap color film. Your not going to be an Ansel Adams overnight. Buy cheap color film (which is stll somewhat easy to get processed) and shoot a lot. Once you start to learn how the camera works, how film looks, etc you'll start thinking about what kind of film you really need.
 
I am also fairly new to film photography, and when I started, I just tested a bunch of different films. I found that some films are much more forgiving in terms of over- or under exposure than others, e.g. color negative films seem to be much easier to shoot with.

But I think it is very often a matter of opinion or taste, so I think testing out a few different films will be your best bet. You can always check out pictures online, like on flickr, and search for specific films--many film users tag their photos with the film they used.

It also depends a lot on what you want to do with your shots--do you want to project them, or do you prefer prints, or would you rather just scan them? From my own experience I would not recommend to get prints or even scans from places like Wolf Camera, I did this once and the scans were horrible and the prints quite disappointing as well. Letting a professional photo lab develop your film, and using a dedicated film scanner will get you much better results.

You may also opt to shoot slides and project them. All you need to start with is a slide projector, which you can get for very little money these days, and a white wall. You will be quite surprised how great projected slides can look, something you just cannot do with digital images (resolution in digital projectors is limited to 2 megapixels). It's a bit of work to mount the slides (nowadays you will have a hard time finding a photo lab that mounts slides for you), but the results are quite rewarding.

Just dare to experiment, and you will soon realize what great potential analog photography has (I am talking from my own experience, I pretty much gave up digital photography in favor of analog photography expect for those times when I really need a photo quickly...)
 
DrTebi said:
I am also fairly new to film photography, and when I started, I just tested a bunch of different films. I found that some films are much more forgiving in terms of over- or under exposure than others, e.g. color negative films seem to be much easier to shoot with.

But I think it is very often a matter of opinion or taste, so I think testing out a few different films will be your best bet. You can always check out pictures online, like on flickr, and search for specific films--many film users tag their photos with the film they used.

It also depends a lot on what you want to do with your shots--do you want to project them, or do you prefer prints, or would you rather just scan them? From my own experience I would not recommend to get prints or even scans from places like Wolf Camera, I did this once and the scans were horrible and the prints quite disappointing as well. Letting a professional photo lab develop your film, and using a dedicated film scanner will get you much better results.

You may also opt to shoot slides and project them. All you need to start with is a slide projector, which you can get for very little money these days, and a white wall. You will be quite surprised how great projected slides can look, something you just cannot do with digital images (resolution in digital projectors is limited to 2 megapixels). It's a bit of work to mount the slides (nowadays you will have a hard time finding a photo lab that mounts slides for you), but the results are quite rewarding.

Just dare to experiment, and you will soon realize what great potential analog photography has (I am talking from my own experience, I pretty much gave up digital photography in favor of analog photography expect for those times when I really need a photo quickly...)
Click to expand...

I second every word you say, especially the highlighted bit.

And that's based on developing my first film in (as far as I recall) 1966.

Cheers,

R.
 
If you're planning to shoot portraits and people, avoid Velvia. The skin tones will be too saturated. However, Velvia is excellent for landscapes, macro, flora and sunrises and sunsets. A very nice film, indeed.

There is no b/w slide film. Well, not exactly true. There is no easily available process-at-home b/w slide film.

For b/w, start with a forgiving film, such as TMax 100/400 or even Tri-X.

As always, practice and get a feel for the film.
 
You are already getting a bunch of different opinions. Buy something from Kodak, Ilford, and/or Fuji and you will be good. Wait to try some of the other brands later once you know more.
 
There are no bad films on the market today. Thank you market system.
Don't worry about which film to use.
Use LOTS of film. It's cheap.
Use more film.
 
Last edited:
Film Options

Film Options

Beemermark said:
Go to walmart and buy some cheap color film. Your not going to be an Ansel Adams overnight. Buy cheap color film (which is still somewhat easy to get processed) and shoot a lot. Once you start to learn how the camera works, how film looks, etc you'll start thinking about what kind of film you really need.
Click to expand...
Hi there new film user. While I try to improve my techniques on a shoestring, I've invested in out of date film from E-Bay. Hostly fugi with some re branded who knows what. There's a site called Freestyle that sometimes has good deals. All that said it's the processing costs that can get pricey. But the deals are out there. Good luck. Red
 
Thanks everyone! I think I got enough recommend. The next step I think is purchase each of them and try it. And I think some of them will fit for me.

Thanks!
 
Hi Adam,
Welcome to film! You'll enjoy a lot!
About color film: although during our first shooting days we can enjoy too saturated colors, it's normal to prefer a more natural color after a while... So I recommend you for natural skin tones Kodak Portra negative film, and Fuji Astia slide film. I would leave slide film for the future, and start with negative. Set your camera to one half the ISO you see on color negative (not with slides!) film boxes: if you use Portra 400, set your camera to 200. And if your scene doesn't have direct sun on, you should use a warming filter both for overcast days and for sunny days if you're shooting in the shadows. If there's direct sun on your subject, no filter is necessary. Another nice color negative film, especially for nature and beautiful green or sunset tones, is Kodak Ektar100: set camera at ISO 50.
About black and white: as long as you develop your film, you'll be able to get great results with any film and developer. Any 400 film is good both for sunny and overcast days. If there's sun and open blue sky, a yellow filter helps for a more natural rendering of the sky and clouds and for an image that's closer to our vision . If it's an overcast day or indoors, no filter is necessary. The film I use the most is Tri-X 400 by Kodak. Freestyle.com sells it very cheap and calls it Arista Premium 400. For developing I recommend you Rodinal at 18º 1+50. You'll decide the development time you prefer...

Good luck!
Cheers,
Juan
 
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