Toronto Photography Meetup Group

So, since I was starting to think of using film, can anyone give me suggestions on what my first foray into 35mm film should be?

I'm going to be using a Canon SLR, with EF lenses, if that helps differentiate.

personally I like Ektachrome.... Kodak E100VS

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professi ... path=13372

I've also been shooting some K200 recently .. and its also a nice film. I prefer slide film over neg.

I would advise against using any chrome (aka slide film) if this is your first go round with film. The exposure latitude is extremely narrow, so you will have to hit your exposures bang on. It is far from forgiving.

If you want to shoot colour any of the modern Kodak films like Portra are great IMHO. They come in 160/400/800 speeds. The 160 and 400 are availble as NC (neutral or natural colours) or VC (vivid colour). If you want even more punch there's the new Ektar and it's an ISO of 100. Fuji makes some great film as well. Reala is great for ISO 100. Pro 400H is a pretty neutral ISO 400 film.\

For black and white you probably want to start with one of the two chromogenic films (can be developed at any minilab like Walmart/Shoppers). Either Ilford XP2 Super or Kodak BW400CN. Both 400 ISO and tons of latitude.

Start with the Ektar. It's pretty cheap.. good practice film for now. Get the more expensive films later. Take a shot at buying expired film for a lower cost.

Consider a B&W film such as Kodak TMAX 100 or 400.

I like Ilford FP4 125 for B&W. But remember that you can't just go change the ISO like you can on a digital.

yeah, if you're gonna process films yourself B/W will be easier to control, T-MAX 400 is really easy to use and handle, film itself comes out pretty damn flat too (physically speaking, not the image) so it is easy to scan and handle. It is my second go to film after ilford delta 400.

if you're gonna have a lab develop for you, traditional B/W may prove to be more expensive. the above mentioned kodak BW400CN is a very good replacement since it does B/W pictures through regular c-41 processing.

for colour I do like how things are so vivid in the new ektar 100s (although my comparisons are from the films I shot a decade ago...), it does seem to have a bit of blue/cyan cast seeing how red comes out magenta on my uncalibrated scanning, but otherwise it seems very stable and crisp.

slide/chromes are fun but e-6 processing is annoying for me since downtown is the only easiest place to get them done. for regular c-41 I just drop off at walmart and they have it done for me (process only) within 1 hour for 3$ a roll for 36 exp. not the best quality to be honest and there may be some scratches, but since it is not a mission critical film for me I just use them for the convenience. if the pictures are once in a lifetime type of shots, I assume I would drag myself to a pro lab.