Enrique Cabrera wrote:
>What film do you recomend to shoot?
Disregarding b&w for a moment, your choice of film (slide vs print) depends
on what you want to do with it.
Print film is good because it's cheap, processing is widely available and
you can view and show your work easily. Enlargements are cheap. It has good
tolerance of exposure errors. Prints are still easier to scan than films.
Slide film is a more exacting medium. If you wish to sell your photographs
most markets prefer slides (though images supplied in digital media are
catching on). Slides can cost more, are fiddly to view and exposure
tolerance is narrow (+/- 2/3 stop). However, the clarity and colour
saturation cannot be matched. There's still nothing more impressive than a
good slide show for showcasing the merits of your Zuikos, but of course you
need a slide projector. Prints from slides are expensive but often retain
the colours of the original better than a print from colour negatives.
Black and white: choice here is, even more that the above two categories, a
matter of taste and preference. Some will swear by Kodak T-max films, others
love Ilford, or perhaps Agfa. Chromogenic films such as Ilford XP2 and Kodak
T400CN give b&w results from a film compatible with colour print chemistry.
This means you can get the film developed at a typical minilab. Chromogenics
apart, IMHO you can only establish a _real_ preference if you print your own.
Some suggestions....
Unless you have a great desire to use slides, stick with colour prints.
Films I'd recommend:
Kodak Royal Gold 100/400 (200asa version has the same grain as 400 so no
advantage in using it) - medium contrast/colour saturation print film
Konica VX100/200/400 - cheap, and good colour palette, an underrated film
Fuji NPH400 - superb quality portrait film.
Fuji NPS160 - same as above, 160asa, even finer grain
Kodak Portra range are direct competitors to Fuji NPS/NPH, though I haven't
tried them.
Fuji Superia, Kodak Gold not recommended - too vibrant and contrasty, yeuch
skin tones. Choice of lab is a factor, printing quality varies enormously.
Trial and error is unfortunately the only way to find a reasonable service.
Colour slides:
Kodachrome - was my staple until bad processing ruined too many films. Still
can't be beaten when at its best
Kodak Elite/E100 - amateur/pro versions of the same film, similar to Fujichrome
Fujichrome - all excellent films, sharp and generally vibrant colours.
Velvia for super-punchy, Sensia II (the amateur version of Astia) for more
natural colours. Elite/E100 give better skin tones than Fujichromes IMHO.
These would be my choice, but there are other films which may suit your
needs or tastes better.
Simon E.
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