Need film "Best film for the job"

kaiserz · 04-26-2012, 11:14 AM

Hey guys, just wanted to ask some opinions here. What film do you guys shoot with? I'm trying to look for a not that much expensive but a good film that I can shoot with. Like a best bang for the buck film. I am currently shooting with some fujicolor asa 200 24exp that I got from wallmart, is there a much better alternative to this film that you guys would suggest?

Also I'm planning to do some "day" long exposures, so I'm thinking of getting a 25 ASA film, can those be developed a my local target?

Thanks

eddie1960 · 04-26-2012, 11:52 AM

the only 25 iso films I know of are all B?W so nope not much chance of a target (or for that matter any mini-lab based business) doing it. B?W because of the variety of effects achieved with different developers and times I think is something best done at home, or at a good pro lab

for getting long exposures in daytime aside from a nice 25 iso film, you should find a good ND filter (the more stops the longer you can expose) useful for digital and colour so get a filter size that allows you to cover a few of your lenses

As for inexpensive colour print film sorry i have no suggestions, I mostly shoot what are deemed pro films in colour and then mostly Slide

A lot of people like Kodak Gold film - it leans more to reds and warm tones than the fuji's more cool/ blue tones approach. In both cases the consumer films are grainier than their pro counter parts, more contrasty and saturated and have more exposure tolerance usually.

I buy most of my film from Freestyle or BH photo in the US because our canadian film prices are mostly out to lunch
the superia 200/24 was on sale locally for $4.79 the other day. Freestyle has the 200/36 for 3.39 so it doesn't take long to save a fair bit particularly if you buy in bricks and freeze/refrigerate it)

**blackcloudbrew** · 04-26-2012, 12:35 PM

I have opinions about black and white film but not color. Basically I'm really enjoying Ilford products.

tuco · 04-26-2012, 01:01 PM

Yes, get a 9 or 10 stop ND filter for day and longer exposures. But how long is long for you? In general with color film, you get some color shifts with long exposures and need to experiment with to find out how much to correct your exposure for reciprocity.

The Kodak Gold films went through a reformulation around 2007, I believe. They look to render more natural colors like the Portra films. Nightfly here on PF did some 30 minute exposures with Gold 100 with his astrophotography if I recall correctly. You may want to contact him to talk about what color films have better reciprocity characteristics and how much you need to adjust your exposure with the ones he's tried.

kaiserz · 04-26-2012, 01:15 PM

Thanks for the input guys, I guess the 25 ISO has to wait for while, (I'm also planning to do some coffee processing for BW in the near future)

And yes I am going to get me some ND filters (: but just had this Idea of using a 25 ISO film. anyway it's not really that long, I'm thinking 30 secs to 3 mins.

So I guess the kodak gold 200 is a nice alternative to the fujifilm?

Also sorry for being such a newbie, but what are?
*exposure tolerance
*color reciprocity

eddie1960 · 04-26-2012, 01:27 PM

i could type it out but the wiki covers it all

Reciprocity (photography) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

GreenMachine · 05-02-2012, 05:29 AM

Back when I was using film . . . like back in the late 70's and early 80's we had Kodachrome 25 and I even used some Kodak Ektar 25 in the late 80's. I would be interested in seeing some of the final results from coffee processed film.

stevebrot · 05-02-2012, 07:52 AM

Originally posted by GreenMachine

I would be interested in seeing some of the final results from coffee processed film.

Go to Flickr and search on Caffenol.

Steve

GreenMachine · 05-02-2012, 08:30 AM

OK .. Thanks Steve . I'll check that out.

redrockcoulee · 05-02-2012, 11:15 AM

For long exposures in black and white use Fuji Acros 100 as it has almost no reciprocity. A couple of years ago I finished off some outdated original Ektar which was 25 ISO colour film.

Eddie

I find that only for Acros in 120 is there a really large price difference between the States and say the Camerastore in Calgary. But Acros in 4X5 is outrageous in both countries. Freestyle does have some amazing bargains in house brands.

eddie1960 · 05-02-2012, 11:22 AM

Originally posted by redrockcoulee

For long exposures in black and white use Fuji Acros 100 as it has almost no reciprocity. A couple of years ago I finished off some outdated original Ektar which was 25 ISO colour film.

Eddie

I find that only for Acros in 120 is there a really large price difference between the States and say the Camerastore in Calgary. But Acros in 4X5 is outrageous in both countries. Freestyle does have some amazing bargains in house brands.

Prices are all over the board in Toronto, but I've not found anything that comes close to the freestyle house brands for price. Unfortunately 120 film isn't really cheap no matter where it comes from. LF film of any type is pretty crazy, but you don't shoot it like 35 either

tuco · 05-02-2012, 11:44 AM

Acros for long exposures is a double-edge sword. On one hand it has reciprocity you can ignore if you want to after 120 seconds and yields consistent results with no need to decrease development time.

But on the other hand it has no reciprocity that you can capitalize on in bright conditions. That is, on a bright day even with a 10-stop ND filter and stopping down to f19 it is hard to get longer than 15 seconds (conditions dependent). Yet with most cubic grain films you can get a much longer exposure for a metered 15 seconds. So it all depends on conditions and how long you want for a long exposure.

stevebrot · 05-02-2012, 05:03 PM

Originally posted by tuco

...no reciprocity...

Horrors! Reciprocity is what makes film photography work! What you guys are talking about is reciprocity failure or lack of reciprocity.

Steve

redrockcoulee · 05-02-2012, 05:08 PM

Originally posted by tuco

Acros for long exposures is a double-edge sword. On one hand it has reciprocity you can ignore if you want to after 120 seconds and yields consistent results with no need to decrease development time.

But on the other hand it has no reciprocity that you can capitalize on in bright conditions. That is, on a bright day even with a 10-stop ND filter and stopping down to f19 it is hard to get longer than 15 seconds (conditions dependent). Yet with most cubic grain films you can get a much longer exposure for a metered 15 seconds. So it all depends on conditions and how long you want for a long exposure.

For that there is Artista.edu.ultra with more than enough

eddie1960 · 05-02-2012, 05:15 PM

Originally posted by redrockcoulee

For that there is Artista.edu.ultra with more than enough

an excellent film (when it's in stock GRRR)

04-26-2012, 11:14 AM	#1
kaiserz Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: NoVa The "burg" Photos: Gallery Posts: 899	Need film "Best film for the job" Hey guys, just wanted to ask some opinions here. What film do you guys shoot with? I'm trying to look for a not that much expensive but a good film that I can shoot with. Like a best bang for the buck film. I am currently shooting with some fujicolor asa 200 24exp that I got from wallmart, is there a much better alternative to this film that you guys would suggest? Also I'm planning to do some "day" long exposures, so I'm thinking of getting a 25 ASA film, can those be developed a my local target? Thanks

05-02-2012, 11:44 AM	#12
tuco Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Pugetopolis Posts: 11,026	Acros for long exposures is a double-edge sword. On one hand it has reciprocity you can ignore if you want to after 120 seconds and yields consistent results with no need to decrease development time. But on the other hand it has no reciprocity that you can capitalize on in bright conditions. That is, on a bright day even with a 10-stop ND filter and stopping down to f19 it is hard to get longer than 15 seconds (conditions dependent). Yet with most cubic grain films you can get a much longer exposure for a metered 15 seconds. So it all depends on conditions and how long you want for a long exposure. Last edited by tuco; 05-02-2012 at 01:12 PM.

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04-26-2012, 11:52 AM	#2
eddie1960 Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Toronto Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,666	the only 25 iso films I know of are all B?W so nope not much chance of a target (or for that matter any mini-lab based business) doing it. B?W because of the variety of effects achieved with different developers and times I think is something best done at home, or at a good pro lab for getting long exposures in daytime aside from a nice 25 iso film, you should find a good ND filter (the more stops the longer you can expose) useful for digital and colour so get a filter size that allows you to cover a few of your lenses As for inexpensive colour print film sorry i have no suggestions, I mostly shoot what are deemed pro films in colour and then mostly Slide A lot of people like Kodak Gold film - it leans more to reds and warm tones than the fuji's more cool/ blue tones approach. In both cases the consumer films are grainier than their pro counter parts, more contrasty and saturated and have more exposure tolerance usually. I buy most of my film from Freestyle or BH photo in the US because our canadian film prices are mostly out to lunch the superia 200/24 was on sale locally for $4.79 the other day. Freestyle has the 200/36 for 3.39 so it doesn't take long to save a fair bit particularly if you buy in bricks and freeze/refrigerate it)

04-26-2012, 12:35 PM	#3
blackcloudbrew Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Cotati, California USA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 4,460	I have opinions about black and white film but not color. Basically I'm really enjoying Ilford products.

