Examples of different films

[David Mitchell]

Hi all,

I just noticed that on the forum there is a section for 'photos shot with' as in different lenses and cameras, however I can't seem to see anywhere for different film types. I am sure that within this forum there should be a large number of different films being used as everyone's personal preference. I am currently looking at different films to see which one I like the most and which suits the style of shooting I want to go with.

It would be cool if everyone would post up an image of the films they have tried and any specific comments on how they feel about it and why they like/don't like it. I just thought that it would be useful for beginners or people like myself who aren't sure which film they like and would take a very long time to work out what to get lol.

I have shot on some Agfa vista plus (poundland) film as well as some Kentmere 400, I will upload the original shots for an 'as is' shot from the camera later tonight. I am interested to see the difference between films like Ilford Pan F, XP2 and Kodak BW 400CN. I have also heard that some of the films over on the lomo site such as the Rollei 'retro' film are pretty good.

Just thought I would see what everyone else had shot on so I can decide what to try out next.

 

[Pete Askew]

I tend to shoot either Delta 100 or 400 and HP5. I like the Delta as a general purpose film and HP5 for pushed, low-light stuff and I like the structure of its grain. I have used many others over the years but I would struggle to remember why I ended up with my current choice - consistency is the main driver I guess.

 

[David Mitchell]

Yeah I currently have the Delta 400 (will be shooting on it more soon as its 120) tried out some Kentmere 400 which was very very grainy and others have found the same unless you use a very specific developer. I will perhaps look at some of the slower speed films when I do some landscape shots on a tripod in the summer, looking at maybe some Pan F ISO 50, will double check if I have the right shutter speeds to be able to use it though.

 

[Pete Askew]

I should have added that I nearly always use Ilford ID11 for development.

 

[David Mitchell]

I am planning on a stand process using Rodnal.

 

[Dan Cattermole]

I popped into pound land and saw a shed load of Agfa vista plus film in there! There must if been about 100 in the bottom corner it of the way. Lol.
Picked up a few rolls too.

 

[David Mitchell]

I popped into pound land and saw a shed load of Agfa vista plus film in there! There must if been about 100 in the bottom corner it of the way. Lol.
Picked up a few rolls too.

Thats what I have been using, its actually pretty good film considering its 4 times cheaper than others!

http://www.realphotographersforum.c...-through-nikon-fm2n-%A31-agfa-vista-plus.html

Before post production:

Post production:

 

[Dan Cattermole]

Top!!
Can't wait... Might pick up the rest

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Here's a few

Fuji Velvia 50 - Slide Film with very very fine grain and super saturated colors - does not like under exposure at all, so careful exposure is needed to get the best from it. Some people set their cameras at ISO 40 when using this film - I haven't tried that myself.

Fuji Reala 100 - Color print film, very fine grained, very forgiving on exposure, scans very very easily and gives slightly amped color palette, but not as vivid as Velvia. Actually provides good skin tones for portraits. My go-to film when scanning to digital.

Kodak TMAX 100 - B&W Print Film - fine grain with excellent contrast. I feel it's more contrasty than Ilford, but gives a similar fine grain with good exposure latitude.

Fuji Neopan 100 Acros - B&W Print Film - Super fine grain, very different tonal palette to Ilford or Kodak, hard to describe but it definitely has a look - perhaps brighter mid-range tones with good dark tones and contrast. Does not take over exposure well in my experience.

Ilford XP2 400 - B&W Print film, but uses C41 chemistry for dev, so any high-street lab can dev this film for you. Lovely tonal range in this film, and the grain is good for a high speed film. Very tolerant of exposure variations. If you want easy B&W, then this should be your first roll.

Fuji Provia 100 - Color Slide Film - Color realistic slide film, medium speed with fine grain. Gives a slight 'transparency' color look to the shot, which can be adjusted in PP. Have not seen the under-exposure sensitivity that I've seen with Velvia, so may be more tolerant.

Ilford Pan F 50 - B&W Print Film - Slow, ultra fine grain, great tonal range and smooth grads. Works really well with a Yellow filter for additional tonal range under daylight conditions.

Kodak Porta 400 - Color Print Film - Classic Kodak with a slightly warm color palette - Fast but the grain is well controlled - seems very exposure tolerant. When you need faster shutter speeds, this is a great color film to use IMHO.

Fuji Superior 200 - Color Print Film - Medium Fast film with good grain - slightly fake looking color palette, classic color postcard I'd call it - looks nice with good sunlight.

 

[David Mitchell]

Thank you so much Chris, that's a real help, its interesting to see the differences between some of those colour films, also that Tmax is interesting vs something like the XP2. The XP2 is good as its C41 so as I don't have dev tanks at the moment I might go and try some of that, although as already learnt, you can always take colour out an image but can't easily put it back in.

I think I will shoot some medium format and try and shoot the other 2 rolls of the Kentmere 400 to be sent off for development, will get myself some XP2 and maybe some Portra 400.

 

[Darren Bradley]

I love that Chris has all of those samples, and that he took the time to scan and post them all, and do a finely detailed analysis.

When I was shooting film every day in high school and college, Kodak TMAX was my go to film. Would also use Ilford on occasion. You do tend to get a feel for specific types, and an understanding of their tolerances and weaknesses. Until this topic came up, I had forgotten just how much film types influenced how and what I used to shoot. Great idea, David.