Teaching begineers- what cheapie film?

[thegman]

I would agree with Pioneer, don't cheap out too much. If you want to encourage someone to give film a try, I wouldn't be using expired film etc. I'd be using good, in-date film and getting good prints or scans to show off what film is capable of.

 

[kiss-o-matic]

If in the US B&H has it for a good price. I used Costco for C-41 processing at $1.59 plus almost 10 percent tax in CA which if you scan yourself is great. But my Costco in stopping C-41 at the first of the year. The easy days are over.

Time to get a Tetenal 5L kit. 😉

 

[Pioneer]

Time to get a Tetenal 5L kit. 😉

Yep, yep, yep! 😀

 

[TXForester]

How about a mix of idea the above info plus add in some shooting situations that combined can help her learn about shallow dof. Shoot 200 speed film (readily available) with a one stop, two stop or no ND filter. Shoot early morning, late day or under overcast conditions. Also shoot indoors.

The point as I understand it, is to make shallow dof effects part of the lessons. So any combination of film, filters and shooting conditions that allow wide apertures is fine. It is a teaching moment. Doesn't mean you have to create art or shoot only the subjects she wants to shoot. She just needs to learn to create the effect when she wants to later on.

If you don't own one, borrow a film camera that has a top speed of 1/1000 to 1/4000 and that will get you closer under bright conditions.

 

[rwintle]

Another vote for Fujicolor 200 (if in the US/Canada), or Agfa Vista Plus 200 (if in the UK). If you can't find the Fujicolor, use Kodak Gold 200. As noted above, readily available (Walmart here in Canada, probably lots of other places too - Shoppers Drug Mart's "Easypix" is also 200-ISO Fuji).

 

[Roger Hicks]

Colour neg should be rated below box speed.

Dear Pete,

Why?

Cheers,

R.

 

[btgc]

Why only colour? And why colour? 🙂

 

[Gregoyle]

Fuji Superia 200 is the cheapest film available locally, <$2 per roll at Walmart, and has great image quality with a pretty wide exposure latitude. You could also use some 800, only slightly more expensive, to allow easier shooting at night or indoors. I think the Fuji 800 is the best 800 speed color film available now.

Trying to pick a film to show shallow depth of field under sunny conditions is a losing proposition. Unless you have a modern camera with insanely fast shutter speeds, you will not get to a large aperture. In day to day life there are many opportunities for shallow depth of field. All you have to do is move indoors or shoot after sundown, and soon you are wishing for faster film to get speeds over 1/15.

-Greg

 

[alienmeatsack]

If you had posted this thread last month, I'd have said go to Walgreens. They had a crazy sale on the Fuji Super 200, with their Rewards Program membership and a discount coupon, it was $4 a box of 4 rolls. I literally bought every roll they had all month. During one visit they had just opened one of their plastic stocking crates and I saw the film in there and told them I wanted it all.

I want to try this ProFoto XL now - seems to be running $3-5USD on eBay and similar places. It's about $3 a roll on Amazon. Reading up on it, it seems like it's the Asian equiv of Ektar 100.

 

[charjohncarter]

Yep, yep, yep! 😀

With all my C-41 film in the fridge, I guess I should.

 

[kiss-o-matic]

I want to try this ProFoto XL now - seems to be running $3-5USD on eBay and similar places. It's about $3 a roll on Amazon. Reading up on it, it seems like it's the Asian equiv of Ektar 100.

Pretty sure this is not the case. I think it's rebranded Kodak Gold 100.

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

So I'm trying to teach a friend photography basics (shutter speed/aperture/ISO etc.) and she wants to learn on color film

What film should I teach her on?
I tried Superia 400, but f16 / 1/500s on sunny days mean I can't really teach her about shallow DOF effects etc.

So I think that Ektar would be better (albeit, $5.50 a roll)
Are there other cheap, "slow" color options I'm missing?

When you say you're trying to teach her photography basics what's the context? Is she keen? Just mucking about? How committed is she?

If she's the full bottle, lash out on a roll of Velvia 50. Yes, it's expensive. That will teach her the merits of making her best endeavours with every frame she shoots and to strive for high standards.

Yes, it's slow. This enables you to open the lens more if you want to.

Yes, it's unforgiving of exposure errors. This instructs her to strive for high standards of metering proficiency and accuracy, and also means she will, (with some understanding of the way different types of films handle dynamic range and highlight issues) then be easily able to make excellent exposures of B&W & colour neg.

Velvia is also beautiful. If she's really a friend, show her how wonderful film still can be by getting the film mounted as slides, and projecting them for her.
Cheers,
Brett

 

[GarageBoy]

I'd say, mucking about.
Need to teach her the basics before getting into exposure compensation, bracketing, working in 1/3rd steps, etc

I might get some Provia, though; I don't want her getting into thinking that you can recover poor exposure all the time

 

[mwoenv]

I second Fuji color film as good inexpensive film - at Walmart, $6.95 for 4 rolls of Fuijicolor 200-24 and $8.95 for 4 rolls of Fuji Superia Xtra 400-24.

Last year I tried a roll of fresh Kodak ProPhoto XL 100 -36 ($2.55 per roll at Unique Photo in NJ). I developed it in the middle of a run of 15 rolls developed with Unicolor C41 that included rolls of Fuji Superia XTRA 400 and Kodak Ektar 100 120. This was the only roll that came out with very unsaturated colors. I won't use it again.

 

[alienmeatsack]

In my experience most of Kodak's bargain films have always had more saturated colors. And the bargain Fuji films tend to have variations in color and tone from speed to speed.

Unless you spring for the Portra or Ektar, your results may vary depending on age of film, where it's developed, how it's developed etc. I developed 8 rolls of Fuji Superia 800 and 400 over the last few days and every roll looks and feels different then the last. All were done in the same chemicals only change was different cameras for some of them.

I personally like the saturation, but when I want more true colors, I go for Portra.

 

[Pete B]

Dear Pete,

Why?

Cheers,

R.

You're quite right to question my assertion, and now I am! Over the years I've been lead to believe that over-exposing results in a negative that scans better. The mid tones are opened up, and the colours more pastel. Finally, what should be avoided is under-exposing which gives a muddiness to the colour. Certainly, from the last set of negatives I received (6x6), those that I over-exposed by a stop have a better colour than those at box speed.
YMMV as they say.
Pete

Box speed:



Over-exposed a stop:

 

[pete hogan]

I agree, Pete B ^. The engineer in me says to go with the specifications and the box ISO speed, but my "eye" likes a little overexposure. Same for B&W and color films. But it's only an opinion.