Which 35mm film?

Shaun Palmer

Shaun Palmer

Messages
437
Name
Shaun
Edit My Images
Yes
Evening TP

Me again asking for advice on the film front.

I know this question will have so many variables to consider, but I need to ask the question to get some first hand feedback.

What colour film do you use for general use and why?

I’ve recently just got a film SLR and have been working through my first roll of film, which is a Kodak colour plus 200. For the conditions we’ve had lately it’s just too slow, and I’m thinking I need at least a 400 ISO film for general walkabout use to get used to film.

Is there any brand you prefer?

Thanks

Shaun
 
Carl Hall said:
If you'e after a 400 speed colour film, you can't go wrong with Portra 400. It's got lovely pastel tones (y)
Click to expand...
^^^WHS^^^ Portra Portra and Portra would be my first 3 choices for colour print film and if I run out of Portra I'd go for Kodak Ektar.
 
Thinking about it id say that Portra is the one to go for...... ah someone may have mentioned this already. :)
7 day shop are usully the cheapest but AG Photographic are also good.
 
Shaun Palmer said:
Is there any film that would give a more saturated colour?
Click to expand...

Kodak Ektar is defo more saturated than Portra, it is also almost grain free. Very nice for a sunny day landscape shot.
 
Shaun Palmer said:
I see the Portra film mentioned quite a lot. Is there anywhere in particular that is better for buying film from? I'm guessing the likes of ebay etc isn't to be trusted too much
Click to expand...

The price of Portra has sky rocketed in the last few years (actually I think most film has), and most places seem to be around £35 for a box of 120 and £35-38 for 35mm.

The cheapest I can find it is here
 
isn't there a portra VC ?

I dunno I'm out of the colour neg loop
 
Andysnap said:
Kodak Ektar is defo more saturated than Portra, it is also almost grain free. Very nice for a sunny day landscape shot.
Click to expand...

Does it only come in 100iso? Maybe a good shout for a pre planned landscape day with decent weather lol

Carl Hall said:
The price of Portra has sky rocketed in the last few years (actually I think most film has), and most places seem to be around £35 for a box of 120 and £35-38 for 35mm.

The cheapest I can find it is here
Click to expand...

I suppose you get what you pay for, seems to be highly rated
 
joxby said:
isn't there a portra VC ?

I dunno I'm out of the colour neg loop
Click to expand...

Not any more. There used to be a vivid colour VC & a neutral colour NC but both were canned around 10 years back & replaced with the one version we have now. Shame as I shot quite a lot of VC & loved it & the current Portra seems closer to the old NC to me.
 
There isn't much of anything anymore, I can remember there were lots of choices only a short time ago, I used to shoot a lot of Provia 400X, Astia, bit of 64T, films heyday had long since past but there was still a decent choice, not like now.
I sometimes wonder if the demise of slide actually fuels the popularity of colour neg, but then again, maybe its just a leveling out, one has to die so the other can survive....I dunno.
 
Shaun Palmer said:
What colour film do you use for general use and why?

I’ve recently just got a film SLR and have been working through my first roll of film, which is a Kodak colour plus 200. For the conditions we’ve had lately it’s just too slow, and I’m thinking I need at least a 400 ISO film for general walkabout use to get used to film.
Click to expand...

While I love Portra 400, as the guys above have recommended, it's very expensive and mostly what I shoot doesn't really justify it. You did ask about "general use". So I usually use Agfa Vista 400 (NOT 200) or Fuji Superia 400 (X?), which are both the same film. AG Photolab are selling a 10-pack of Vista 400 for £37, about the price of a 5-pack of Portra 400. You can also sometimes get 3-packs of Superia 400 on the evil bay for £11 or so. It doesn't have the full colour subtlety of Portra, but I've rarely regretted having it in the camera.

I don't really like the cheap Kodak films. Oh, and I didn't get on with the one roll of expensive Fuji Pro film either (Pro 400H???? Can't remember). My one roll of expired Superia 1600 was brilliant for a light show shoot, and I've just remembered I've got a short roll of Superia 800 too!
 
Though I'd pick Portra for skin tones, at 400 I like Superia for general use. I was going to suggest Amazon, who were selling 3-packs for a long time at £12, but now they only seem to be in stock from third partly sellers at a higher price. Is this one of the multipacks that Fuji is killing off? You can still find it for about £5 a roll elsewhere, though (as well as the Vista-branded version mentioned by Chris).
 
Shaun Palmer said:
I see the Portra film mentioned quite a lot. Is there anywhere in particular that is better for buying film from? I'm guessing the likes of ebay etc isn't to be trusted too much
Click to expand...

