What film should I be getting to start

1855

1855

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Hi all, used to post under an old name back when I had a digital camera (NikonSimon) but think after a long period of inactivity on here it got canned.

I'm getting myself an old Pentax ME Super just for curiosity and a bit of fun. The older I've got the more I'm trying to get away from the immediacy of things. I've bought a turntable and listen to more vinyl than spotify now. And I'm looking forward to taking fewer but more carefully thought out shots rather than machine gunning the shutter like I used to on the D300s and deleting 24 out of 25 shots.

Anyway, can you recommend a good film for a beginner in film photography. Either B&W or colour. I realise film is very expensive nowadays, so looking for good value rather than the absolute best. I am not rich man.

Cheers. Simon.
 
Ilford HP5 would be a good start Simon. It's nice and easy to develop too if you intend doing it yourself.

Welcome back to TP.
 
Welcome back! Choice of film slightly depends on where you are and what you want for an end result, i.e. prints or digital scans. Quite a few of us on here use a company called Filmdev who only provide scans, rather than prints, but that might not be what you are after? Your whereabouts is important because postage charges on film can easily be over £4, so it would make buying a single film an expensive business. If you are close to somewhere that still sells film, you can just buy 1 at a time to see whether you like the results. It's certainly worth trying a few to find out what you like, so enjoy the journey!
 
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OK, to get you started, if you aren't wanting a B&W film to develop at home, then I'd suggest Ilford XP2 Super for a black and white film.. There are two reasons for this, firstly black and white film usually costs more to develop than colour film, and often takes a bit longer, if you send it off to a lab. XP2, although a black and white film, uses the C41 colour developing process, so it's the same price as normal colour print film to get it developed, as it goes through the same machines as colour.

Secondly, XP2 has quite a wide exposure latitude; it's labelled as 400 ISO, which I shoot this film at on dull days. However, on sunny days I shoot it at 200 ISO as I think the shadow detail looks better. The seemingly 'magical' thing is that you can shoot at both 400 & 200 ISO on the same roll of film and have it developed normally (no need to tell the lab to 'push' the development) as the film copes fine with this! This also has the advantage that if the exposure meter on your camera is a bit out (or you make a mistake with your exposure settings) you stand a better chance of getting usable results.

Ilford XP2 Super is also quite reasonably priced for what it is, and gives nice fine-grained results (for a 400 ISO film). I'd go for a 36 exposure roll, as it costs the same to develop as a 24 exposure one, so it's cheaper per shot when you take processing into account (it will cost more if you get prints done, rather than a scan, though). As for developing, you could try AG Photolab in Birmingham https://www.ag-photolab.co.uk/film-processing-2/ and don't forget to use their freepost label when sending your first film off to them. They send a pre-paid envelope back with your negatives for future orders.

As for colour print film, I find Kodak Gold 200 to be a good balance between price and quality and find it gives me nice, colourful photos, with a warmish summery look to them.

Others may have different opinions and suggestions, but those two films should get you started OK without breaking the bank. Hope this is useful and best of luck. Hopefully someone can suggest the current cheapest reliable place to buy XP2 and Gold 200 from, as I stocked up before the prices went up and still have a good stock in my freezer, so I'm out of touch with the current best deals.
 
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Mr Badger said:
OK, to get you started, if you aren't wanting a B&W film to develop at home, then I'd suggest Ilford XP2 Super for a black and white film.. There are two reasons for this, firstly black and white film usually costs more to develop than colour film, and often takes a bit longer, if you send it off to a lab. XP2, although a black and white film, uses the C41 colour developing process, so it's the same price as normal colour print film to get it developed, as it goes through the same machines as colour.

Secondly, XP2 has quite a wide exposure latitude; it's labelled as 400 ISO, which I shoot this film at on dull days. However, on sunny days I shoot it at 200 ISO as I think the shadow detail looks better. The seemingly 'magical' thing is that you can shoot at both 400 & 200 ISO on the same roll of film and have it developed normally (no need to tell the lab to 'push' the development) as the film copes fine with this! This also has the advantage that if the exposure meter on your camera is a bit out (or you make a mistake with your exposure settings) you stand a better chance of getting usable results.

