What film to buy in Germany

exe163

exe163

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I am currently in a study abroad program in Germany. I'll be traveling quite extensively for the coming months. Right now I only have a few rows of 400CN and Tri-X with me. I am still relatively new to film photography (other than p&s in the 90s). So far I have only shot BW and C41 films. What other films should I try out?

P.S. I have a M4 with 35 biogon.
 
These two kinds of film you have are perfectly fine, the 400CN can be found in many stores or supermarket film racks, the Tri-X less so. It is available by mail order though. If you want to try color I'd recommend Ektar, again by mail order.
 
I don't know about availability, but Ilford HP5+ is great. I'm still trying to decide whether it is better than Tri-x
 
I prefer color-film and my favorite is Kodak Ektar 100 and for nature I sometimes Fuji Velvia 50. Both can be found in good photo-stores, but are not the cheapest...
 
You can find cheap color and slide films in drugstores like "dm" and "rossmann". At dm you can also buy APX 100.
 
If you want to shoot BW exclusively, in my opinion it´s best to chose one ISO 400 Film (Tri-X, HP-5 OR C-41) and buy enough for the whole trip if you´ve got the chance. If you want you can add a slow speed film (Acros, APX etc.) Using a lot of different films (»whatever ist available at the Photostore I´m in«) isn´t too good for the consistency of the pictures, when you look at the whole trip. Trying out different films is something you best do at home. While it´s good to experiment, you should also try to know one film inside out.

For color choosing ONE film is even more important to me.

Forget all about the Germany thing. Where do you stay/travel? In Berlin theres a nice store called »fotoimpex«, that i like a lot, you could gear up there.
 
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Yes Fotoimpex is a great resource for film, when you are in Berlin you should really walk in their store (in Mitte).

the bigger chains of drug stores as well as Aldi have color film (Kodak VS, Fuji Z or relabeled fuji house brands) in ISO200 and ISO400 flavor. They are all dirt cheap, 1,80€ for a double pack of 36 exp.

DM (drug stores) also has AGFA APX100 and Vista 100 Slide for a fair price. Rossmann sells Kodak BW400CN for 4,49€ which is ok too I'd say.
 
Thanks for the recommendations. With the traveling plans I have, I am thinking about using three types of films for different occasions:

Cheap BW film: for everyday shooting. I have access to the darkroom at my school so the cost of shooting/practicing should be good. I mainly shoot street.

Santa Semana: I'll probably just buy more of the BW films I have. Or maybe I'll try color as well. Not sure yet.

The Spring, St. Petersburg and the Rhineriver: I am thinking about trying out slides.

Any input on type of film to use or brand is appreciate!
 
Any idea what cheap black and white film I can get here? I want to use it to practice guessing exposure and developing.
 
exe163 said:
Any idea what cheap black and white film I can get here? I want to use it to practice guessing exposure and developing.
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For the ISO 50-200 range use APX100 it is very cheap at fotoimpex.de and very good! The advantage of this film is you can buy it at DM or Müller when you are far from a photo store and need film immediately.
For 400 ISO and more Tri-X is good and not too expensive.
 
I can confirm the cheap film situation in Germany. Bought yesterday 12 rolls of Kodak 200 Farbwelt branded 135-36 from a Schlecker drugstore, for only EUR 2,00 per roll. Now I have my everyday-P&S stock for this summer ready :p

(Kodak Farbwelt brand in Germany seems to be the same as Kodak Gold for the international market)
 
Try to score some Adox films! :)

Besides that, Germany has a lot of rebranded c41 films for 1€, so that shouldn't be a problem..

If you want good prices and good quality, try to do what everyone does there, gather up with your friends and order from MacoDirect.

Hope you enjoy your stay there.
 
Yes, Foto Brenner is excellent!!

There is no problem to buy film in Germany. There rather is a problem to get it developed - that's often bad and mostly expensive! So you better take your rolls home.
 
exe163 said:
The Spring, St. Petersburg and the Rhineriver: I am thinking about trying out slides.

Any input on type of film to use or brand is appreciate!
Click to expand...

Supply of slide film is excellent in Germany, lab situation as well (low prices, high quality).
You can get slide film at very low prices in "dm", "Rossmann" an "Müller" drugstores. You will find theses stores in every city.
They offer AgfaPhoto CT Precisa 100 (made by Fuji). Some of these stores still have Kodak Elitechrome 100 and / or Elitechrome 100 ExtraColor (Rossmann) or Paradies 100 (dm; it is relabelt Elitechrome 100).
At these drugstores you can also get your slide films developed at very low prices. There are photo stations in the shops: Put your films in the envelope; turnaround time is about 4-7 days.

Another option is buying film online (in alphabetical order):
www.fotobrenner.de
www.fotoimpex.de
www.generalphoto.de
www.lumiere-shop.de
www.macodirekt.de
www.nordfoto.de
www.photo-lang.de
www.spuersinn.de
www.technikdirekt.de

And of course you can buy film in local photo shops, but at higher prices.

Here is a list of professional labs (not a complete list, there are even more in Germany):

http://www.photonews.de/service/labore/index.php

Most of them are doing mail order as well.
I can highly recommend www.photostudio13.de

If you want to try BW slide film (you should do, it is breathtaking!) you can order Agfa Scala 200X at
www.fotobrenner.de
www.fotoimpex.de
www.nordfoto.de
www.spuersinn.de

You can also use Foma R100, Rollei Retro 80S, Rollei Superpan 200 and Agfa Copex Rapid. The Scala labs are developing them as BW slide film.

You get it developed by the following labs:
www.schwarzweiss-dia.de
www.photostudio13.de
http://www.phototechnik-berlin.de/
http://www.bildmanufaktur-muenchen.de/cms/bildmanufaktur-muenchen/
http://www.schlomsundschmitz.de/

Enjoy your journey in Germany!

Cheers, Jan
 
HHPhoto said:
Supply of slide film is excellent in Germany, lab situation as well (low prices, high quality)....
At these drugstores you can also get your slide films developed at very low prices. There are photo stations in the shops: Put your films in the envelope; turnaround time is about 4-7 days.
Click to expand...

And this is what you call "excellent", Jan??
 
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