I've bought film from eBay on a number of occasions and never had any problems. Just use the usual common-sense checks (look at their feedback etc.). If they're selling lots of different films, then they're most likely an eBay store for a bricks & mortar shop, or another online retailer, e.g. I've bought from Discount Films Direct before, and they have an eBay store as well as their own website.

Obviously, if you're buying from a private seller - maybe trying out (or taking a chance on) some expired film - then your experience may be different. Retailers should be selling in-date film that's been correctly stored, whereas you've no idea if that roll of film you buy from a private seller has been kept in the fridge, or left in the glovebox of their car all summer.
 
ChrisR said:
While I love Portra 400, as the guys above have recommended, it's very expensive and mostly what I shoot doesn't really justify it. You did ask about "general use". So I usually use Agfa Vista 400 (NOT 200) or Fuji Superia 400 (X?), which are both the same film. AG Photolab are selling a 10-pack of Vista 400 for £37, about the price of a 5-pack of Portra 400. You can also sometimes get 3-packs of Superia 400 on the evil bay for £11 or so. It doesn't have the full colour subtlety of Portra, but I've rarely regretted having it in the camera.

I don't really like the cheap Kodak films. Oh, and I didn't get on with the one roll of expensive Fuji Pro film either (Pro 400H???? Can't remember). My one roll of expired Superia 1600 was brilliant for a light show shoot, and I've just remembered I've got a short roll of Superia 800 too!
Click to expand...

Retune said:
Though I'd pick Portra for skin tones, at 400 I like Superia for general use. I was going to suggest Amazon, who were selling 3-packs for a long time at £12, but now they only seem to be in stock from third partly sellers at a higher price. Is this one of the multipacks that Fuji is killing off? You can still find it for about £5 a roll elsewhere, though (as well as the Vista-branded version mentioned by Chris).
Click to expand...

FishyFish said:
I've bought film from eBay on a number of occasions and never had any problems. Just use the usual common-sense checks (look at their feedback etc.). If they're selling lots of different films, then they're most likely an eBay store for a bricks & mortar shop, or another online retailer, e.g. I've bought from Discount Films Direct before, and they have an eBay store as well as their own website.

Obviously, if you're buying from a private seller - maybe trying out (or taking a chance on) some expired film - then your experience may be different. Retailers should be selling in-date film that's been correctly stored, whereas you've no idea if that roll of film you buy from a private seller has been kept in the fridge, or left in the glovebox of their car all summer.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info and recommendations guys. I’ve ordered a pack of the Fuji and Vista to try for now.
 
Ah crumbs, late to the party here but here's what I tend to shoot most of....

Kodak Ektar 100 - My usual travel film. I shoot it at box speed in either 35mm or 120 and love the results. Very fine grained, lovely contrast and saturation.

Kodak Portra 400 - Shot this for all other things generally, and was my go to wedding/engagement film until I stopped this year, or when the light gets too low for Ektar 100....although Jonathan Canlas pushes Ektar +1 or +2 stops with great results!! I shoot this at half box speed generally (ISO 200).

Kodak Portra 800 - Possibly my absolute favourite film. Higher contrast and saturation that 400 and that grain structure! I have purposely shot this for portraits on a bright, sunny day because I love the look/feel of it. Again, shoot this at half box speed when the light allows and develop as normal.

I have also tried slide film (Velvia/Provia), both of which I really like but prefer to shoot colour negative generally, although when I see the results from the slides, I always think I should shoot more of it.

A friend of mine shoots pretty much entirely on Kodak Gold in 35mm and I LOVE the results he gets. It's definitely something I am going to try in the future.
 
gazmorton2000 said:
Ah crumbs, late to the party here but here's what I tend to shoot most of....

Kodak Ektar 100 - My usual travel film. I shoot it at box speed in either 35mm or 120 and love the results. Very fine grained, lovely contrast and saturation.

Kodak Portra 400 - Shot this for all other things generally, and was my go to wedding/engagement film until I stopped this year, or when the light gets too low for Ektar 100....although Jonathan Canlas pushes Ektar +1 or +2 stops with great results!! I shoot this at half box speed generally (ISO 200).

Kodak Portra 800 - Possibly my absolute favourite film. Higher contrast and saturation that 400 and that grain structure! I have purposely shot this for portraits on a bright, sunny day because I love the look/feel of it. Again, shoot this at half box speed when the light allows and develop as normal.