Ilford XP2 Super is also quite reasonably priced for what it is, and gives nice fine-grained results (for a 400 ISO film). I'd go for a 36 exposure roll, as it costs the same to develop as a 24 exposure one, so it's cheaper per shot when you take processing into account (it will cost more if you get prints done, rather than a scan, though). As for developing, you could try AG Photolab in Birmingham https://www.ag-photolab.co.uk/film-processing-2/ and don't forget to use their freepost label when sending your first film off to them. They send a pre-paid envelope back with your negatives for future orders.

As for colour print film, I find Kodak Gold 200 to be a good balance between price and quality and find it gives me nice, colourful photos, with a warmish summery look to them.

Others may have different opinions and suggestions, but those two films should get you started OK without breaking the bank. Hope this is useful and best of luck. Hopefully someone can suggest the current cheapest reliable place to buy XP2 and Gold 200 from, as I stocked up before the prices went up and still have a good stock in my freezer, so I'm out of touch with the current best deals.
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Exceptionally helpful, thank you
 
As a returnee myself, I'd recommend something cheap (and therefore plentiful) such as Fomapan or Kentmere.
For the fuller experience, you should really dev it yourself to sample the delights of dust, scratches, marked and even hairy negatives.
(although an unlucky few pay others to provide such negatives!).
 
I would second Mr Badger's suggestion of Ilford XP2 due to the ease of processing - assuming you don't have any developing or scanning equipment to hand (no point in investing in that until you're sure you want to keep shooting film).

Colour film is very expensive at the moment as all the cheaper films (Kodak Gold, Pro Image, etc) seem to be currently out of stock and unobtainable (there seems to be supply chain difficulties - Brexit, Covid, unfavourable planetary alignments, whatever - with getting the 35mm cartridges - 120 roll film for medium format cameras still seems to be around) so one is left with the much more expensive professional films such as Kodak Portra.
 
Well, you might struggle to find any colour film now. It's in short supply everywhere. Black and white is a different matter. For me it really boils down to Ilford (Kentmere) or Fomapan. You won't go wrong with either.
 
All excellent advice.
Is cost a consideration to you? Whatever film you pick you have to take into account processing and scanning costs (if you want a digital versions)

The excellent XP2 is around 8 quid a roll, then there is development + scanning cost at about 10 quid per 36 roll (C41)

Economies of scale, if you're only going to shoot a roll a month then paying for development and scans makes sense. But shoot lots (5+ rolls a month) and home development is the only economical way forward IMO.

Analogue Wonderland do a complete starter kit. Expensive for an initial outlay but it will last you decades. Only thing it doesn't have is a loading/changing bag.
analoguewonderland.co.uk

The ULTIMATE Film Developing Starter Kit - Includes Chemicals

Buy The ULTIMATE Film Developing Starter Kit - Includes Chemicals from Analogue Wonderland and get fast tracked shipping to your door! NB: price includes free UK Tracked Shipping!Description
analoguewonderland.co.uk analoguewonderland.co.uk
 
MrDrizz said:
All excellent advice.
Is cost a consideration to you? Whatever film you pick you have to take into account processing and scanning costs (if you want a digital versions)

The excellent XP2 is around 8 quid a roll, then there is development + scanning cost at about 10 quid per 36 roll (C41)

Economies of scale, if you're only going to shoot a roll a month then paying for development and scans makes sense. But shoot lots (5+ rolls a month) and home development is the only economical way forward IMO.

Analogue Wonderland do a complete starter kit. Expensive for an initial outlay but it will last you decades. Only thing it doesn't have is a loading/changing bag.
analoguewonderland.co.uk

The ULTIMATE Film Developing Starter Kit - Includes Chemicals

Buy The ULTIMATE Film Developing Starter Kit - Includes Chemicals from Analogue Wonderland and get fast tracked shipping to your door! NB: price includes free UK Tracked Shipping!Description
analoguewonderland.co.uk analoguewonderland.co.uk
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thank you Mark, very helpful indeed. I reckon initially I'll only be doing a roll a month. I also don't have the spare space at home to be able to develop.

