Best 35mm film?

I want to enter the NYTimes Magazine college student photography contest, and I'm planning to shoot the pictures with my Minolta STsi 35mm camera. Which film is the best for capturing (probably outdoor) images of stationary people and places? I'll get them processed at someplace nice, not my local K-Mart or CVS, but I know film is an important part of it.

I'm thinking either 100 or 400 speed film will be best. I'll probably shoot a roll of each and choose 10-20 out of those two for the contest. The rules say to submit between 10 and 20 images, so I think two rolls of 36 should be okay.

 

[minendo]

I prefer Agfa film. Did all my own work using Agfa Black and White and had excellent results. Of course, I also developed all of them myself.

 

[edro]

I just use Kodak Max 200 with my Rebel.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Go to a real photography store and buy professional type film, the color saturation is better as well as tighter grain.

Many of the new 400ASA films look as good as the old 100ASA but 400 outdoors can limit your playing with depth of field. Slower films permit me to open up and soften the back ground.

 

[AEnigmaWI]

one: be careful where you get it processed, some photographer friends of mine have had film stolen that had amazing pics on it.

two: Agfa is gr8 film.. b & w or color, but I prefer it to Kodak or Fuji.. I think 100 is great for high light situations, but you could do 200 if you're nervous about the 100 being too slow.

 

[phantom309]

If you're good, you can make a great photograph with almost anything. For what I think you want, Kodak Royal Gold 100 would work fine. Good film for people. No need for faster film if you're outdoors shooting stationary subjects. For buildings, landscapes, nature etc. I'd suggest Fuji Velvia or Provia slide film.

 

[ElFenix]

fujichrome velvia

unless you're taking portraits... fuji tends to make people redder...

 

[Anubis]

color or B&W?

for color id go with Fuji Velvia 50 ISO pushed to 100 ISO, amazing color satuartion and detail - it is a slide film FYI

for B&W id go with Illford PanF 50 ISO, this stuff is amazing great contrast great tones very fine grain, Or Illford FP4 125 ISO,

if you need a higher ISO because of lighting, Push the FP4-400, or just use FP5 400 ISO, it is grainer tho then pushed FP4, for color you can buy 200 ISO Velvia and push it to 400

 

[jpeyton]

Use Velvia slide film if you want the absolute best.

The closest you can get to slide film without actually using it is the Kodak HD 400ISO. Despite all the marketing pizazz, it's actually a very high quality film; very low noise, great color reproduction.

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Use Velvia slide film if you want the absolute best.

The closest you can get to slide film without actually using it is the Kodak HD 400ISO. Despite all the marketing pizazz, it's actually a very high quality film; very low noise, great color reproduction.

:beer:

 

[OffTopic1]

Pro films are the same film as consumer films & batch, however they has been age/ripen to have the best/consistent colour saturation/toe. Therefore pro films has to be refrigerates to keep its consistency.

Slide films (colour reversal film) are generally use for stock photography because it is easier to make separation from it, also the resolution & color saturation is higher than regular print films. But, the grain of slide films are slightly larger than print films.

My preferences are:

Fujichrome Velvia 50 iso ? My favorite for most out door shooting situation because it have the highest punch for colour saturation out of all films, and deliver beautiful greens.

Agfachrome RSX II 50 iso ? Deliver amazing & the most accurate violet & purple colours.

Fujichrome 50 iso ? Have very accurate natural tones of all slide films, however it saturation scale isn?t as high as modern slide films.

Kodachrome 25 & 64 ? Deliver awesome red colours.

Fujichrome Velvia 100 or Provia 100 ? Provia is the modern replacement of Velvia because it is more tolerant to storage & heat, however it is a bit less in saturation.

Fujichrome Sensia 100 ? Amature version of Provia.

I use to shoot with a full range of 6-12 different films in my fridge, and 6-8 types in my bag.
I now normally carry 4 rolls of Delta 100 B&W, 1-2 rolls of Velvia 50, 1 roll of Agfachrome 50, 1-2 rolls of Sensia or Provia 100, and 2-4 rolls of Reala 100 or Superia 200, when go on shoot around town or a couples of hours drive between home & location. On vacation I now shoot exclusively Sensia and Superia because it doesn?t need refrigeration.

As for the photo contest: Try shooting as much as you can with various type of films & find one that you like that fit your shooting style.

For best result, try shooting with a 50mm standard lens (usually are the sharpest lens in all lens groups) at f5.6~11, and a tripod ++ cable release or remote.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: OffTopic
Pro films are the same film as consumer films & batch, however they has been age/ripen to have the best/consistent colour saturation/toe. Therefore pro films has to be refrigerates to keep its consistency.

Slide films (colour reversal film) are generally use for stock photography because it is easier to make separation from it, also the resolution & color saturation is higher than regular print films. But, the grain of slide films are slightly larger than print films.

