It's about time to give some fame to two films that are cheap in price but by no means poor in quality. When buying rolls, it can be tempting to go for the expensive ones but let's not forget about that bottom shelf.
The two films I'm going to discuss have some serious advantages on top of their inexpensive price tag. If you are just starting out, they do provide a good opportunity to practice without breaking the bank. However, even if you already have some experience, you can always try out either of them and compare the results to the more prestigious films you are more used to shooting with. I assure you that they're not anything to be ashamed of! Also. regardless of whether you're a colour or black and white kind of guy, I've got you sorted.
Film #1
We are going to begin with the colour one of the pair but before I reveal the name of this film, let's look at a few pictures.
The pictures above were all taken with a roll of Agfa Vista. It costs less than US$5 on Amazon but you can often find it going for as little as US$1. 50 per roll (24 frames) in dollar stores, or Poundland in the UK.
To my knowledge this film is available in two different speeds: ISO 200 and 400. They both offer the same characteristics and classic vintage 90's look. It produces exactly the kind of images (along with Kodak Gold) that remind me of my youth. You know, the kind of photo with high saturation and warm tones that we all have in our albums. . . yes good old times!
Back to the present, let's talk grain: it's almost non-existent when shot in bright light but can be slightly more present when used in low light conditions. For me, it's not really an issue. You can expect most films to be grainy in low light and that's not a big deal.
The only downside I can think of is that it can make blues look a bit magenta. It's more noticeable on darker shades of blue as you can see below. I guess it could be reduced by overexposing by one stop if you don't mind losing a bit of detail in the highlights.
Overall, we have a film that's very saturated, with reasonable grain in most lighting conditions, and it won't cost you an arm and a leg. The only thing you'll have to deal with is that light magenta cast in some shades of blue. If you are a fanatic of blue sky photos then it may not be the right film for you. Otherwise, go for it and have fun. It's a fantastic film and you will have a hard time finding better for the price!
Film #2
I kept my favorite for second. This by far is my favorite type of black and white film. It's from a company based in the Czech Republic that also produces cheap but excellent darkroom chemicals.
Again, let's look at a few images first. . .
In case you haven't guessed it, these images were shot with Fomapan film from a company called Foma. I'm sure most of you are already sold on it but just in case (for the more reluctant among you) I have a few more cards up my sleeve to convince you.
The tonalities of gray are some of the most beautiful I've seen from a black and white film. It has the perfect balance between contrast and exposure latitude. It retains detail in both, shadows and highlights without looking too flat. If you want more contrast, it's recommended to overexpose it by a half stop.
I think what makes it so special is the smooth transition between shades of gray. There is no harsh separation which would normally decrease sharpness. That's not the case here; instead it gives very fine detail without providing too much contrast which makes it your ideal partner for dreamy look portraits.
One thing you should be aware of is that it doesn't seem to handle being pushed very well. I haven't tried it myself so can neither confirm nor deny that but it appears to be a common opinion in online forums.
The last thing I can say about this film is that you can achieve crazy contrast and sharpness if you develop it using the "Stand" technique with Ilfotec DD-X developer. If you are not familiar with this process, you can read about it here.
Lessons
Today we've seen that film shouldn't be judged on its price and that even if your first impression is often the right one, that's not always true.
Let's take the example of Fomapan because that one holds the most meaning for me. This roll stayed sitting in my fridge for a long time and I only had to bring it along for a photo shoot because there was nothing left.
Judging by its low-cost looking box, I had already decided that this film wouldn't be anything special but I shot with it anyway.
A few days later, when I finally saw the first pictures, it didn't take long to realize how flawed my judgment was. Some of you may have already seen this picture on a previous post, but it really struck me. The ambiance created by this film really matched the emotion of the model. This chance encounter ended up being one of those lucky accidents
The moral of this short story is to not let yourself being fooled by a packaging or an unknown brand of film, or camera for that matter. By having preconceived ideas, you may neglect some great kinds of film out there.
Swipe Right
On that note, over the past week I've been working on a developing a tool that can help if you are new to film photography. When I started to shoot with film a few months ago, I had no idea which one I should use. There were so many to choose from that it was kind of complicated to find my way through a jungle of options.
That's why I have developed an easy tool to help you finding the right film for each type of image you want to create. In the spirit of Valentine's Day I've called it 'Film Dating' as it will help find the right partner for your camera.
Vincent Moschetti worked exclusively with digital equipement until he had a revelation and discovered the beauty of shooting with film cameras. If you would like to learn more about his work, you can visit his website, Facebook, and Instagram pages. This article was originally published here.
Images Used With Permission
. digitalrev.com2017-2-8 03:00
