Best film....

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kabooi

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I've recently got into film photography, collected a few 35mm cameras (:D) and have yet to put a film through them. The first thought that comes into mind is **** this is expensive.

I want a colour film which is good with contrast, punchy, vibrant, maybe a bit of grain

And a black and white film - same as above, really.

I am looking to buy in bulk so need to get this right.
 
You'll probably get quite a few different recomendations of differing film tbh.

Although you want to buy in bulk ( to save on costs which is fully understandable) I would nonetheless advise you to try out a few different films ( perhaps those that may be suggested by others on here) to see what results you prefer....to state a "Best film" is impossible really as we all have individual tastes.
 
kabooi said:
I've recently got into film photography, collected a few 35mm cameras (:D) and have yet to put a film through them. The first thought that comes into mind is **** this is expensive.

I want a colour film which is good with contrast, punchy, vibrant, maybe a bit of grain

And a black and white film - same as above, really.

I am looking to buy in bulk so need to get this right.
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I can only second what Asha has stated above; there really is no best film, as it's highly subjective.It can be really tempting to buy in bulk to save money, but you're not really saving any money if you ultimately find that you have a bunch of film that you don't like and don't want to use.

I would buy a few different types of film to try first and then see what you like before making any bulk purchases.

As for film recommendations, I use a lot of Kodak Portra, but only you can decide if that's right for you.
 
Run some poundland Agfa vista through them first to check they work ok.
 
happygolucky said:
Run some poundland Agfa vista through them first to check they work ok.
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Plus one for the Poundland AGFA vista it's prob the cheapest there is! If you've only just started out in film, like me, it's the best/cheapest way to practice! ASDA process and put images on cd for £3. Using film is very much different than using digital, it's the simple things like not taking the lens cap off (school boy error I know!) but you don't get an instant feedback from your camera with this one! You either notice straight after you've taken a shot or when the film's devved! 😄 when you've got used to your camera you may want to step up and buy something else, but I've been please with the vista results with a little experimenting!
 
Asha said:
You'll probably get quite a few different recomendations of differing film tbh.

Although you want to buy in bulk ( to save on costs which is fully understandable) I would nonetheless advise you to try out a few different films ( perhaps those that may be suggested by others on here) to see what results you prefer....to state a "Best film" is impossible really as we all have individual tastes.
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Spot on. If there was a best film, we'd all be shooting it...

and a quick look in the Show Us Your Film Shots thread clearly shows that we are all using different B&W, C-41 and E6 film!
 
If you want quality, go for Fuji, but generally Kodak film is rubbish (apart from Tri-X).......
 
So far what I know and I started few weeks back :) As for color I like fujifilm superia extra but I prefer black and white images. With those I can honestly say that those look different to digital and maybe I prefer those. I am not sold on color so far. As for cost I already started to develop myself and that makes a difference plus you get a lot of extra fun for free.

Examples below:

1. Ilford PAN 400, self developed
Scan-130309-0001.jpg


2. Ilford PAN 400, self developed
Scan-130309-0023.jpg


3. Fujifilm Superia Extra 400
598969_10200816505681817_1931341618_n.jpg
 
Organnyx said:
If you want quality, go for Fuji, but generally Kodak film is rubbish (apart from Tri-X).......
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I've read a few of your posts on here, and I think you just like to try and provoke people...

As someone else stated, Portra and Tri-x are regarded around the world as some of the best films.

kabooi said:
I've recently got into film photography, collected a few 35mm cameras (:D) and have yet to put a film through them. The first thought that comes into mind is **** this is expensive.

I want a colour film which is good with contrast, punchy, vibrant, maybe a bit of grain

And a black and white film - same as above, really.

I am looking to buy in bulk so need to get this right.
Click to expand...

there's a lot of different films on the market.

What I like to do before trying a new film is work out what's in my price range, and then browse the groups for that particular film on flickr to see what type of results that type of film produces.

