Do you use online tools to decide on film stocks?

ohnewton35

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Firstly, I've always bought film online whether by Ebay or even the classifieds here. Sometimes though, I'll find myself buying film in person. For both audiences I'm curious, when you run upon a new film stock or are deciding between multiple, do you ever use any online tools like Lomography's image samples or online reviews? I've personally always googled sample images on other sites like Flikr before making new film stock purchases but I'd really like to hear if anyone else has a go-to online tool or method for choosing film stocks to purchase?
 

Anon Ymous

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No, never. I have seen the same film stock looking so radically different that it's pointless. People have all sorts of metering, processing and digital manipulation styles - habits that you can't make any meaningful decisions when looking for examples on-line. I just take into account availability, price, speed and characteristics (fine - coarse grain etc) and make a decision.
 

Bill Burk

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I decided to try Double-X after seeing some microscopic images of its grain which I thought looked “beautiful” to replace a film that I have been using TMY2 for my day-to-day photography.

I love TMY2 for medium and large format and its grain is not apparent in prints.

But for 35mm the grain is visible, and I wouldn’t call it “beautiful”.

So after trying a few rolls from one of the resellers, and confirming that… indeed the grain is “beautiful”, I just got a bulk 100 feet from a member here (RoboRepublic).

Takes me years to make these decisions. But I am now committed to shooting Panatomic-X and Double-X for the foreseeable future.

I can always switch to TMY2 and TMAX100 because they are just fine.
 

koraks

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I certainly look at examples online before buying a type of film I haven't used before. But I don't attribute much meaning to what I see. I mostly enjoy seeing how others use something creatively. It's an entertainment / amusement thing.
 

Huss

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Never. I know that Kodak, Fuji, Ilford etc know what they are doing much more than I do, so I just buy it.



The exception to the rule -Shanghai 220 b&w film. They haven’t figured it out yet.
 

Sirius Glass

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Huss said:
Never. I know that Kodak, Fuji, Ilford etc know what they are doing much more than I do, so I just buy it.



The exception to the rule -Shanghai 220 b&w film. They haven’t figured it out yet.
Click to expand...

Kodak, Ilford and Rollei IR 400 only & from stores. The exception is Konica IR film from Photrio Classified. I use FireFox to shop if I am not going to be near a camera store.
 
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pentaxuser

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If you are interested in "new" films and films from the main producers such as Ilford Kodak etc then Greg Davis aka The Naked Photographer has produced videos on almost the whole range of films currently in the market or is producing videos on those films he has bought for testing but not yet tested

You might want to look at them

pentaxuser
 

Don_ih

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ic-racer said:
Are there any new B&W films in the last ten years?
Click to expand...

Kodak P3200 - which was resurrected - may or may not be exactly as it was.
Ilford Ortho 80 is new as of last year.
And Fuji's Acros II is resurrected - I think people find it somewhat different from the original.
 

abruzzi

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My ‘tool’ is to buy a little, and try it out. Most B&W film is not so expensive that that poses a problem for me. I rarely shoot 35 these days, so a 120 roll runs from $6 to about $12 a roll. 2 or 3 rolls and a walk around the neighborhood shooting many of the same shots gives me the opportunity to compare to previous films. But there are few new films these days.
 

canaq

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Never use an online tool, I mostly use the same film because experience told me I like them the most. Sometimes I like to try out something new, just so I'm convinced again to use the ones I always do
 

grain elevator

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filmtmax400

Fremkallertabell for Kodak T-max 400 film
fotoimport.no
Has curves and high res scans for a lot of different film and developer combinations.
Used to have a more logical, and English, interface, which I can't find any more. Does anyone have a link? Or has it disappeared?
 

BradS

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I just buy fresh film from Kodak, Ilford and Fuji and use it.
 

Steven Lee

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@abruzzi of course it's a legit word used somewhere in cinema, youtube, instagram or whatever. just not applicable for socks, cars, or photo films.
 

MattKing

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I sort of see where film "stock" is applicable - now that there are so many re-branders of what is in essence the same film.
And of course, while car stocks would be weird, stock cars are of course a thing .
 

M-88

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No. That seems futile, considering how many variables are there - film batch, devloper, development, scanning, display colour calibration etc.

Luckily I began shooting film right when it was dirt cheap, due to digital photography taking over, so I could easily afford trying pretty much each one of common amateur and pro stock (heck, some of them are out of production already ). If I had to start shooting film in 2023, I'd have to go with the cheapest option.
 

Brad Deputy

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I will read various reviews and commentary from experienced photographers, when I want to learn about a film I haven't tried.....and sometimes not; I bought a bulk roll of Foma Creative 200, just because it mentioned a type of T-grain, at an uncommon speed. It fascinated me. Reviews are mixed, but I found favor, with some of my best shots taken with it.

As for new films, ADOX has one too. Supposedly HR-50 is a ~5 year young film, though I hear it's based on an old classic (pre-flashed AGFA Aviphot 80 I think). With the recent growth of film popularity it wouldn't surprise me to find more, soon.

EDIT: Found a Reddit thread where someone claims an ADOX representative denied the film is pre-flashed, but a different method was instead employed. No further details were given.
 
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David R Williams

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As input to consider those films (for some reason, I intensely dislike calling films "stocks", but perhaps that's due to ingrained photo terms from the '70's when films were films, not stocks) that I'd like to consider shooting, and for appropriate development thoughts, definitely, but no hard decisions on anything without shooting it, developing, and getting a feel for what it can really do, personally.
 

canaq

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Great link, thanks!
 
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