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Category: Hobbies & Recreation : Photography
Today's photographers have an immense range of films to choose from, each with their relative merits and disadvantages.
There are films for creating a simple black & white (also known as monochrome) image, or for achieving full, beautiful colour.
Then films can also be categorised by the medium of the desired end result - that is whether one wants a hard print for putting in a photo album or displaying on a wall, or instead a transparency (also called 'slide') for viewing with a slide projector.
To add to the confusion, mainly with colour films, there are different films suited to different types of lighting - natural sunlight (alias daylight), flash (strobe) light, or artificial light as produced by the electric globes used in the home or in photo studios.
To try to decide and answer which is the 'best' film is subjective, a matter of personal taste. All the major film manufacturers produce good quality film. But at the same time their films differ in character: one manufacturer's colour film may give more rich, vibrant colour, which may appeal to some people but annoy others. Or one brand of film may be more grainy (which some people like), but still acceptable overall.
There is such an extensive range of film speeds available: it's difficult to draw a line where a film exactly gets classsified as a slow, medium-speed or fast film. At the risk of being subjective, my classifications of slow, medium-speed and fast films are:
Slow: ISO 64 or less
Medium: ISO 80 to 250
Fast: ISO 320 or more
FILM CHARACTERISTICS
Film speed (ISO rating), is useful for comparing films not just for their responsiveness, but also for their relative image characteristics, which I'll consider here in detail.
Generally speaking, film speed will affect:
- a film's sharpness or ability to resolve fine detail in a subject;
- a film's graininess (which is the visibility of the image structure);
- the amount of contrast between brightest and darkest areas of an image;
- the amount of latitide that film has for (in)correct exposure;
and definitely not least,
- suitability for a given amount of light
Typically, a slower (lower ISO) speed film:
- will be sharpER, MORE able to resolve fine subject detail,
- will have a finER (LESS visible) graininess,
- will display a greatER amount of contrast
- will have LESS latitude for incorrect exposure, so your estimate of exposure will have to be MORE precise to capture important detail in darker or lighter parts of the image;
and definitely not least,
- will be LESS suitable in situations where light is poor or inadequate for creating a useable image without the use of a tripod and/or auxiliary lighting or resorting to long exposures.
And as you guessed, typically, a faster (higher ISO) speed film:
- will be LESS sharp, LESS able to resolve fine subject detail,
- will have a coarsER (MORE visible) graininess,
- will display a lowER amount of contrast, and
- will have MORE latitude for incorrect exposure, so your estimate of exposure can be more flexible to capture detail in darker or lighter parts of an image;
and definitely not least,
- will be MORE suitable in situations where light is poor or inadequate for creating a useable image without the use of a tripod and/or auxiliary lighting or long exposures.
Please note the use of comparative adjectives and suffixes. All these characteristics are RELATIVE to personal values and likes or dislikes in a picture, or to what a photographic task calls for. Sharpness or graininess in one person's opinion may be unsharp or fine-grained in another person's opinion. However, these criteria are effective for comparing films of different speed ranges, so you can get a general idea what type of film is likely to suit your tastes or needs.
MONOCHROME OR COLOUR?
Although there has been a major resurgence in the use of monochrome film in recent years, it would have to be said that colour is probably the more popular.
One thing to be said in favour of monochrome is its relative cost and simplicity. For those reasons alone, I maintain that monochrome film is a better choice for a newcomer to photography learning the basic principles and techniques.
And in some opinions, a well-executed and prepared monochrome print can look just as impressive if not more so than a mediocre colour print. Yet there are some things which, with even the best photographic technique, just won't translate or get a message across as well as a good colour photograph.
Again, it comes down to A Matter of Opinion.
It should be noted here that for those people still in a dilemma, it is now easy and affordable to achieve good quality monochrome prints from colour negatives, so you can have the best of both worlds, from one film.
COLOUR PRINT (from colour negative), OR COLOUR SLIDE (TRANSPARENCY)?
 
This depends on what your chosen end result is to be:
A print to proudly display on a wall, or to show among friends without having to set up a slide projector and dim the lights.
Or alternatively, you may want richer colour and greater impact that good colour slides generally deliver.