Colour films produce different results in terms of colour balance, contrast, grain, saturation etc. For example, the fuji range is much cooler in terms of colour compared to Kodak.

for B&W, if I'm honest I can't really tell the difference between different films too much in terms of contrast, shadow detail etc. some produce more grain than others though - HP5 and Tri-x for example are more grainy than Delta or Tmax, or even Neopan. I personally like Tmax as I can buy 10 rolls for under £40.

As others have suggested though, film choice is subjective depending on how you see it, and what you want to do with it... best advice I can offer is as above, to check out film types in their flickr groups and get an idea of what results they can produce
 
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Organnyx said:
If you want quality, go for Fuji, but generally Kodak film is rubbish (apart from Tri-X).......
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I don't think so!! Kodak Portra, probably the best colour c41 film you can get.
T-Max also a great film for b&w

Mart
 
Another vote for Kodak Portra (160) from me. Not quite as nice as their old Portra 160VC IMO, but still very nice all the same. Lovely colour rendition, fine grain & nice for scanning.
 
Film can still do stuff that digital cannot, that is in the eye of the beholder but still true.
It costs more, but when you get what you want and if you get what you want , enjoy it.
Good tip on the Asda thing, I'm going to look at that myself but I also want to keep the little,local shops alive so I'll take a check on it and maybe balance it out.
 
Organnyx said:
If you want quality, go for Fuji, but generally Kodak film is rubbish (apart from Tri-X).......
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That'll be in your opinion Martin - though i'm sure that you'll acknowledge that others may hold a different opinion...

In the end, we're talking about something that's highly subjective... personally, I can't get on at all with Kodak Portra in any of it's flavours, it just doesn't seem to suit the subjects I want to shoot - but I do quite like Ektar, and if they were still producing and processing Kodachrome I'd happily shoot it and pay the premium accordingly. As It is, I'll shoot my supply of Velvia and Reala 100.

As to the B&W's - I'm very happy with Acros 100 and as I've something like 4 press-packs in the freezer (which at my current shooting rate will outlast me!) I'm not likely to be experimenting with anything else.
 
I forgot to add, the palette from Portra 160 is even better than 400. Incredible films.
 
I accept that some people may like Kodak colour films, I've never got on with any of them (including Kodachrome and Ektachrome) - far too "blue"), and have always preferred the (to my mind) infinitely superior Fuji colour rendition (I used thousands of rolls of Reala professionally, and loved it to bits).

My dislike of Kodak probably wasn't helped by one of their reps....... I used to help a buddy of mine out when his staff had time off from his camera shop - I was in charge when the Kodak rep called..... at that time the shop's main processor was part of the Kodak empire, and their quality of output was frankly execrable ( to my mind 90% of what they did was completely unacceptable - not just a "bit out", but frankly dreadful) - I had a go at him about it, and for good measure had a tilt at the awful "Kodak Gold" they were trying to get us to sell - he honestly turned to me and said "we know the processing and film is cr*p, but it's cheaper for us as a company to spend a bit more on advertising, and tell the mug punters they're getting the best, than for us to actually deliver it......" They relied on the fact that people would blame themselves for rubbish results as it "couldn't be Kodak's fault - they're the best"
 
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As said already, there is not really a 'best' film.

For colour negative, perhaps look at either Ektar for landscape type photos or Portra (160 or 400) for portraits etc although it has quite large exposure latitude and I have seen some lovely landscape photos taken with it.

I have very little experience with black and white, but absolutely love HP5. As an alternative you may want to look at Acros, which is also lovely but has a very different look.

If you are starting out, perhaps dont get too much in the way of slide film. Personally it is my favourite type of film, but I found it can be a pain to use sometimes. If you get the chance however you should give Velvia a go. All the film photos in my Flickr are on on the films mentioned above, all of which I have used and like (although in slightly larger format than 35mm) and I love looking in the show us your film shots thread as people tend to post the film they used when they upload a photo.
 
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