Cheap 35mm film recommendations?

I was about to buy a pack of Kodak Ultramax 400 from Amazon but I wondered if anyone had any suggestions for other interesting general-use film that’s affordable. I just shot some rolls of Fuji Superia 400 and I didn’t like it, so I thought I’d try Ultramax for a more faded/subdued type of look which is what it seems.

I’m looking for less saturation, a more “old timey” look, but still with good detail and sharpness. Any suggestions?

I already have a roll of Portra but I’m looking for more affordable general use film that has any interesting effects also.

I would suggest Kodak Color Plus 200. It appears to be based on an older emulsion from the 80's. It's certainly less saturated, though of course a full stop slower. If you develop your own color you could try a bleach bypass. This will keep the developed silver in the image and give the colors a muted, faded look like you're searching for. I've never tried it (yet) but I've seen images posted on the web from this process. They tend to have a 1970's faded color look.

I like Ultramax. As far as cheap color film goes, I've only tried it, Superia, Fuji 200, and some other Kodak I can't remember. If you are okay with B&W, I absolutely love Ultrafine Xtreme right now. A 100-foot roll is $49. They say that is about $1.80 per roll (24 exp). You have to bulk load it, but that isn't hard once you've done it a couple of times.

brainmonster said:

...I thought I’d try Ultramax for a more faded/subdued type of look...

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Ultramax is your basic punchy, consumer-oriented color film. I don't mean that pejoratively - it's a good film. But it's not what you want if you're after a film that's inherently "faded/subdued".

Ulramax is, if anything, more saturated than any Fuji Superia stock. I'd try Color Plus if you're looking for something less "punchy". What I like about Color Plus is that it renders sunny days looking sunny, and cloudy days looking cloudy. There's no attempt to brighten up things. I also like Ultramax but for different reasons, it's great with bright colours. If you shop around you can sometimes get Color Plus for bargain prices.

Also consider the Lomography colour negative films if you can get them, they're probably based on the same 80s/90s Kodak technology as Color Plus and come in 100, 400 and 800 flavours.

I learned accidentally that Kodak Colorplus gives faded pastel colours when heavily over exposed.

Find someone who's selling close date Portra cheap. I haven't been shooting much color negative film lately but I'm always amazed by Portra. Not cheap though.

brainmonster said:

I was about to buy a pack of Kodak Ultramax 400 from Amazon but I wondered if anyone had any suggestions for other interesting general-use film that’s affordable. I just shot some rolls of Fuji Superia 400 and I didn’t like it, so I thought I’d try Ultramax for a more faded/subdued type of look which is what it seems.

I’m looking for less saturation, a more “old timey” look, but still with good detail and sharpness. Any suggestions?

I already have a roll of Portra but I’m looking for more affordable general use film that has any interesting effects also.

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Colorplus 200; https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/colorplus-200-examples-nikon-f100.169237/#post-2201690

$3.59 per roll at Freestyle: https://www.freestylephoto.biz/6031470-Kodak-Color-Plus-200-ISO-35mm-x-36-exp.

Can't believe no one's suggested Fuji C200 yet. I think it's an awesome film if you give it good light. Literally the cheapest film available, $3.33 at Adorama for rolls of 36. I rate it at 200 and get tons of keepers, it is more forgiving than Ektar. I find the colors are saturated but not in the same was a Superia 400, which I don't like. You can totally get a portra-ey look from C200. I wish they had it for medium format. Crucially, I think it's also an easy film to scan and color correct.

But that said, Portra 400 is an objectively better film with more latitude and the exact color palate you desire and I would recommend that as a beginner you just get it and swallow the price. You will get more keepers and after the price of processing the cost of the film is a minor factor. If, for every roll of 36 you get 5 keepers when you shoot Colorplus and 10 keepers when you shoot Portra, don't you think the extra $5 is more than worth it when you take into account the $10 you have to spend on developing (probably)?

In my opinion, the only time cheap film ever makes sense nowadays is if you like the look of a particular cheap stock, or if you do all the development yourself and shoot a ton of film.

People who shoot a roll a week or a roll a month and send the film to a lab should not worry about the cost of the film itself. /rant

Grim Tuesday said:

Can't believe no one's suggested Fuji C200 yet. I think it's an awesome film if you give it good light

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Fuji C200 is my go to for C41 and would also love it in medium format.
Wouldn't recommend it to the OP though given the criteria they've specified, Colorplus and the Lomo CN series sound like the right films for them.

brainmonster said:

I’m looking for less saturation, a more “old timey” look, but still with good detail and sharpness. Any suggestions?

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Maybe Kodak Pro Image comes somewhat close to what you're looking for if it needs to be cheap(ish). Otherwise, Portra.