I have also tried slide film (Velvia/Provia), both of which I really like but prefer to shoot colour negative generally, although when I see the results from the slides, I always think I should shoot more of it.

A friend of mine shoots pretty much entirely on Kodak Gold in 35mm and I LOVE the results he gets. It's definitely something I am going to try in the future.
Click to expand...

What is usually the purpose of ‘shooting half box speed’ I’ve seen it mentioned a few times. I’ve gave it a google search and there’s not really a simple straight answer lol. I gather it overexposes the image more than shooting at box speed.
 
Blimey Gareth, Kodak Gold 400 is more expensive than Portra 400 on fleabay!
 
Shaun Palmer said:
What is usually the purpose of ‘shooting half box speed’ I’ve seen it mentioned a few times. I’ve gave it a google search and there’s not really a simple straight answer lol. I gather it overexposes the image more than shooting at box speed.
Click to expand...

A lot of negative film works better when over-exposed a bit. I don't usually go a whole stop (mainly because I want the higher shutter speed), but I will often shoot a 400 film at 250 or 320, AND meter for the shadows. Then dev as if shot at box speed...
 
ChrisR said:
A lot of negative film works better when over-exposed a bit. I don't usually go a whole stop (mainly because I want the higher shutter speed), but I will often shoot a 400 film at 250 or 320, AND meter for the shadows. Then dev as if shot at box speed...
Click to expand...

Hmm that’s good to know, I’ll try that out.

Manwithacam said:
Discount Films Direct and Nik 'n' Trick have always been reliable and good value for money on eBay.
Click to expand...

Yeah I think it was DfD I’ve juts order from :)
 
For sunny summer use then I love Kodak Ektar 100 (as long as the exposure is fairly spot on), and find that the grain is lovely and smooth and the colours are well-saturated without them becoming garish (that shot of the dancing JCBs I posted was taken on Ektar 100). I'm not keen on Portra 400 as I don't shoot portraits and I find the colours a bit flat and muddy looking, especially in duller conditions (this is down to personal taste though). I'm trying Fuji Superia Xtra 400 as my standard duller weather film at the moment but it's too early to tell if I like it as I've only had one roll processed so far.

I like Portra 800 (I think Gareth describes this well in Post #28) but it's not cheap, so I tend to use that for 'best' on duller days. For black and white my summer choice is Fuji Acros 100 as it's nice and fine grained and seems to capture detail well. I use Ilford XP2 400 for dull conditions (its cheaper to get processed at a lab too as it uses the C41 colour process), but I shoot this at 200 ISO in sunny/bright conditions as I find this gives better shadow detail. Handy, as you can shoot the same roll of film at 400 if dull and 200 if sunny, so quite a useful film to have in stock. I'm currently trying Kodak T-Max 400 but once again, it's too early to tell if I like it. I've also tried Fuji Pro 400H colour print film in medium format (roll film) and quite like the results so far.

To choose the above films I did a search on Flickr for the particular film I wanted to research and looked at the 'average' results from lots of different photographers. I found this gave me an idea of what to expect, without it costing me a fortune in trying lots of different films! I hope this tip is useful and it should give you something to do next time there's nothing good on telly! :D
 
Last edited:
Haven't bought 35mm for a long time. Have poundland stopped their agfa vista? That was always surprisingly good
 
AshleyC said:
Haven't bought 35mm for a long time. Have poundland stopped their agfa vista? That was always surprisingly good
Click to expand...
I’ve not seen it in any Poundland for ages.
 
AshleyC said:
Haven't bought 35mm for a long time. Have poundland stopped their agfa vista? That was always surprisingly good
Click to expand...

History and a mystery...how could Poundland buy and sell it for a profit (£1) with shipping costs etc...if it was possible then why do Fuji and Kodak charge so much unless the middlemen are ripping us off....interesting to know the system e.g. do say 7dayshop buy direct from Fuji or Kodak etc to keep prices low or have to buy from a middleman.
 
AshleyC said:
Haven't bought 35mm for a long time. Have poundland stopped their agfa vista? That was always surprisingly good
Click to expand...

You can buy 10-packs of 36-shot Vista 400 from AG for £37. It's Superia 400 repackaged and a nice film. The Vista 200 in Poundland was almost always 24-shot, and the inferior C200. So 72 shots of Poundland Vista would cost you £21 with dev/scan from Filmdev, while 72 shots of Vista 400 would cost you £19.40 with dev/scan!
 
I thing about a film is that is it is so personal and you have to experience the film to love it.

Just try various B&W and colour and look at what other people post, you will then get the idea of what you like.

Good luck and enjoy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top