What type of film do people use?

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Hi,

I was wondering what the most popular film types people were using and which ones you all like best?

I'm new to the Leica M (not to RF's having parted with my G2)having just purchased an M6TTL and 35/2 and an M4 chrome body and right now I'm just having some fun shooting off some films I have in the cupboard - Fujichrome 100, Fuji Superia 100 and Tmax 400.

Cheers

Mark

-- Mark Griffin (gripper@mark-griffin.com), March 22, 2001

Answers

I personally prefer Delta 400 to Tmax 400, developed in Xtol 1:2. For color prints, Kodak Royal Gold 400.

-- matt veld (mahv@xtra.co.nz), March 22, 2001.

Current likes:

EPN for portraiture (Ektachrome 100 neutral balance)

Provia 100F

E200

and whenever possible Kodachrome 64/ Kodachrome 25 (impatience with the long processing turnaround times makes me use these films much less nowadays. But K-25 is a great, great film).

Scala for black and white slides.

and for prints

Portra 400 NC Gold 100.

I rarely use B&W film, as my darkroom is mostly unusable with current living conditions, but I'm a Delta 100 and Tri-X fan...

The winner, over 25 years of use. Kodachrome 64, far and away the most used.

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), March 22, 2001.


Fuji NPH 400 for great saturated colours Tri-X Tri-X pan

Ilford 3200

Have found Tmax lacks latitude though

-- Charles Curry-Hyde (charles@chho.com.au), March 22, 2001.


Consumer elitechrome. Cheap and stable in hot climates. I don't find it so very different from the other flavours of E100, except for VS which is too saturated for my kind of work anyway.

I'm thinking of trying out E200 @320ASA, it would be nice to have a faster film sometimes. But I'm prepared for disappointment!

-- rob (rob@robertappleby.com), March 22, 2001.


I shoot mostly people, mostly documentary style, available light, black and white. Favorite subjects: children, musicians, fairs, festivals, and everyday life. Although I sometimes shoot urban or "social landscape," I almost never do conventional landscape, pictoral type work. In the summer, I shoot a few weddings. Lately I've been learning how to scan my film and do it all digitally, so I may start shooting in color (Supra 800), and going B&W in the computer if I want. (I've actually lost a few big sales because my shot was B&W and the publication wanted color.) So....favorites: Fuji Neopan 1600, rated at 1200, developed in Xtol 1:1 Delta 3200, rated at 1200, developed in DD-X Tri-X, rated at 320, developed in Rodinal 1:50 Ilford XP-2 Super, rated at 320. Fuji NPH 400, rated at 200. (Bearing in mind, this may be a frame filling portrait of light skinned person, so 200 places it at zone VI.) With the advent of the scanner, I'm finding slides give better color, so I'd be interested in other responses from people who've tried various chromes on their scanners. I find the chromogenics do scan better.

-- Phil Stiles (pjs@worldpath.net), March 22, 2001.


Tri-X, but no particular reason except that I'm used to it, and am too sloppy with exposure and in the darkroom for TMax, which is a great film, properly used.

-- Michael Darnton (mdarnton@hotmail.com), March 22, 2001.

Tri-X, for a variation of Mike's (previous post) reason. I do a lot of street shooting, often guessing at exposure. You just can't do this with T-grain films. Also the 'grittiness' of Tri-X lends itself to this type of shooting. Fuji CZ (800 ISO) for the same reason.

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), March 22, 2001.

My most frequently used films, by order of "significance":

For projecting slides (private use): Outdoors: Kodak Elitechrome 100, Kodachrome 64, Agfa Scala. Indoors/available light: Agfa Scala (@400), Ektachrome 320 EPJ (often @640).

For macro and product shots (commercial use): Ektachrome 100 EPN.

For prints (people, family, weddings): Kodak Portra 160 VC and T400 CN.

When needed, i also use Ilford Delta 400, Portra 400 NC and some Ektachrome E200 (@320). If I had to limit myself to only three films I would take Elitechrome 100, Kodachrome 64 and Agfa Scala.