Also, in the case of colour, if you ever consider getting your pictures published, then probably the majority of book/magazine editors will prefer a colour transparency over a colour print (I won't go into technical details).
One technical point in favour of colour negative films, is that they generally have better exposure latitude than colour slide films.
On the issue of cost, the comparison between the colour neg-print route and colour slides is circumstantial. If when using colour slide film, you are not interested in getting prints made from them, then that is the less expensive. If, however, you plan to regularly have prints made from your colour pictures, then colour negative-print may end up being the more economical way to go. Fewer labs tend to do prints from slides than from negatives, and those that do usually charge more, because for a start the reversal colour print materials needed are significantly more expensive.
FILM FOR DAYLIGHT OR ARTIFICIAL (TUNGSTEN) LIGHT ?
I'll will expand more on this point in a later topic, but for now just make a general statement. Here the choice is more clear-cut.
 
For most general purpose photography, outdoors in sunlight, or indoors with a flash (strobe), then daylight balanced film is the way to go.
It is also much more readily available than film balanced for artificial (tungsten) light, both in range of choice, and in being able to obtain.
Usually only major and specialist photographic stores are likely to carry artificial light type colour film, but daylight film is the one that's stocked just about anywhere colour film is sold.
WHAT'S AVAILABLE?
Below is a table of different film types, indicating typical examples of each that are available (in Australia) at the time I write this. And they don't necessarily reflect my choice or preferences.
Of course there are many others available but these represent a cross-section of the market. Apologies to any brands that I have left out.
Which to choose? EXPERIMENT! Try them yourself and decide which ones provide the characteristics you want in your pictures: fine grain or coarse grain; rich and vibrant colour or relatively muted and neutral colours; fast for poor light, or slow for plenty of light.
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BRAND & NAME | TYPE | NOMINAL ISO (SPEED) |
| Agfapan APX25 | Monochrome negative | 25 |
| Kodak Royal Gold 25 | Colour negative (daylight) | 25 |
| Ilford PanF | Monochrome negative | 50 |
| Fujichrome Velvia | Colour slide (daylight balance) | 50 |
| Kodachrome 64 | Colour slide (daylight) | 64 |
| Kodak T Max 100 | Monochrome negative | 100 |
| Agfacolor Optima | Colour negative (daylight balance) | 100 |
| Kodak Ektachrome 100 | Colour slide (daylight balance) | 100 |
| Polaroid Polachrome 100 | Colour slide (daylight balance) | 100 |
| Polaroid Spectra | Instant Colour print | 100 |
| Ilford FP4 Plus | Monochrome negative | 125 |
| Fujicolor NPL:160 | Colour negative(artificial light balance) | 160 |
| Agfacolor HDC200 | Colour negative (daylight) | 200 |
| Kodak Ektachrome 200 | Colour slide (daylight) | 200 |
| Fujicolor Superia/Reala 200 | Colour negative (daylight) | 200 |
| Agfa Scala 200 | Monochrome slide | 200 |
| Kodak Ektachrome 320T | Colour slide (artificial light) | 320 |
| Fujicolor NPH 400 | Colour negative (daylight) | 400 |
| Kodak T Max 400 | Monochrome negative | 400 |
| Kodak Ektachrome 400 | Colour slide (daylight) | 400 |
| Fujicolor Super G 800 | Colour negative (daylight) | 800 |
| Kodak Ektachrome P1600 | Colour slide (daylight) | 1600 |
| Ilford Delta 3200 | Monochrome negative | 3200 |
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Submitted By
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David Barry |
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Photo enthusiast |
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Web Page
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Other Articles in this Category
How to Understand Your Camera and Film 8: Using Filters
by David Barry
How To Understand your Camera and Film 4: Putting it all together
by David Barry
How To Understand Your Camera and Film 9: Filter Types
by David Barry
How To Understand your Camera and Film 2: Shutter Speed
by David Barry
How To Understand your Camera and Film 3: Lens Terms
by David Barry
How To Understand your Camera and Film 1: Film Speed
by David Barry
How To Understand Your Camera and Film 6: Lens Focal Length
by David Barry
How to Understand Your Camera and Film 7: Depth of Field
by David Barry
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