Just checking out an ME Super on ebay, which is well priced but according to the seller when I asked him probably needs new seals at some point. I wouldn't even know where to start. Is it expensive to get it done professionally?
 
To replace the light seals will probably set you back about £50.00. A complete CLA about £145.00.
 
1855 said:
thank you Mark, very helpful indeed. I reckon initially I'll only be doing a roll a month. I also don't have the spare space at home to be able to develop.

Just checking out an ME Super on ebay, which is well priced but according to the seller when I asked him probably needs new seals at some point. I wouldn't even know where to start. Is it expensive to get it done professionally?
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I guess it depends how handy you are, replacing light seal isn't that hard. There are tutorials online and YouTube.
 
Found another, from a proper photography seller, with new light seals fitted, and cheaper. Looks in great condition and had an offer accepted for less than I was originally thinking I was going to pay.

Couple of rolls of XP2 ordered.

I'd better remind myself how to take photos again.
 
The ME is a great little camera and a joy to use. A very good place to start.
 
Update.

Yeah OK I'm hooked. So much happier doing this than when I used to shoot digital. Got first scans back from Analogue Wonderland and was very happy with the results, considering I've never shot film before. Loving the XP2. Loving the ME Super. Hoping it lasts me many many years. Just need to find somewhere reliable for a yearly service and hopefully it'll keep soldiering on.
 
Peter B said:
Your whereabouts is important because postage charges on film can easily be over £4, so it would make buying a single film an expensive business. If you are close to somewhere that still sells film, you can just buy 1 at a time to see whether you like the results. It's certainly worth trying a few to find out what you like, so enjoy the journey!
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[Something weird has happened to Quote posts while I've been away!]
Quite a lot of Boots shops have a bit of film in stock, usually Ilford, often HP5 and sometimes XP2. Prices appear quite good at the moment: HP5 (and FP4) at £7.99 and XP2 at... drumroll... £6.99 (though that might be 24 shots, website doesn't say). Analogue Wonderland is offering 36-shot XP2 at £9!
 
Plain Nev said:
To replace the light seals will probably set you back about £50.00. A complete CLA about £145.00.
Click to expand...
If it's just the seals you can easily do it yourself. I did it using a kit from Jon Goodman (jon_goodman@yahoo.com) in the US for about $10; he's very quick to post and has excellent instructions (although the last kit I got referred to a pointed bamboo stick which wasn't included, apparently because of changed US postal regulations.
I had complete CLAs done on a Pentax LX and MX by Peter Emanuel of Asahi Photo in Brentford, service@asahiphoto.co.uk. Joint cost with considerable testing done by him £295.
 
ChrisR said:
If it's just the seals you can easily do it yourself. I did it using a kit from Jon Goodman (jon_goodman@yahoo.com) in the US for about $10; he's very quick to post and has excellent instructions (although the last kit I got referred to a pointed bamboo stick which wasn't included, apparently because of changed US postal regulations.
I had complete CLAs done on a Pentax LX and MX by Peter Emanuel of Asahi Photo in Brentford, service@asahiphoto.co.uk. Joint cost with considerable testing done by him £295.
Click to expand...
Very helpful, thank you!
 
ChrisR said:
If it's just the seals you can easily do it yourself. I did it using a kit from Jon Goodman (jon_goodman@yahoo.com) in the US for about $10; he's very quick to post and has excellent instructions (although the last kit I got referred to a pointed bamboo stick which wasn't included, apparently because of changed US postal regulations.
I had complete CLAs done on a Pentax LX and MX by Peter Emanuel of Asahi Photo in Brentford, service@asahiphoto.co.uk. Joint cost with considerable testing done by him £295.
Click to expand...
Funny you should say that. I've become practiced in changing light seals now. My preferred method is to use a sheet of foam and cut it myself. And Bamboo skewers can be picked up from most supermarkets. They are incredibly useful.

Peter Emanuel also did an S1A for me recently, and I'll be sending him a KX this week. His work is top notch and he keeps you informed of what's going on as well.
 
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