What Film Should I Use?

There are many different brands of film available, be it Kodak, or Fuji or many different "house brands". Generally, all of them will deliver a decent photograph, even those sold under the name of your local drug store. For consistency of product performance, you're probably safer to choose the name brand, however in a pinch, I've used "drug store" film and been satisfied with the results.

Obviously the drug stores buy their film from one of the big film manufacturers, so it's not going to be awful film. It may not meet the same high standard of the product sold under name brand, but it will be quite satisfactory.

Your choice of the film to use in your photography, may seem like an odd place to start, but it's one of the most important choices you'll make. It's also very easy to understand. You see ALL film is rated on it's sensitivity to light - you know, how bright does it have to be to get a good photograph? But there's nothing to remember here because it's printed on every box of film, no matter the manufacturer. All you need to remember is the concept of what that rating means.

It's called the ISO Rating (used to be called the ASA Rating) and all you need to remember is that the higher the number, the less light the film needs for a properly exposed photograph. The more popular of the films range from 100 ISO to 400 ISO. Now I could go into a long song & dance about what those numbers all mean, but don't worry about it because it's not really necessary to know.

There's all that business about the grain of the film and reciprocity factors etc. etc. and if you want to know about that, email me and I'll tell you all about it. But why muddy the waters, when all we really want, is to help everyone be able to take good photographs.

My preferred ISO rating is 200, and that would be my recommendation to you, because in my experience, that rating is the most flexible and it's usually always available. Generally, ISO 200 film will do what you want in most situations.

Whatever you choose, if your camera has has an ISO setting, don't forget to set it to the ISO rating shown on the film and also on the film box, so that the camera knows what type of film you're using.

PHOTO TIP: Taking a good photograph requires choosing 2 appropriate settings on your camera - the shutter speed and the f-stop. Here's a tip that's worth it's weight in gold if you are not using the automatic exposure feature on your camera, or if it doesn't have one. Most shots you'll take will be taken on a sunny day. On a bright sunny day, use 1/ISO rating (or the closest shutter speed on your camera). If you're using ISO 200, choose 1/250th, and if you're using ISO 100, choose 1/125th, and if you're using 400 ISO, choose 1/500th.

When so doing, use an f-stop of f-11, and you'll get a properly exposed photograph every time! If it's a bit cloudy, use f-5.6 and if it's REALLY bright, use f-16 or f-22.

There will be a few more photo tips as you go through these pages. Copy them down into a small booklet which you can keep in your camera bag or pocket until they become second nature to you.

If you have a special lighting question and you're not sure which is the best choice of film, please e-mail me and I'll be happy to help you.

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