What's a good 400 ISO col neg film.

Woolliscroft · Mar 24, 2005

I have been using Kodak Royal Supra 400 for air photography since it came out and thought it was well worth the extra money. It is now being discontinued and I am wondering what to switch to when my present stock runs out. I need the 400 speed as the aircraft vibrates so much and I need to use neg film because of its willingness to forgive exposure errors, but the higher the resolution and finer the grain the better. Unlike most people, I don't care about flesh tones (you don't see much flesh from 2,000 feet), but the ability to distinguish between subtly different green, brown and yellow tones is vital. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I should try?

David.

panchromatic · Mar 24, 2005

If you like the royal supra i would try the newly packaged 400UC

Jeremy · Mar 24, 2005

Yep, I agree with Ryan: I am a fan of the new Kodak 400UC for my color work (works great in the Holga).

jd callow · Mar 24, 2005

Ditto. The UC and NC would be my top two and they cover opposite ends of the colour spectrum. For me both are better shot at an ISO of 200-320.

Woolliscroft · Mar 24, 2005

Thanks a lot. Sounds good, but sadly Kodak's web site doesn't list it as available in the UK yet. Anything else that would do in the meantime?

David.

jd callow · Mar 24, 2005

Try ordering it from a US or CA store online and see if they will ship to you. If not that have a N American Apugger ship you some.

Nick Zentena · Mar 24, 2005

Might have a different name in the UK/Europe. Wouldn't be the first time names didn't match.

eagleowl · Mar 24, 2005

how about...

...Konica centuria super?
I was kind of forced to use it in Chile,because I couldn't find my usual film(Fuji superia).
It's fairly neutral(I have a shot of a mountain which shows some nice gentle tones),good resolution,and reasonably priced.
One word of warning though-confusingly enough,Konica do a slide film,which is ALSO called centuria!

Donald Qualls · Mar 25, 2005

Might be heresy, I know, but if you're using 35 mm, you should also consider Max 800. The Kodak Max films seem to have excellent resolution and color rendition, and though the 800 will have slightly more "grain" than the 400, the extra film speed will get you another stop of shutter speed to fight that vibration, and the improved sharpness that results might more than offset the loss due to the higher speed emulsion.

If using (as I suspect) 70 mm, Portra 160 NC may be the only choice left in color unless you're willing to go through all the extra process of using movie stock.

If you're shooting 120, however, for your use I'd have to go with the Portra 400 UC recommendation above -- I don't like UC for my own photography, but its enhancement of color by way of (to my eye) excessive saturation is just the thing for making those subtle distinctions of greens, browns, and yellows.

Pats · Mar 25, 2005

I would try Fuji's NPH . You will find the colours you want will be there . Even use their consumer 400 film. They are the best in my opinion. I have been working with these films for the last 20 years or so .

AzRaeL · Apr 6, 2005

Would one of those VR lenses help?

What's a good 400 ISO col neg film.

Woolliscroft

panchromatic

Jeremy

jd callow

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Woolliscroft

jd callow

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Nick Zentena

eagleowl

Donald Qualls

Pats

AzRaeL

What's a good 400 ISO col neg film.

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