What film for a newbie

stumac

stumac

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Just bought myself a nice little om10 to try my hand at some film photography
The plan is to use this alongside my digital gear....... I may be out somewhere with great light etc and take a lovely shot with the digital gear , this will be the time the om comes out to record the same event with film.
I do at a later stage plan to try and develop my own b&w.
So this leads to to the question what do you all find are the nicest b&w and colour films ? I plan to use mainly b&w for a 50/50 mix of landscapes and portraits . I understand there is no correct 1 answer but as a total newbie I just wanted to hear people's thoughts and opinions . Also where is he best place to send them for processing rather than your local boots
 
I'd go down to your local Poundland and grab as much Agfa Vista 200 as you can! Especially when you are starting out. Then get them processed in ASDA it'll cost you £2 for processing and £1 for them to scan onto CD. Total end to end cost £4. If you're anything like me that'll allow you to save and buy a load more film cameras, when you get addicted! :-)
 
^^^^

WHS
 
Andy, I loved them the first time and like then even more now.
 
Thanks Richard, it was one of those rare occasions when everything fell perfectly in place and as soon as I scanned this one in I new it was good. And when I processed it I got it just how I saw it in my mind at the first attempt. Lucky.

Andy
 
Thanks everyone for the replies

I think ill head to pound land today , I haven't put any film through it yet so I suppose I should make sure it s ok before trying different types of film
 
Good idea, once you know it's working and you starting getting an idea of the types of results you want you can always head to the classified section in here (once you get access) there's always a bargain to be had with different film for sale, especially the out if date stuff! Great fun!
 
I agree with all of the above... then once you're more used to the whole film deal, you can't go far wrong with Portra 160 or 400 for colour negative, Tri-X for black and white (though it's worth experimenting with XP2 as well, for ease of commercial development as it's a C41 film). Then give Agfa Precisa a go as an E6 transparency film. XP2 you can get in Boots, the others probably mail order...

There's a sticky in this section about what to do when you've got your first film camera (or first for a long while). Do let us know if it's misleading!
 
Dead right Chris, Portra 160, my favorite colour print film and were you referring to the VC as well?
 
Film is a personal choice influenced by the results that you want.

I hate grain, so I always go for the slowest film I can get away with. For 35mm my choice is Pan F Plus, but this is reputed to be a "love it or hate it" film. I've used it (and the earlier Pan F) since the 1960s.

Colour I can't advise on. The last 35mm colour film I used was Kodachrome.

Medium and large format would get a different answer, as I'd use FP4 in medium format and do use it in large format, where Pan F isn't available (and is rather less necessary from my point of view).
 
For me, TMax 100, Acros 100 and HP5+ in black and white. For colour, Velvia 100F or Provia. I'm thinking I'm probably going to stick with Ilford for black and white in future though, as there's no real certainty with Kodak these days. When I run out of TMax 100, I'll be shooting FP4.
 
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