Which colour film? Slide or neg.

The last time I bought a film to put into a camera was probably in 2003 or 4, which was when I bought my *ist D and stopped using film. Quite a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then.

As stated elsewhere, I have just acquired a K-1, and this has led me to review my motley collection of cameras and lenses. In the former category I have a couple of Spotmatics (they never die) and a working example of my favourite Pentax camera, the Super-A. My PZ 1-P (a truly formidable camera) was sold years ago.

Fondling these once-cherished machines brought on a wave of nostalgia, and I thought how nice it would be to put some film in them and remind myself what they can do.

But what film? I would want to have colour (because that's where Pentax lenses really shine), and I would want to have scans. But what sort of film is best for this? Traditionally, slide film was much better than neg. Is that still the case? What do the film experts recommend?

Thanks for any advice that might be forthcoming.

George

I was a Kodachrome slide film user. Mainly because the colour saturation was just epic. I know it was a massive faff to view them, but it was worth it and they wete easier to store in bulk!!

Also what about Ilford black and white film?

I too loved Kodachrome, both 64 and 25, even Ektachrome, though not so much the latter as I wasn't so keen on its rendition of colour. Interestingly, Ektachrome 100 is available once more and there is also Kodak Ektar, a colour negative film, less pricey but like film in general it is very, VERY expensive.

Ilford too have released a new film 'