Film Notes

What I use

I typically use 400 speed color film. I don't have a tripod and need to have hand-holdable results, even with my longer lenses. I do use 200 speed film from time to time if I know it will be in decent lighting conditions for the entire roll. If I am using my 70-210 f/4 zoom for action shots, I will sometime switch to 800 speed film to keep the shutter speed up with the longer glass.

These days I either shoot Kodak Royal Gold, or Fuji Superia. I used to shoot Kodak Gold until the guys at The Camera Company pointed out the Royal Gold to me. I think I like the toned down saturation a bit more.

I'm not certain if I like the new Superia films over the Super G stock it replaced. I think I liked the Super G images better when both were available. I definitely liked the name better :-). Given that I don't get frame numbers at my local developer with Superia, and that I'm not certain that I care for it, I don't shoot it as much as of recent. I recently found some G-400 (Super G) and S-400 (Superia) shot about the same time. I need to look the results over to see if my trepidation about Superia holds up, or if it is just a fear of the new stuff being crappier than the old stuff.

I almost always use Fuji Super G+ 800 when I need an 800 speed film, rather than using Royal Gold 1000. I've been happy with it, and haven't noticed a increase in graininess.

I used some Agfa HDC for a while. Looking at the images when I was cataloging stuff, they have distinct quality to them. I'm just not certain what it is. I'd like to do a head-to-head comparison of a couple of films to see what the real difference between them is.

I am told that Agfa films print much better on Agfa paper. That may explain why the Agfa HDC looks so distinctive ... it could be the film+paper combination! Star Photo uses Agfa paper in their printer; I'm going to take an existing roll of film and have it printed there to compare the prints. The Camera Company prints everything on Fuji Crystal Archive -- they used to print on Kodak, but no more.

I did a head to head difference of Kodakcolor 400, Kodak Royal Gold 400, Agfa HDC and Fuji Superia. Unforunately it was an overcast day and I was photographing steam tractors which are mostly black. The soft lighting made everything soft, and also eliminated the highlights that would make the equipment interesting to look at. The results are inconclusive -- I need to try this again.

Now that I have a tripod, I am using slower films (100, 200) more often for various purposes. The dearth of slow films is unfortunate these days. I have some Konica Impressa 50 that I am going to try, but I'd like to use it for landscapes. However it is winter in Wisconsin as I write this. Landscape season of Late Spring or Summer is in the future for now.

I think my comments about 3200 film may be mistaken, it maybe EI 3200 with some films, and actual speed is 800 and you always push it, or I am confused in some fashion. I suppose once I start shooting B&W and doing my own darkroom work that I will make sense of some of these comments more.

Kodak

I used to think Kodak was a great company with good products that would be around forever. Unfortunately Kodak seems bent on killing off all its good products that would keep it going. I hope they stay around, but if current trends continue they could easily be a has-been inside 2-3 years. That's my own estimate from looking at Financial word figures, and combining it with my estimate of the stupid things they are doing. Hopefully they will realize that their business is photography, turn around, and get back with the program. They seem to be too (excessive) profit oriented, and don't care about serving the very needs of the customers which provide them with that profit! By dropping film emulsions and speeds they are forcing away existing business to other companies, a policy that is wrong. They should be making their films more available, not unavailable!

The Royal Gold (RG) product line has been hit hard. This is tough for me, as it is my prefered print emulsion -- in all speeds. They had stopped production of RG-25, and recently they stopped production of RG-100 and RG-1000. RG-200 and RG-400 are only available in 24 exposure rolls, instead of 24 or 36. Rumour has it that kodak is most likely going to entirely kill off the Royal Gold product line later this (2002) year.

I like Kodak Supra as a possible replacement, but the cost there (about 2x RG) is a real killer. I may need to start buying film through a discount house, instead of keeping my local camera business in-business with film sales.

Kodak, in Spring 2002, also decided to "reformulate" several of their good buy-it-for-what-it-is B&W emulsions; Tri-X, Pan-X, and Tmax. They are messing with their customer base big time by changing such films. Kodak seems to forget that people buy their films for what they do, not because it is the latest reformulation. If the new formations don't match expectations of the quality of the older versions, they will suffer yet more in the market place.

Print

• Royal Gold is less saturated than Gold
• Ektapress supposedly has a larger grain size than Royal Gold. However, someone has said that Ektapress 400 has a reasonable grain size. Ektapress is supposed to be less saturated than Royal Gold.
• Portra comes in two varieties, VC == Vivid Color, and NC == Natural Color.
• Kodak says that Royal Gold doesn't require any reciprocity failure adjustments for shutter speeds from 1/10,000 seconds to 10 seconds.
• Kodak measures grain size by some thing called "Print Grain Index" which seems to measure the "perception" of grain by a human eye. A PGI of 25 is just perceptible to the human eye on a 4x6 print. A change of 4 units can be noticed by human eyes.
• RG 400 has the same PGI as RG 200, 41. RG 1000 has an index of 57. For comparison, RG 100 has a print grain index of 28, which is just over the threshold of perceptibility by a human.
• Ektapress PGIs: PJ100 = 28, PJ400 = 41, PJ800 = 53. Hmm. That seems to be about the same as Royal Gold, but "I have heard" that it looks grainier. I'll need to try it someday. Actually, I've been planning on trying it someday, but no one in town carries PJ400. The one time I mail ordered stuff from B&H, I forgot to get some of these "exotic" films at the same time.
• PJ100 and PJ400 have the same 1/10000 to 10 seconds reciprocity properties as RG. PJ800 has a smaller time frame before it looses reciprocity, 1/10,000 to 1 second.
• PJ400 can be pushed to EI 1600. PJ800 to EI 3200. The exposure latitude seems rather huge; -2 to +3 stops!
• Portra PGI: 160NC = 30, 160VC = 33, 400NC = 41, 400VC = 43
• The Camera Company has a selection of Supra and Portra.
• It is said tht Royal Gold 1000 is better rated at 800 speed rather than 1000 speed. I've yet to try this, haven't been shooting in dark enough environs since I heard that.
• It is also said that TMZ (iso 3200) is actually more of a 1000 or 1250 speed film. Another source says actual speed is in the iso 800 to 1000 speed range. Presumably normal development is actually extended development (aka push processing) to get to the final 3200 speed.
• Another way of thinking of the VC/NC difference is that you should use the VC film on overcast days and the NC film on sunny days. Of course, your subjects may control what VC/NC you use, the lighting is just a hint to normalize your photos.

