Which colour film for Japan?

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kosta_g

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Hi guys,

I'm going to Japan for 4 weeks during June/July. Yay! (Hence why I'm selling heaps of gear...to fund it!)

I am taking two cameras with me and a few lenses (21/35/50 or 21/35/85 or 90) with the fastest lens an f/2. One camera with tri-x only, and another with colour.

But what colour should I use?
It's going to be summer, moderately humid/cloudy at times but i'm sure there will be plenty of sun, and I don't have a lot of experience with many different colour films.

I have tried provia100f, portra 160/400 and have liked all of those. I haven't really given ektar a go - but for what it's worth, they are all the around same price.

I'd like to carry something that gives a really good representation of colours - without being overly saturated, a la velvia. (even though it has it's place).

Any hot film tips would be welcome, and I'm not opposed to taking just slide film or just c-41 or a mix of either 🙂
 
I think .... Provia100F / Portra400 might be the best weapon of your choice. 🙂 Depending on your location, you can get them easily and fast developed locally and 400 might be handy when the sun goes down. You should also try Natura1600 exposed at 1250ISO in the evening. 😉

Japan around this time can already be very hot and humid, rainy season should have just stopped by beginning of July so think about getting some ziplock-bags / silica dry packs for your cameras and lenses ! (You could also buy them locally)
 
The films you like will be fine. As Gabor mentioned, you'll be here during the rainy season so prepare yourself.
 
Thanks Lflex. I've travelled to Japan before (2 years ago) at around the same time, and didn't really have any issue with the weather then! fingers crossed! 🙂
 
I really liked ektar 100 in my pentax 6x7. But 35mm I'm not sure if I like the film as much. I'd go something a little punchy - maybe even kodak e100g if you can still get it, or provia.

Ektar 100:
japan-dip2.jpg
 
I love Ektar 100, so vivid.

But if you don't like vivid color, Provia and Portra will be good for you need.
Bring slide and negative film, there are many labs can procedd both kind film in Japan.


Good luck

~ron~
 
You could always be a bit adventurous and stop at Yodobashi Camera in Shinjuku and buy a bunch of whatever strikes your fancy. I dig both of the Fuji 160 films. I just got a roll of Ektar back from development and it's groovy too.
 
If you have one camera dedicated to BW and one for color, then 1600 seems to be a bit over the top - unless you burn film quickly at night or dedicate color for the night. I personally don't find 1600 useful during the day - but maybe that is because I use Leica with a top speed of 1/1000s

I would buy 1600 in Japan - to avoid to drag it through more xrays than absolutely neccessary.
 
Cheers for that. yes I find 1600 would only work if it was a 12 shot roll, but I may be burning through a little bit of film, yes.

I have one of those lead bags that I'll take my film in as carry on, depending on how much I take. I imagine it will be easier to store it in the suitcase...
 
dogbunny said:
Kind of like asking what kind of sand should you bring to the beach, huh?
Click to expand...

both true statements. Because I'm not starting off around major cities, I won't have much time to be film shopping.
Price-wise I find it more effective to prepare before hand.

I ended up with mostly provia100f for colour, and a handful of 400x. The rest is b&w arista premium.

Thanks all for the tips!
 
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