If you could shoot only one color film, what would it be?

[Dismayed]

I would never choose to shoot just a single film, but I do have favorites for different conditions.

Portra 160 when I have plenty of light

Portra 400 when I need a bit more speed

Portra 800 when I need the speed

There does seem to be a pattern here.

 

[cjbecker]

E100. Only color i have used for a while now. Havent shot c41 in a good number of years.

 

[DREW WILEY]

C41 color neg films have improved dramatically. And with Cibachrome gone, they're now the only game in town for routine darkroom enlargements. Very high quality results are possible that way, with a learning curve, of course. But you don't have the luxury of simply slapping a chrome or slide atop a light box and instantly evaluating what you shot.

 

[abruzzi]

I shoot very little color at this point. Since I really don't wan't to mail things out for developing, and I have no facility (or talent) for color RA4 printing, It is much simpler to just shoot E6 and scan. So I just use E100G, unless I need more than 5 stops of dynamic range, in which case I shoot B&W.

 

[Tel]

Portra. 160 if it's bright daylight, 400 if it's night time. Format doesn't matter; I just love the color balance and the tight grain.

 

[cmacd123]

I was almost setled on Superia Xtra 400.

 

[Paul Verizzo]

I shoot very little color at this point. Since I really don't wan't to mail things out for developing, and I have no facility (or talent) for color RA4 printing, It is much simpler to just shoot E6 and scan. So I just use E100G, unless I need more than 5 stops of dynamic range, in which case I shoot B&W.

It's easy to process C-41 at home. And then scan it. No mailing needed. (I get that latter point.)

 

[Highlyanimated]

Fuji 400H

 

[dscottjorgenson]

Velvia 50...

 

[koraks]

It's easy to process C-41 at home. And then scan it.

E6 scans a lot easier though.

 

[BMbikerider]

NOT Kodachrome!

(I will stand back and wait for the incoming!)

The flak hasn't arrived yet so with C41 film, Fuji Superia in the original 100iso form for 120 and 35mm

 

[Paul Manuell]

I use Kodak Portra 160 more, MUCH more, than anything else, so that

 

[BMbikerider]

If I understand you correctly, you aren't going to shoot film anymore because you can't budget/justify its expense. You can't compare increased prices as "overpaying," just because once upon a time something was less expensive. I used to buy gasoline for 30 cents a gallon. Now, I'm "overpaying" at close to $5 a gallon. But I still buy it.

I admit that I was unaware of just how much color negative film has increased in price until I looked just now. I looked on Amazon ($15-25/roll!) and on Freestyle. All the good value films are out of stock. But there were a lot of options, in stock, under $10. Fuji 200, $21 for a 3 pack, plus IIRC, $8 shipping.

And then, of course, there's the matter of processing. I'd have to drive to Austin, TX nearby or mail to any number of labs, but certainly no convenient option.

I process my own C-41, then scan and inkjet print.

Maybe time to love some B&W?

Yup! I will go along with you there. I have recently gone back to using 120 and the quality with Gold is good and the grain is so very fine. I have problems using a focussing magnifier to pick an area on an where I can actually find some grain to be useful,

 

[benjiboy]

Kodiak Portra 160 or 400 for prints, Fuji Provia 100 for slides.

 

[Paul Verizzo]

E6 scans a lot easier though.

Don't know why that would be the case. Both are dye clouds, compared to B&W negatives with silver.........although I don't have any issue with that, either. My Canon scanners have a color negative setting which compensates for the orange mask.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Velvia 50.

 

[markjwyatt]

Don't know why that would be the case. Both are dye clouds, compared to B&W negatives with silver.........although I don't have any issue with that, either. My Canon scanners have a color negative setting which compensates for the orange mask.

No need to reverse densities, and no color mask complications.

 

[koraks]

Don't know why that would be the case.

Sure, it's both just dyes on a polymer base. But for several reasons it just turns out to be a lot easier to scan E6 and get colors that at least subjectively conform with the original. Part of it has to do of course that with C41 there's no objective benchmark anymore once you have the film in hand, unless you recorded something like a color checker for calibration. Lots of people get lost in the woods trying to get the raw C41 scan to resemble what they recall the scene look like. With E6, it's less challenging because the objective benchmark is right there on the film.
There's obviously more to it, but the short story is that if you ask 10 amateur photographers who have experience scanning both kinds of film, at least 8 will probably say that E6 scans easier than C41.

 

[Sirius Glass]

It's easy to process C-41 at home. And then scan it. No mailing needed. (I get that latter point.)

I was processing my C-41 at home, but since I do not shoot enough to collect 12 to 16 rolls of film and printing out one or two prints per frame to see what I have got, it has been easier and cheaper to send them out to Samy's Camera and get the film back uncut [I want 6 frames per strip and they are set up for 4 frames per strip] and have the prints and one summary print of all the frames.

 

[trondsi]

Provia 100 for me

 

[lxdude]

I loved that warm look of Agfa slide films many decades ago. Made skin glow.

A really nice film. Creamy whites. I have a shot from 1976 that I had been thinking was Kodachrome 64, but when I looked at the slide recently I saw it was Agfachrome. I believe it was ASA 64 (I don't remember what the exact name of the film was at the time). It has held up as well as Kodachrome- still beautiful color.
I remember buying it with processing included- it came with a cloth mailing pouch.

 

[Joseph Bell]

Portra 800 for c41 and Provia 100 for e6, please!

 

[Patrick Robert James]

Agfa Optima 100. Man that was great film. I still have a couple dozen rolls in the freezer. Another would be the Fuji Superia 800 that used to be sold at Wallyworld. Nice grain.

I scan and print color through the computer these days so it isn't really that critical what film I am using. I don't really shoot color film much anymore though. I think going forward I might switch to movie film. Probably 500T.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Shots taken 35-40 years ago in 6x7 120. Scanned with V600.

Fujicolor SHG 100 https://www.flickr.com/search/?sort=date-taken-desc&safe_search=1&tags=fujicolor&user_id=55760757@N05&view_all=1

Agfa Optima https://www.flickr.com/search/?sort...1&tags=optima&user_id=55760757@N05&view_all=1

 

[DREW WILEY]

Alan, you should try a fresh shot of Half Dome in Yosemite this week. It would match all your skin-tone shots, plus a lot of hard to see through beige makeup, if you could even breathe that smoke long enough to take the shot. No need to worry about correcting for an orange mask on the film - that's mostly all you'd see anyway!