Slide

• 100VS slide film has more saturated colors than Fuji Provia 100F. Less saturated than Fuji Velvia, though.
• Ektachrome 100S is less saturated than VS, but with accurate color rendition.
• 100WS film is a Warmer Saturated film than 100VS. "It makes everything look like an hour before sunset".
• Ektachrome 64 has a distinct blue cast.

Fuji

Print

• Super G 800 is supposed to have the finest grain of all the 800 speed films, approaching that of a 400 speed film. I could believe this. I shot the 1999 Circus Parade with my 35-105 using 400 speed film; I used SG+ 800 my 70-210 to keep the shutter speed up for handholding. I didn't see a big difference between the grain in the two sets of prints.
• Fuji films don't print frame numbers on the Camera Company's processor ... even though it is made by Fuji!
• Reala has a 4th emulsion layer which gives it its realistic colors.
• NPS is based on Fuji Reala.
• NPS is 160 speed, NPH is 400. NPZ is 800. I remember it as NPSlow, NPHigh, and NPZooom!
• NPC is Colorful (saturated) NPS -- similar idea to Portra VC.
• Reala is saturated, but lower contrast than NPC.
• Superia and Fuji Press 800 have more contrast than NPZ.

Slide

• Provia 100F is a very fine grained slide film with extremely low contrast; it is more fine-grained than Kodak 100VS. Blues can come through as grayish.
• Provia 400F is a good 400 speed film. It is also low-contrast, but is more saturated than Provia 100F. Very fine grained for a 400 speed film Only rate it at 640 when pushing one stop, not 800. Much better than older Provia 400 (no F).
• Astia was a great slide film, unfortunately it has been discontinued, or at least the North American distributors may no longer carry it.
• Sensia II may have been the same slide film as Astia. It is an all-around slide film with saturated colors. However it is not available in MF.
• Velvia (or Velveeta to some :) is very saturated.
• Velvia only has 4 useful stops of exposure -- be sure to light the scene just right!

Agfa

Print

• HDC produced some distinctive looking images. Odd almost. The greens seemed very green. But when I was shooting at the railroad museum, the results had a definite "feel" to them that was unique. I want to try some of this stuff again, to compare it to Kodak RG and Fuji Superia.
• The 1-hour photo place at the corner of State Street and University carries the AGFA consumer-grade films, HDC and their slide film too. Star Photo carries AGFA professional films, both Optima and Ultra.
• Optima II 100 is quite saturated, handles earth colors well -- may be great for Western US areas of those colors.
• Agfa Portrait has pastel-like colors and low contrast. It has really restrained color and "takes the edge off", to quote Aaron.

Slide

• Agfa Scala is supposed to be a very nice B&W slide film, a must-try. Several people recommend shooting Scala at EI 320 to "yield a better tonal range" and "give nice, deep, rich-looking images". An image exposed at EI 200 gives lots of detail, but is "a little high-key".
• Agfachrome RSX has been recommended by several as a replacement for Fuji Astia. However, a green cast has been reported.

Konica

• Impresa 50 is a good film that handles contrast well, great for bright days. However it is a bit muddy underneath overcast lighting. The skin tones aren't great but better than Velvia. Very fine grain, neutral color cast and saturation.
• Konica Centuria 200 may be the most saturated color film, getting on the order of Velvia.

Ilford

• Delta 3200 can look really grainy and ugly if developed in the wrong developers. However, if develeoped in Microphen or ??? it can have quite fine grain and a very nice look.
• Delta 3200 might actually have a slower (near 1000) rating and that it achieves it's 3200 speed via processing. I could be confusing that with TMZ (Tmax 3200), however.
• One recommendation is to "shoot and process 3 rolls, one each at 800, 1600, and 3200, and proceed from there". That may apply both to lab processing and your own processing.

Random Notes

This section keeps track of information that I plan to use in the future.

Black and White Films

Kodak Plus-X Pan B&W

125 speed film with extremely fine grain, excellent sharpness, and high resolving power. Available in 35mm, 120, 220 and sheets.

Kodak Tri-X Pan B&W

320 speed film with medium contrast, excellent gradation, and brilliant highlights. Has a high exposure latitude. Available in 120, 220. Is it available in 35mm?

Kodak Tri-X B&W

T-grain film. Available in 3 speeds: 100 (TMX), 400 (TMY) and 3200 (TMZ) EI. Supposed to be sharp and have fine grain. Wide exposure latitude. Straight line on characteristic curve.

Infrared Photography

Just don't use your meter at all. It doesn't read IR, so it won't give you an accurate reading. Shoot in bright light at 1/125 f11 with the filter on, and just trust the Force. ;)