How did you decide which film you'd use?

Arcturus · Apr 29, 2014

I'm just curious how everyone decides which brand or type of film they use. After shooting and printing with a lot of the well-known flims available today, I still have a hard time coming up with an overall preference. True, some films have slightly different characteristics, but they all seem to print the same and are largely indistinguishable on paper. I seem to have a cyclical buying pattern with film, never settling on just one even within the same ISO. So how does everyone here decide?

Black Dog · Apr 29, 2014

As a stiff assed Brit, then it has to be Ilford, what!

Amfooty · Apr 29, 2014

Cost. As a college student, Arista EDU films are the most cost effective since I'm still learning the ins and outs of large format. Eventually I'll move up to Ilford since I love their 120 t-grain film. Kodak's film is twice as expensive as Ilford so I doubt I'll be shooting that any time soon (though trix 320 is pretty beautiful).

pentaxuser · Apr 29, 2014

Amfooty said:
. Kodak's film is twice as expensive as Ilford so I doubt I'll be shooting that any time soon (though trix 320 is pretty beautiful).

Not in the U.K. it isn't. It is quite amazing that Ilford's films can be exported and sell in the U.S. for half the price of Kodak's and yet in the U.K. Kodak whose films are imported matches and in some cases more than matches Ilford prices

There's nowt so queer as folk and film pricing.

pentaxuser

Dr Croubie · Apr 29, 2014

Hype for me, although cost was definitely a factor. I read a whole lot of stuff about people banging on about this or that film that I had to try them. So I ended up with a freezer full of films from fleabay, which I'm still working through.
Haven't as yet decided on many favourites to focus on. There's definitely RVP50and RAP100 which have their specific uses in colour, as does Portra 160.

'old' TX has that massive old-school grainy feel. 'new' TXP, TMY, and HP5 I don't see much difference in, I use them interchangeably, and tried pushing them all to 1600 with limited success, so now it's Delta3200 in microphen only for 1600 and above.

In the 100 range, I've got APX100, TMX, Rollei Retro 100 (which was a cheapass bulk-roll I haven't finished), FP4, and Delta100 and don't see much difference between them for the uses I've given them. FP4 in Rodinal definitely gives that sharp-lines and grainy-sky look, if that's what I'm after at the time.

Slower I've got some APX25, KB25, and ATP1.1, but they'll remain for 'special' occasions, and eventually it'll just leave PanF for slow simply based on price&availability.

cliveh · Apr 29, 2014

Speed, consistency and quality - FP4.

Amfooty · Apr 29, 2014

Fuji Acros 100 is the worst offender though. In 120 it is affordable and one of my favorite films, but 4x5 sheets must be lined with gold since it is almost $300 for 100 sheets, where 100 sheets of HP5+ is $139.

Sirius Glass · Apr 29, 2014

Color: Kodak Porta 400 or Kodak Ultra Color 400 for 135, Kodak Porta 400 for 120, Kodak Vivid Color 160 4"x5"
Black & White: Kodak Tri-X 400 135, Kodak Tri-X 400 or Kodak Plus-X 120, Kodak Tri-X 320 or Kodak TMax 100 or Ilford HP5+ 400 4"x5"

That is what I have in the freezer.

Axle · Apr 29, 2014

Depends on a number of factors.

Am I moving quickly or slowly?
What is my subject?
What overall look am I going for?

bdial · Apr 29, 2014

My preference is for Kodak films.
So, from that, given the current choices, for roll films if I want a bit of graininess, I use Tri-X, if I'm looking for less grain then I go with one of the T-Max films. My favorite had been Plus-X.

I also have some FP4 and HP5, along with a few rolls of SFX which I use when the mood strikes.

markbarendt · Apr 29, 2014

cliveh said:
Speed, consistency and quality - FP4.

I do enjoy FP4+

In early days though for me there was a fair amount of tech sheeting & scouring the forums for the magic bullet. I think what saved me from the magic bullet chase in the end though was that; if I did my job, the film always did it's. The only times I've found films I truly didn't like working with, was when I tried something outside Ilford, Fuji, or Kodak's offerings.

omaha · Apr 29, 2014

When I first got back into film last year, I picked FP4, mainly because Ilford is such a good contributor to this forum and it seemed like a decent place to start. I have a few bricks of it stored up, and keep buying more, and am just starting to think I can make a decent print in my darkroom.

I also decided to try some Portra 160 and Ektar 100, and absolutely fell in love. I use a hybrid workflow on those, but even with a scan, I'm getting colors and highlights that makes me realize what a lie digital really is.

dehk · Apr 29, 2014

Depends on how much money I have.

brian steinberger · Apr 29, 2014

Tonality and grain have always been my deciding factors. I love HP5, Tri-x and FP4 developed in ID-11 1:1 or 1:2, or sometimes rodinal.

