Which films do you like to use?

[DanG (m1)]

I've recently begun to try this new thing that people refer to as film and was wondering which films people like to use... Seriously though, i started shooting with digital equipment and never really worked with film until the past few months. So far i've been using mostly slide, about 4 rolls of sensia 100, 1 of 200, 1 roll of elite chrome 100 and 2K64 rolls. So far, i have not been liking the look of the sensia films but i did like elite chrome and K64. I havent shot much print film, and dont intend to as my scanner (nikon IV) doesnt like to load the film with the motorized loader, and the film tray is too time consuming...

In short, what films do people like to use for various subjects?

[skippyscage]

I always liked the look and used the Fuji range of film - a different colour range

haven't shot film for over 1.5 years though.

[k5083]

Dan,

I have been bouncing around among film types for years and still am, so the following is just where I am at the moment.

Kodachrome is wonderful stuff and I would use it for the type of abstract statics you often do.  Considering that hyped-up saturation is now the current fashion, Kodachrome in many ways is perfect for the digital age.  But it has two drawbacks.  First, it has a unique developing process and Kodak itself has stopped processing it, leaving you at the mercy of third-party labs that vary greatly in their mastery of the process.  But this can be overcome, there are still reliable developers out there.  Another problem is that if your typical workflow is to scan and then print digitally, Kodachrome sometimes (though not always) does not work well with the infrared dust removal technologies that most scanners now incorporate.  Manually removing dust from a big scan can be a real chore, although for absolute top quality it is still better than using the IR-based removal.

If these things put you off Kodachrome I would try Fuji Velvia, which a lot of pros who used to use Kodachrome have switched to for the above reasons.  I try to have it in the camera when I am shooting my most important evocative statics.  It too has a very dense and saturated look, probably with a bit more neutral color balance than Kodachrome.  The ISO 50 grade can really blow you away.  This year I'm trying Velvia 100 for the first time, to see if it lives up to Fuji's hype.

For times when you don't want the jacked-up colors but are interested more in what-you-see-is-what-you-get, I suggest Fuji Provia.  Not too expensive and a good all-purpose film.  I find it surprisingly forgiving of exposure errors, especially underexposure.

Color neg films are still very useful and they are making some really good ones now.  For low-speed shooting my current favorite is Fuji Reala.  It has beautiful grain and low contrast and wide latitude, useful for managing the very high contrast we have to deal with on sunny airshow days.  

I shoot my ground-to-air with cheap, slow equipment and that means that on all but the sunniest days I need to have some ISO 400 in the bag.  Generally I will use neg films as I have never liked any fast slide films.  Fuji Superia Xtra 400 is good, and I also like Kodak High Definition 400 film (which may have changed its name to something else recently).  Both are very fine-grained for their speed, but consumer scanners greatly accentuate the grain in any negative film and it can be tough to get a really good scanned image even with a lot of post-processing, especially if you set your sites on duplicating the plastic-smooth look of a digital picture.

August

[DanG (m1)]

Thanks for your help August and skippy.

[RichardVM]

Once Provia 100F (Fuji) came out that was about the only thing I shot. 500-1000 rolls a year. Before that it was Velvia 50. Never got to like the Velvia 100. I preferred to push the 100F a stop or two if absolutely necessary.

I ditched Kodachrome years ago when their quality control started to go, and when E-6 slides really improved. That and Kodachrome processing became harder and harder to find, especially when some of the private companies quit running Kodachrome. Now I believe there is is only one lab in the US and one lab in the UK processing Kodachrome, so everything needs to go there. The Kodachrome "mailers" lost a fair number of my rolls over the years, and during the summer you either couldn't send the film in mailers because it could spend several days traveling at 130+ degrees. Lots of bad experiences with scratched film that was always my fault according to their people, but miraculously went away when I went E-6 with local labs. I've heard the stability of more recently processed Kodachrome isn't as good as the old, but that is not first hand experience. I can say I've looked at friends' original Kodachrome from the 1940's (just scanned some for a project) and the color is still terrific. Kodachrome, due to the unique dye structure (it's really a B&W film with dye injected under pressure) is one of the toughest films to scan well.

I don't know where you live, but the lab you choose make's a major difference. Not all that many are working the old 2 hr turnaround with the decline in film use. Immediacy is one of the great things about E-6. It's not as fast as color negative (C-41) processing, but not much slower. For more than five years I exclusively used Chrome Lab in San Diego and they were consistently excellent and very professional. Sometimes things happen, and those exceptionally rare times they did, they stepped up and immediately owned up to it, telling me before I even saw the film and always tried to make it right. They are close to 500 miles away from me, so I had to send the film by FedEx, which cost extra, but it evened out since the lab charged $2-3 less than New Lab in San Francisco, to which I either had to ship film or spend the day driving then waiting. With the "saver rate" my shipments usually got there the next day, were processed and shipped the same day (anything less than 100 rolls), and I got them the following day. Another great thing was that I could imprint three lines of information on each slide mount (including my copyright, name, date and project description) for no extra cost.

Sorry to carry on so long. I loved Chrome and the people there. Great bunch of folks. The times I dropped off film were always cool too since they are on the final approach to SAN and the airliners pass directly overhead at a couple 100 feet. One of the only places I didn't mind waiting.

Richard

[DanG (m1)]

Richard, as far as i know, Dwayne's is the only in the world that will process K64 since the lab in switizerland stopped doing it. They did mess up my first roll of K64, but they didnt charge me for the processing and sent me another roll of K64 free of charge. So far, they have been getting all of my processing, as the Fuji mailers are now done by them as well, supposedly. I wil be trying the local lab soon though. I'll give Provia a try next. Thanks.

[RichardVM]

I wil be trying the local lab soon though. I'll give Provia a try next. Thanks.

If you don't mind my asking, what area do you live in? I'm assuming it's in the Southeast since you were at SNF, but then again, I was there and I'm from CA.

Richard

[DanG (m1)]

Sarasota Florida.

[A-10 LOADER]

I' ve been shooting Kodachrome for the last 15+ years. Shot KR25 until it went away now, I' m using KR64. I went digital last August ( Canon EOS5D ) and truly enjoy the camera and the results I get. Digital has it' s advantages. I like being able to see if what I just shot worked out or if I need to do something different. I' m not much of a computer guy so I struggle with that part of the digital side. Plus I feel that anyone now can take a great photo with a digital camera these days. All you have to do is point and shoot basically and fix it on the computer. I realize that not everyone does this, there are still people out there who like to use their photo skills... f-stops, shutter speed, etc. to get that perfect shot. I guess what I' m trying to say it that I like my digital camera but, I will continue to shoot Kodachrome as long as they keep on making it.

Steve

[DanG (m1)]

Well, i finally got some provia 100 to shoot. I was blown away. Will most certainly be my primary 100 speed (and 400 speed, though the 400 is a bit expensive if i recall). Since walmart also does K64 processing (via Dwaynes) for only 5 dollars (verses a lot more to send direct or use a mailer) i will shoot a lot more kodachrome now too.

[Erik]

Richard, as far as i know, Dwayne's is the only in the world that will process K64 since the lab in switizerland stopped doing it.

The Kodak Lab at Lausanne (CH) isn't processing Kodachrome anymore? That's surprising.