-- George D Gianni (gdgianni@aol.com), March 22, 2001.


What type of film? For Leicas I use 35mm film, with little holes punched in both sides.

-- Bill (bmitch@home.com), March 22, 2001.

I have settled on Delta 400 developed in XTOL at 1:1. With a 50mm Summicron I am able to shoot in daylight and all the way down to reasonably lit interiors. Its a one film does it all kind of approach. I have now learned to develop this film very predictably, and the results are consistently good (a major victory in the B&W arena).

I go a step further. I print every image full frame to an 8x10 sheet of paper. This way, my enlager stays locked at one setting virtually all the time. I selected one aperture in the ennlarger lens, the optimum, and I print everything at that aperture. Thus, only the exposure time changes (almost always about 20-35 seconds).

This technique has several benefits. First, it is easy for me to make several prints from a roll of film (heck I don't even have to do test strips most of the time). I am learning to compose in the viewfinder better, knowing that everything on film will wind up on paper. This even includes the extra area that the Leica puts on film from outside the bright lines (I'm actually getting the hang of that). When I crop an image, it is done by cutting the print only. All my prints have the same enlargment scale (about 6.7:1) and grain structure so a comparative review of my stuff becomes very informative as to exposure, development, etc.

My system is working so well for me, I highly recommend you give it a try. One camera, one lens, one film, one developer, one enlarger set-up, one paper, then cut the prints for cropping.

My next adventure is going to be shooting a one aperture only for each roll fo film. i.e one roll at f2.0, one roll at f2.8, one roll at f4.0, etc. etc. Shoot a variety of subjects and geet the DOF feeling for each aperture engrained in mmy mind.

Good luck.

-- Dan Brown (brpatent@swbell.net), March 22, 2001.



K64, K200, Sensia/Astia 100, XP2+, FP4+, HP5+, Delta 3200. Prints (portraits) NPH or NHGII

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), March 22, 2001.

Dan

It may work for you, but it all sounds a little obsessive-compulsive to me. Of course many of us have these tendencies too (I certainly do, but not about enlargement). As to shooting all shots at f4 (like using a Tri-Elmar!) - that really does seem to me a little weird - if you are scanner accessible do show us some of the results.

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), March 22, 2001.


All this goes to show that Leica photographers use the same sorts of film as everyone else - at least one of us will use any film on the market.

I'm currently using Provia 100F, Supra 400 and Supra 800.

I'm going to be trying Astia as an alternative to the Provia (I want to see if it really has more neutral skin tones), and maybe some E100S. I'm still waiting eagerly for a chance to try Provia 400F. I'm going to look at the Fuji alternatives to Supra 800 (like Press 800 and NHGII) to see if the grain is a any better. Along with those, I'd like to shoot some chromogenic B&W and maybe some Scala.

-- Paul Chefurka (paul_chefurka@pmc-sierra.com), March 22, 2001.


I shoot mostly B&W: Agfa APX25, Ilford Delta 100, Ilford Pan F, Ilford XP2 Super, Ilford Delta 400, Kodak TMax 100/400, Tri-X, T400CN ... in other words, I use whatever I have around. Delta 100, APX25 and XP2 Super are about my most used.

For Color, I shoot negatives: Fuji Superia 400, Reala 100, Agfa Ultra 50.

Godfrey

-- Godfrey DiGiorgi (ramarren@bayarea.net), March 22, 2001.


Chromes: K-25 sometimes for old times sake, otherwise I'm working my way through a freezer full of EB-II/100, sometimes pushed to EI 200. I've used E200, but only pushed, it's really quite good. I basically shoot chrome only for wildlife. It's cheap, especially with the 8fps motor drive on the F5 I sometimes burn more film than I intended ; )

Prints: I've become a complete Portra nut since I strated using it in medium format. 160VC has replaced Royal Gold 100 as my all- rounder. 400VC is almost indistinguishable from 160 but I still shoot the slower film especially in 35mm. Portra 800 has great color and saturation, but noticeably more grain. I'm looking forward to trying the new B&W Portra, which is said to be designed for machine printing on color paper.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), March 22, 2001.