04-26-2012, 01:01 PM	#4
tuco Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Pugetopolis Posts: 11,026	Yes, get a 9 or 10 stop ND filter for day and longer exposures. But how long is long for you? In general with color film, you get some color shifts with long exposures and need to experiment with to find out how much to correct your exposure for reciprocity. The Kodak Gold films went through a reformulation around 2007, I believe. They look to render more natural colors like the Portra films. Nightfly here on PF did some 30 minute exposures with Gold 100 with his astrophotography if I recall correctly. You may want to contact him to talk about what color films have better reciprocity characteristics and how much you need to adjust your exposure with the ones he's tried.

04-26-2012, 01:15 PM	#5
kaiserz Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: NoVa The "burg" Photos: Gallery Posts: 899 Original Poster	Thanks for the input guys, I guess the 25 ISO has to wait for while, (I'm also planning to do some coffee processing for BW in the near future) And yes I am going to get me some ND filters (: but just had this Idea of using a 25 ISO film. anyway it's not really that long, I'm thinking 30 secs to 3 mins. So I guess the kodak gold 200 is a nice alternative to the fujifilm? Also sorry for being such a newbie, but what are? exposure tolerance color reciprocity

04-26-2012, 01:27 PM	#6
eddie1960 Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Toronto Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,666	i could type it out but the wiki covers it all Reciprocity (photography) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

05-02-2012, 05:29 AM	#7
GreenMachine Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Photos: Albums Posts: 98	Back when I was using film . . . like back in the late 70's and early 80's we had Kodachrome 25 and I even used some Kodak Ektar 25 in the late 80's. I would be interested in seeing some of the final results from coffee processed film.

05-02-2012, 07:52 AM	#8
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	Originally posted by GreenMachine I would be interested in seeing some of the final results from coffee processed film. Go to Flickr and search on Caffenol. Steve

05-02-2012, 08:30 AM	#9
GreenMachine Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Photos: Albums Posts: 98	OK .. Thanks Steve . I'll check that out.

05-02-2012, 11:15 AM	#10
redrockcoulee Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Medicine Hat Posts: 2,306	For long exposures in black and white use Fuji Acros 100 as it has almost no reciprocity. A couple of years ago I finished off some outdated original Ektar which was 25 ISO colour film. Eddie I find that only for Acros in 120 is there a really large price difference between the States and say the Camerastore in Calgary. But Acros in 4X5 is outrageous in both countries. Freestyle does have some amazing bargains in house brands.

05-02-2012, 11:22 AM	#11
eddie1960 Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Toronto Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,666	Originally posted by redrockcoulee For long exposures in black and white use Fuji Acros 100 as it has almost no reciprocity. A couple of years ago I finished off some outdated original Ektar which was 25 ISO colour film. Eddie I find that only for Acros in 120 is there a really large price difference between the States and say the Camerastore in Calgary. But Acros in 4X5 is outrageous in both countries. Freestyle does have some amazing bargains in house brands. Prices are all over the board in Toronto, but I've not found anything that comes close to the freestyle house brands for price. Unfortunately 120 film isn't really cheap no matter where it comes from. LF film of any type is pretty crazy, but you don't shoot it like 35 either

05-02-2012, 05:03 PM	#13
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	Originally posted by tuco ...no reciprocity... Horrors! Reciprocity is what makes film photography work! What you guys are talking about is reciprocity failure or lack of reciprocity. Steve

05-02-2012, 05:08 PM	#14
redrockcoulee Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Medicine Hat Posts: 2,306	Originally posted by tuco Acros for long exposures is a double-edge sword. On one hand it has reciprocity you can ignore if you want to after 120 seconds and yields consistent results with no need to decrease development time. But on the other hand it has no reciprocity that you can capitalize on in bright conditions. That is, on a bright day even with a 10-stop ND filter and stopping down to f19 it is hard to get longer than 15 seconds (conditions dependent). Yet with most cubic grain films you can get a much longer exposure for a metered 15 seconds. So it all depends on conditions and how long you want for a long exposure. For that there is Artista.edu.ultra with more than enough

05-02-2012, 05:15 PM	#15
eddie1960 Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Toronto Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,666	Originally posted by redrockcoulee For that there is Artista.edu.ultra with more than enough an excellent film (when it's in stock GRRR)