What kind of 35mm film to use

Black and white film can be easily processed at home which is why film students and anyone who wants to develop themselves might choose to shoot with it.

You can develop color film at home but it's a much more involved process. Transparency film or slide film used to be a favorite option for professionals, as there wasn't an intermediate printing stage to lower the quality and add to the cost. You could also easily send off slides to editors and picture libraries. However, this isn't such a popular option now and the range of transparency films is a little more limited than it used to be. All slide film is developed using the E-6 process that's widely availably in labs.

You can read our massive Best film cameras in guide to find out, but broadly they split into three types: 35mm, medium format and large format cameras.

Large format cameras are specialized tools used by particularly dedicated photographers. The cameras are large, expensive and complex to set up. Film is supplied in sheets and has to be pre-loaded into holders for swapping plates out in the field.

Every exposure is an occasion, but that's part of the charm that and the extraordinary image quality for large format camera fans. There are so many different 35mm films on the market, there's no way we could cover all of them. We've included some of the most popular ones that have stood the test of time as well as a few quirky newcomers that can completely change the look of your image.

We've split the list into three categories: color negative, black and white and color transparency films. Portra film has gained a passionate following amongst the film community thanks to its flexibility when shooting in different lighting conditions and its beautifully rendered grain and colors.

The only downside with Kodak Portra is that it's only sold in packs of three or five, so you can't officially buy a single roll to experiment with although you might be able to find single rolls on eBay, be warned that they will have been taken out of their official packaging. However, it's such a good quality film that we can almost guarantee you won't be disappointed. Kodak claims the world's finest grain for a color negative film, thanks to its T-Grain technology. This film also boasts high saturation and sharpness, and Kodak says it's ideal for scanning and enlarging.

Its rendition looks ideal for commercial and landscape photography, and it's cheaper than shooting transparency film. Kodak says Portra is designed with fine grain for scanning and enlargement in a digital workflow. It's one of three films in the Portra family there are Portra and variants too and it's designed for smooth and natural skintones, and for a variety of work from portraits and fashion to commercial photography.

Ilford's XP1 'chromogenic' film caused quite a stir when it first appeared, offering black and white photographers the exposure latitude and easy lab processing of colour negative film, with smoother, finer grain than other ISO mono films.

The updated XP2S is still an interesting option for 35mm black and white fans who like latitude and not grain! A great tip is to try out a few of the more affordable films to see which gives you the best results.

Do you want a vintage feel or do you want super-sharp details? High contrast or low contrast? Play around, experiment, have fun, and see which 35mm -film appeals to you most! Lastly, you need to keep an eye out for the exposure count. This tells you how many photos you can take with your chosen film. It is generally 24 or Each film contains a gallery of some of the good photos taken in and around London.

This gives you a relatively similar basis for comparison. Note: All films were shot with the Canon F1 where possible. You can also see our full Canon F1 Review here. Check Today's Price. Fujifilm C is a top consumer-grade film for negative photography. It is cheap and affordable, allowing anyone from beginners to enthusiasts to play around with film photography, try new ideas and techniques and create some beautiful photos without having to break into their savings.

The Kodak Colorplus is another affordable, consumer-friendly negative 35mm-film that produces quality photos with warm colours.

Kodak is an iconic brand that always springs to mind when you think of film photography, and the Kodak Gold has long been a popular choice for film negative. It reproduces natural colours with just a subtle grain and a gorgeously vintage look. See the full Kodak Gold Review post here. Sometimes compared to the Kodak Portra, portraits especially shine when shot with the Fujicolor Pro H.

Lomography have always been a company with a certain cult status that has never quite hit mainstream popularity, but their fans rave about their films. The Lomography Film Color Negative creates colourful, realistic photos with a vintage feel. The Kodak Portra hardly needs an introduction. The fine grain is second to none. The Kodak Ultra Max is another option for taking high-quality photos, even in lower light, all at a reasonable price.

The Kodak Ultra Max is great for everyday shots, but you might want to choose something else for those big, memorable life events.

See also our full of Kodak UltraMax Review here. The Kodak Ektar is a great, high-quality film that produces sharp photos, ideal for enlarging and printing. Be patient with this 35mm color film stock — it can take a minute to figure out how to properly expose Ektachrome This film does a fantastic job of reproducing a natural skin tone color and can work well even in low light.

Kodak is known for its high color saturation and low contrast. Once you master the settings on a Kodak Portra , the results are incomparable with fine grain and high quality images. This high-speed film provides Kodak Portra users with sharp images with fine grain and natural skin tones.

It differs from other Portra films and for its ability to capture brilliant photos in low light and shadows. If you are venturing out to a location with inconsistent lighting or shooting in the blue hour, this is the color film stock for you. This is also a great color film stock option if you are shooting high-speed events like aerial flights , sports, or festivals.

We particularly like the greens from this film — they create a dreamy, smooth texture that brings the images to life.

This is a great 35mm color film stock to choose if you are wanting to print your work! Its warm tones and rich color bring vintage vibes to life, giving an image a sense of nostalgia. It brings out rich, full colors on sunny days, so save this 35mm film in color for a fun day outside! It is great for both portrait and landscape photography and has a subtle grain composition that provides quite fine detail.

The last color negative film stock on our list is Agfa Visit This stock from the Agfa-Gevaert Corporation is highly durable and can be used in a wide range of scenarios. Primarily used for street photography, but not limited to this, many photographers enjoy using these film stock as a means to shoot a personal journal due to its cheap price and good quality. Now, when you think of film, shooting expired film may not be the first thing that comes to mind. When I first started out, I had heard of shooting expired film, but honestly I never could get my hands on it easily so I just never shot it.

Then after a few years of learning what my favorite film stocks were and shooting tons of different stocks , I realized that I never tried shooting the expired version of each stock. Time to start back at square 1, this time with expired film.

After a few months, I developed all of it and was in pure awe. Before shooting expired film, I had heard that you are supposed to overexpose a certain amount of stops depending on how many decades old it is…. I decided to use my point-and-shoot for most of these rolls, mainly because I wanted to make sure I had enough light for the expired film.

Sadly, Agfa Vista is no more. The company stopped making it several years ago, and remaining stock from specialty resellers is rapidly drying up. If you want some, buy it now. I love to use flash with my 35mm film cameras as much as I can. Your email address will not be published. FilterGrade is a digital marketplace for creators. Read more.