• Welcome to Photrio!
    Registration is fast and free. Join today to unlock search, see fewer ads, and access all forum features.
    Click here to sign up

Favourite film for greyish autumn and winter weather?

Odot

Member
Allowing Ads
Joined
Oct 11, 2016
Messages
257
Location
Berlin
Format
Multi Format
And why? Just curious what people like to shoot with. Thanks
 
I don't actually have one but recently having drifted back to Medium Format (as well as 35mm), I find my film, especially colour negative to be limited, so use Kodak Ektar and am about to try out Formapan 100. (saves swapping film speeds on my spotmeter)

With 35mm I also use Agfa Vista and FP4 (Yes I'm boring) but I get the results I can work with.
 
I switch to faster films in the Winter. The UK is often very grey in Winter and the light is often poor. Kodak TMax 400 or Ilford Delta 400 works for me in 35mm. In medium format, Ilford HP5+. I find the grain of HP5 a bit obtrusive from 35mm (but I still use it sometimes). For medium format it isn't so bad as there is less enlargement. I have even used Ilford Delta 3200 on really dull days when it hardly seems to get light at all.
 
Last edited:
I switch to faster films in the Winter. The UK is often very grey in Winter and the light is often poor.

That's the price you pay for living in the dull and dark south of England! Up here in North Yorkshire the sun shines nearly every day! On the odd occasion when we get dull weather I find Foma 400 works very well, as it seems to look more atmospheric than Hp5, TriX or FP4. Another film that works for me in flat light is Pan F. It seems to have a micro-contrast that lifts things very nicely.

Alan
 
Wish I lived in sunny North Yorks. Here in the gloomy Midlands it's Superia 800 for me. But not much of it, I don't suppose I shoot more than two rolls of film between October and April.
 
It was even worse when I lived in Dundee. It's just the latitude and not aided by grey overcast weather. The "Sunny f16" rule is a bit optimistic in the UK even in Summer and some people say "Sunny f11" is more reliable. I like 400 speed films anyway. They give me a lot more flexibility.
 
I still shoot with Ektar. Sometimes I might pop a roll of Portra 400 in, though. The extra saturation provided by those emulsions is almost required when the dreary October-March weather hits.

-J
 
Delta - usually 400 because it is pretty versatile and pushes well - 100 for bright snowy stuff.
 
I agree Kodak Ultra Color if you can find it.
 
For dull, grey English autumn and early winter, I will generally use a 400ASA film...B&W my go-to film is HP5+. I'm not a fan of Fomapan 400, I find the grain obtrusive and clumpy for outdoor shots (but conversely it works wonderfully indoors...odd)

For colour I'd go with Fuji Superia 400 or just possibly Kodak Ultramax 400.

If the snow comes, I would use Fomapan 100 in B&W or possibly FP4+....colour I'd probably go with Agfa Vista Plus 200. It's cheap and very cheerful.
 
I had great success with Superior 400 in winter months. It had this honest about the colours that I liked a lot. I am wondering whether saturated film like Kodak Ektar will do justice. I am wondering the same question about snowy scenes....
 
For snow scenes, especially in the sun, I prefer Portra. Don't need the high contrast and saturation of Ektar for that. I use that before it snows.
 
I'm not a fan of the saturated films. When Kodacolor Gold appeared in what...the late 80s?....I kept buying Kodacolor VR and the later bottom of the line Kodak films as they looked more like the scene I was viewing. Portra NC was good too.

I would think that the current Portra line is fine for dull winter days but I'd go for Fuji Superia 400. Can't go wrong with that film.
 
I have found the best results are by using a CC 10R (red color correcting) filter to warm things up just a bit. For really gray days maybe even a 20R filter.
 
For warming I prefer the 81 series of filters. Especially at higher elevations.
 
If it were still feasible, I'd go for Kodachrome!
 
i only have one favorite film it is EXPIRED film.
i use it in every type of weather, sunny, cloudy, wintery, stormy...
 
Fomapan 400 great for this time of year, I need the faster speed as it can be very dark and grey during the winter, it is my favorite time of the year for shooting, lovely soft light and when the sun does pock it's nose out of the clouds it can be magic
 
FP4+ I'm shooting more LF landscapes on these days an FP4+ has been treating me right for the last few years on those gray overcast days. There is one right now outside and I want to head into the mountains and photograph the storm front and misty atmosphere!