12 Films Worth Shooting With Before They're Gone
Give your digital camera a break and shoot a few rolls while you still have the opportunity
- By Stan Horaczek on July 25, 2013
Film photography is not dead. It is hurting, though. It seems every couple months, we lose a few more film stocks.
The remaining selection is a small fraction of what we once had. Still,
there are plenty of films out there worth loading into a camera. And the cameras are pretty cheap now, too. But who knows what the future holds?
We've
put together a collection of films you might want to try while you
still can. Some of them are old favorites and others are a little more
obscure. All of them, however, offer a unique and often extremely
rewarding photographic experience.
This
is by no means an exhaustive list, so feel free to add your own
suggestions in the comments. And if you have a freezer full of an old
film stock you miss, feel free to leave a comment about that, too. We're
sticking to the stocks that are easy to get, but there's all kinds of
interesting stuff out there. Let the film bug bite you.
Kodak Portra 400
Type: Color negative film
Price: $8 per 36 exposure roll
Other speeds: 160, 800
At
one time, there was a rift between Kodak Portra shooters. There were
two kinds, VC and NC. VC stood for Vivid Color and was great for things
like landscapes, while the NC (Natural Color) was preferable for skin
tones. Then, Kodak merged the two lines together. Some shooters were
sad, but the new Portra has won over a lot of fans, and for good reason.
It’s great.
The color reproduction is excellent
and the grain, even at 400, is very impressive. You can even push it a
bit and still keep things looking nice, which isn't always the strength
of color negative film. It's not as cheap as the stuff you can buy off
the rack at the local K-Mart, but in terms of quality, it really does
look better.
The grain on the 160 is even finer
and the 800 isn't too shabby either. It seems to be going strong, but
with all the tumult in the Kodak camp, we hope this stock won't be going
away anytime soon.
Kodak T-Max 400
Type: Black-and-white negative
Price: $4.95 per 36-exposure roll
Other speeds: 100 and 3200
When
picking a black-and-white film, grain is going to be a big part of your
decision. Kodak's T-Max 400 is, as Kodak claims, "The world's
finest-grained 400-speed B&W Film." While we haven't scientifically
confirmed that fact, we can say that it does have some very smooth
tones.
So, if you aren't looking for grain in
your images, or you're looking to push a 400-speed film as high as 1600
and still get acceptable results, this is a great choice.
Note: Because it's a true B&W film, you can't drop it off at the local drugstore and expect to get it developed.
Kodak Tri-X 400
Type: Black-and-white negative
Price: $4.49 per 36-exposure roll
Photo: Flickr-user Martin (Creative Commons)
On
the other side of the grain issue is Tri-X. While T-Max strives to make
things as smooth as possible, Tri-X gives you more contrast and a
coarser grain that lends itself to disciplines like street or
documentary photography.
It's often even cheaper
than T-Max is, and in my opinion, easier to develop. Plus, because
you're already expecting a bit of grain, you can push it a few stops and
it will only amplify the effect.
Some people
really love it, some hate it, and others have been using it for so long
that they wouldn't think of using anything else. Trying T-Max and Tri-X
at least once is something every photographer with a curiosity about
film should do, though
"Migration Swarms" consists of swarms from transparent 1-inch dots mimicking movement and flight. 