My preferences are:

Fujichrome Velvia 50 iso ? My favorite for most out door shooting situation because it have the highest punch for colour saturation out of all films, and deliver beautiful greens.

Agfachrome RSX II 50 iso ? Deliver amazing & the most accurate violet & purple colours.

Fujichrome 50 iso ? Have very accurate natural tones of all slide films, however it saturation scale isn?t as high as modern slide films.

Kodachrome 25 & 64 ? Deliver awesome red colours.

Fujichrome Velvia 100 or Provia 100 ? Provia is the modern replacement of Velvia because it is more tolerant to storage & heat, however it is a bit less in saturation.

Fujichrome Sensia 100 ? Amature version of Provia.

I use to shoot with a full range of 6-12 different films in my fridge, and 6-8 types in my bag.
I now normally carry 4 rolls of Delta 100 B&W, 1-2 rolls of Velvia 50, 1 roll of Agfachrome 50, 1-2 rolls of Sensia or Provia 100, and 2-4 rolls of Reala 100 or Superia 200, when go on shoot around town or a couples of hours drive between home & location. On vacation I now shoot exclusively Sensia and Superia because it doesn?t need refrigeration.

As for the photo contest: Try shooting as much as you can with various type of films & find one that you like that fit your shooting style.

For best result, try shooting with a 50mm standard lens (usually are the sharpest lens in all lens groups) at f5.6~11, and a tripod ++ cable release or remote.

someone else that knows their stuff :beer:

just a question for you, im assumeing that that delta 100 you carry around is Illford Delta 100, im just woundering why you shoot that instead of Illford FP4 125? im my expirence the FP4 is a much better film and has always deleivere better results for me then delta, plus delts supposidily has less silver in it then other 100 ISO films, so m just curious as to your reasons for useing it

 

[OffTopic1]

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: OffTopic
Pro films are the same film as consumer films & batch, however they has been age/ripen to have the best/consistent colour saturation/toe. Therefore pro films has to be refrigerates to keep its consistency.

Slide films (colour reversal film) are generally use for stock photography because it is easier to make separation from it, also the resolution & color saturation is higher than regular print films. But, the grain of slide films are slightly larger than print films.

My preferences are:

Fujichrome Velvia 50 iso ? My favorite for most out door shooting situation because it have the highest punch for colour saturation out of all films, and deliver beautiful greens.

Agfachrome RSX II 50 iso ? Deliver amazing & the most accurate violet & purple colours.

Fujichrome 50 iso ? Have very accurate natural tones of all slide films, however it saturation scale isn?t as high as modern slide films.

Kodachrome 25 & 64 ? Deliver awesome red colours.

Fujichrome Velvia 100 or Provia 100 ? Provia is the modern replacement of Velvia because it is more tolerant to storage & heat, however it is a bit less in saturation.

Fujichrome Sensia 100 ? Amature version of Provia.

I use to shoot with a full range of 6-12 different films in my fridge, and 6-8 types in my bag.
I now normally carry 4 rolls of Delta 100 B&W, 1-2 rolls of Velvia 50, 1 roll of Agfachrome 50, 1-2 rolls of Sensia or Provia 100, and 2-4 rolls of Reala 100 or Superia 200, when go on shoot around town or a couples of hours drive between home & location. On vacation I now shoot exclusively Sensia and Superia because it doesn?t need refrigeration.

As for the photo contest: Try shooting as much as you can with various type of films & find one that you like that fit your shooting style.

For best result, try shooting with a 50mm standard lens (usually are the sharpest lens in all lens groups) at f5.6~11, and a tripod ++ cable release or remote.

someone else that knows their stuff :beer:

just a question for you, im assumeing that that delta 100 you carry around is Illford Delta 100, im just woundering why you shoot that instead of Illford FP4 125? im my expirence the FP4 is a much better film and has always deleivere better results for me then delta, plus delts supposidily has less silver in it then other 100 ISO films, so m just curious as to your reasons for useing it

Delta technology is similar to T-Max: they are relatively newer B&W design with tri-layer/crystals, that uses less silver halides than traditional films. Therefore Delta & T-Max grain & resolutions are higher, but the trade off is the lower tolerance to exposures, developing temperatures, and higher reticulation index.

If you are a confident photographer with lots of darkroom experience & with good temperature control?is not a problem to use the newer film design for tighter grain.

If you don?t mind a bit of grain, then FP4/FP5 & Tri-X are excellent films that deliver beautiful tonal range & highly tolerable to exposure & temperature conditions.

My favorite was Agfapan 25 ISO that deliver amazing tonal range when shoot at 12-32 ISO (longer than Tri-X), and the grain just about as tight as T-Max when develop with Microdol. However my stock of 100 rolls in 220 format ran out several years back?the film was discontinued round 1990-1991.