Trail Images · Apr 29, 2014

As my subject and shooting conditions are planned out around the film I most consistently use to date which is always Velvia 50. That has been in both 120 and 4x5. As I burn through my remaining sheets of 4x5 in V-50 I've yet to decide if I'll go with V-100 or Provia. I'll no doubt remain with V-50 in 120, as long as it's available.
Most recently I've started using Ilford Delta 100 in both sizes. As V-50 is short on exposure latitude once the sun has cycled through my normal window of usage I start using the Delta 100 keeping my time open for shooting a bit longer.

yulia_s_rey · Apr 29, 2014

dehk said:
Depends on how much money I have.

^Same here. Now in terms of the films I know inside and out and feel the most comfortable using: Tri-X Reversal.

Arcturus · Apr 29, 2014

I do like using Kodak films, they are high quality of course, but also they are yellow. For some reason I like seeing all the yellow rolls of film, its exciting. Also, theyre still made in the USA, which is a rare thing these days. I do find myself shooting Ilford more and more though mostly because of their documentation. They have very good and up to date documentation for their line of films and developers and dev times. With Kodak I find it can be either outdated or confusing. Then theres Fujifilm, they make good film too so I always buy some Acros, along with some other smaller company's film because I want to support them too. And then the circle of film purchases starts over.

Jeff Kubach · Apr 29, 2014

I'm using Kodak Tri-x, I enjoy using it. I might go back to Ilford because they do support APUG.

Jeff

removed account4 · Apr 29, 2014

i use expired film
it doesn't matter much to me
the brand or iso
it all gets exposed the same
and developed at+for the same time
temperature.

Hatchetman · Apr 29, 2014

Slide film: Kodak always looked better projected IMO. Huge loss for me.
B&W I liked Kodak, figured they had the best technology. I grew to like TMax 100.
Now, its obvious to me Kodak doesn't care about the film business I am moving to all Ilford - FP4 will be my film.

horacekenneth · Apr 29, 2014

I prefer Ilford, mainly for the great marketing they have been doing showing their dedication to film. From all the different lines of film they have to buying a cassette machine to make their own cassettes - there was that article on the webs about how long term sustainable their factory is and Simon Galley is just a doll, no one else in that market is more responsive to their customers here than Simon.
Also they've introduced new lines of photo paper and new cameras and have cool projects. I definitely prefer Ilford.

Dr Croubie · Apr 29, 2014

Arcturus said:
I do like using Kodak films, they are high quality of course, but also they are yellow. For some reason I like seeing all the yellow rolls of film, its exciting.

Actually, to be honest, That's almost entirely the reason I love PanF and Delta100. Nothing to do with the characteristics of the films (although I'm sure they're good), I just love the orange and blue on the white boxes.
Come to think of it, same with Agfa RSX slide films that i've got a few of in the freezer.

MattKing · Apr 29, 2014

I was basically weaned on Kodak films, so all of my favorites have been Kodak.

After 40+ years of using them, I'd prefer to continue to do so.

Most of the films themselves have changed through the years, but my loyalty hasn't.

I'll be really sad when all my Plus-X and E100 are gone, but hopefully I'll be able to be shooting T-Max 100, T-Max 400 and the Portras and Ektar 100 in their stead.

I'd recommend Ilford to anyone, after recommending Kodak first.

removed-user-1 · Apr 29, 2014

I guess my answer to the OP's question is "I choose my film through word of mouth and trial-and-error."

When I first started doing black and white, my peers were all using T-Max (which was still pretty new at the time, the early 1990s). My parents, both amateur photographers who learned photography in the 1960s, insisted that Tri-X was *the* film. So I started with that and still use it sometimes. I did try T-Max from time to time but I never really enjoyed it. At some point in the early 90s, I picked up a roll of Plus-X and just fell in love with the tonality and grain, especially in medium format. I have 8x10 prints from 6x4.5cm negatives that have been mistaken, by trained photographers, for 8x10 contact prints. Plus-X is still my favorite film and I was very upset when it was discontinued. I'm now using Ilford FP4+ for almost everything, and it is pretty close in my opinion. I tend to be relatively unscientific about these things, I have no real numbers; it's mostly just visual.

darkosaric · Apr 30, 2014

I use any film and develop in Rodinal 1+100 semi-stand for one hour (only HP5+ goes in HC110, and sometimes I play with other developers for fun).
This is good enough for me, even the worst (cheapest) film on the world (Polypan F of course) gives me good results if I am careful during the whole process.

How did you decide which film you'd use?

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