mgoldfield wrote:
Greetings:
Although I'm deeply immersed in digital photography using my EOS 77d
and all my marvelous Sigma and Tamron lenses, I've got a bug.
My AE-1 with its 50mm f/1.8 lens which I bought in 1978 and haven't used
for at least 15 years is gnawing away at me.
I know it works just fine so I really need to shoot some film!
I need some recommendations for color negative film and slide film
and who should I use for processing.
I know I've come to the right place so I thank you all in advance
for your sage advice.
M. Goldfield
Greetings: br br Although I'm deeply immersed in ... (
show quote)
I no longer use film, but did both personally and professionally, for several decades. I processed B&W and E6 films myself; C41 and K12 films went to labs. (I worked in a giant C41 lab...)
The current versions of what were my favorite emulsions are:
Color Negative Films:
Kodak Portra 160 NC
Kodak Ektar 100
Fujicolor PRO 400H
Conventional B&W:
Ilford HP5 Plus
Ilford FP4 Plus
Ilford Pan F Plus
Ilford Delta 100, 400, 3200
Ilford XP-2
Kodak T-Max 100, 400
Color Slides:
Fujichrome Velvia 50 and 100, Provia 100F
If Kodachrome were still around, K64 would be on the list. It is the only color film I actually miss.
If Ektachrome Infrared were still available, it would be on the list. It was fun, freaky, and always surprising, but a pain in the tail to get processed (E4).
Nearly all my Ektachrome films have faded toward violet, so I'm skeptical about the new Ektachrome 100 coming later this month. I burned through thousands of rolls of Ektachrome (50 Tungsten, 5071 and SO-366 dupe films, 400 Daylight) — over 20 a month — as a multi-image slide show producer (1979-87). None of it looks good now.
Film was great stuff for me. I used it until digital imaging matured. Unfortunately, film media have little use in my current workflow. Digital technology has revolutionized filmmaking and still photography, and all but eliminated huge chunks of the photo industry.
Most of us in the mass portrait industry who had relied on film for decades rode the professional wave of digital developments fairly well. Some retired or went quite literally insane. I was lucky to work with Kodak technical sales reps who visited our lab until just before the big falloff in film demand. One year we were scanning Kodak Portra 160 NC film 24 hours a day, six days a week, on nine $55,000 Bremson HR500 scanners (4-6 seconds per 8 MP 12-bit image). Two years later, we had one scanner running on one shift. The next year, we scanned two 100' rolls of film. In 2011, our division was sold, and in 2015, the lab closed.