Like Michael and Bob, I love Tri-X, for quite the same reasons, some times when I donīt find it I just wait few days until they have it in stock, or buy the 36 exp. magazines insted of the 100 ft. bulk, I use it from 500 to 8000 asa (something like 400 to 6400 asa) since I donīt use a meter it is easier to count from 1/500 than from 1/400, and develop it in HC-110 dil-B, with very gently agitation, and usualy from 28° to 32° centigrades, that is the actual water temp. in the place I live in Mexico, Iīm more afraid of changing temp. during the prosess than high temp. during developing, grain?, well you can ask Tom Gallagher, a bit grainy quite normal and I love it, from 500 to 8000 not much diference in grain, for me the secret is agitation, soft agitation.About color whatever comes to my hands but hardly ever use.

-- R. Watson (al1231234@hotmail.com), March 22, 2001.

well sometimes if I need to have film and canīt find Tri-X I buy Plus- X, I donīt like it that much since so easy to scratch, and imposible to push.

-- R. Watson (al1231234@hotmail.com), March 22, 2001.



-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), March 22, 2001.

For b&w, I've used most of the Ilford films quite a bit, with HP5+ being the most used and Delta 3200 the most essential. Delta 100, FP4+, or PanF+ gets used when there's plenty of light--which one depends on the look I'm going for.

For color slides, I'm still testing to find ones I really like. I've shot some Astia--I like the controlled contrast, but it has a magenta tint that prevents me from being entirely happy. Right now, I'm leaning toward E100S (or E100SW in really overcast or shady conditions). For dark and funky stuff, EPJ 320T pushed has a great look. Still looking for a high-speed (1600+) slide film. I liked Provia 1600, but it's been discontinued.

For color negatives, I use NPH and NHGII. That's generally shot with medium format for portrait/wedding clients. I don't think I've ever put a roll of color print film through a Leica.

-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), March 22, 2001.


Try Ilford XP2 Super. It is fantastic. XP2 and Kodak 400CN are both ISO 400 chromogenic (dye-based) black and white films and are processed as for colour negative film. A reputable (mini)lab can process and proof , and then you can make your own prints exactly as for normal B & W films.

The Ilford is easier to use than the Kodak version because the Ilford film does not have the orange mask used for colour negative film.

"Grain" is almost non existent, and tonality is great. 14 x 11 super sharp and grain free prints are easy.

I must try this new fangled colour film one day.

Wayne M.

-- Wayne Murphy (wayne.murphy@publicworks.qld.gov.au), March 22, 2001.


I use E200 rated at EI320, very good balance of grain, contrast and saturation. But I suspect it has to do with the quality of light in the tropics because the same formular applied to Europe in summer was not very good resulting in rather flat colors. Conversely, Velvia in the tropics is just to much for my taste. So I suppose it all depends on the type of light you are getting in any particular situation. For B&W work, I use now C41 chromo films because I lack a darkroom. Seems OK but I like Tri-X more.

-- Steven Fong (steven@ima.org.sg), March 22, 2001.

Arista 400

-- Sean yates (yatescats@yahoo.com), March 22, 2001.

Ilford Delta 100 shot in the M6 and developed in XTOL & printed 11x14, makes me re-evaluate whether I really need my Hasselblad for black & white.

Tri-X, exposed outdoors in a flat, overcast/lackluster light, developed in D-76, gives me satisfying contrast that's hard to come by otherwise.

I miss Panatomic-X. Pan F is best substitute for the unique tonal results it gave.

For color slides: Velvia. Provia 100. Ektachrome EPP100 for Missouri's blue springs. Provia 400 seems promising: the grain isn't quite so bad, even compared to the old Sensia 200, & better than K200. But as I project my slides to 8 feet wide at a 12 foot viewing distance, I use mostly Velvia.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), March 23, 2001.


I've used Ilford HP5+ in Edwald FG7 w/sodium sulfite added for over ten years 11x14's with a 16x20 now and then and I'm quite happy. Now trying new Delta 400 in several developers and it seems to be GREAT film. Several rolls of Delta 3200 in Microphen when needed speed. I keep trying Ilford DDX and Paterson FX39 as developers.

-- Steven Alexander (alexpix@worldnet.att.net), March 23, 2001.

Delta 100&400, Fujipan 1600, and T-max 3200. Though I am starting to grow fond of Delta 3200. Sometimes, if I want color, I'll shot Fuji NPS or ProviaF.

-- Josh Root (rootj@att.net), March 23, 2001.

Have you noticed that Leica photographers apparently use more B&W than colour material? Is it a rational preference to limit our colour photography to our SLR equipment?

-- George D Gianni (gdgianni@aol.com), March 31, 2001.

George,

Maybe it is the other way around... maybe more B&W shooters use Leicas. Before the advent of the computer darkroom, B&W was the last bastion of full control of the process. So it made sense that B&W users would embrace cameras that do nothing on there own, but allow the shooter to be in charge. Going to various websites related to photography, it is nice to come here and not have to read the same photography 101 questions over and over again. People using these manual cameras are fully immersed in the science, (depth of field, exposure, mechanics), and can get on with the process of taking pictures.

I tend to think the B&W shooter picks the camera, not the camera user picking B&W. At least that is my opinion. Before I could justify Leicas, I was using Nikon F's, F2's and FM's. These cameras offered the same level of automation as the Leica... none. Now with several automatic cameras in my possession, when I shoot B&W, I still prefer the full control of manual exposure.

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), March 31, 2001.


Fuji NPH rated at 250

Kodak 400CN rated at 250 (w/ & w/out med. yellow filter)

Kodak Tri-X rated at 250 (w/ & W/out med. yellow filter)

-- KL Prager (www.pragerproperties@worldnet.att.net), March 31, 2001.


With TTL Meter & Lineiar Shutter I shoot:

Velvia 50 (Narrow Lattitude/Hyper Color) Provia 100F (Good Latt/Great Color/Finest Grain have pushed to 800) Agfa 100 RSXII (to gettaway from Fuji Pallette/Realistic Color)

Macophot 25 (Ultra Fine Detail/RICH!) T-Max 100 (for contrasty normal subjects) HP5 400 (Pushed to 800 for low light/Develops same as below) T-Max 3200 (shot at 3200 for gritty/grainy/dreamy in untypical light)

For my experimental stuff with gooofy cameras (no metering)

Fuji 100/1000 RMS (select film speed instead of shutter speed!) Kodak 400CN (wide lattitude!)

as you can see, I stay away from color print. But if I need it I like Reala and Supra.

Will likely start using Provia 400F too.

Have Phun.

Floyd

-- Floyd Abacus (zigflitz@juno.com), September 12, 2001.


Kodachome in the 50's, Kodachrome in the 60's, Kodachrome in the 70's, Kodachrome in the 80's, Kodachrome in the 90's and Kodachrome in the New Millennium.

I just bought more K25 from B&H. Yeah, I've got Kodak and Fuji E6 in the freezer but I'm a stubborn old cuss:-)

-- Bud (budcook@attglobal.net), September 12, 2001.


Velvia for color and Ilford non-Delta for B&W, as slow as possible.

I do documentary people photography, but use Pan F if I can get away from it so that I can work somewhere between f/2 and f/8 with the 35 even if it's sunny. As the light goes away I shift to FP4/HP5. With Velvia I get out the gelled flash + hand-held time exposures. Never have found a faster slide film I like.

After reading Kirk Tuck's leica review I may try some 100 or 400 negative sometime, for scanning, not prints.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), September 13, 2001.


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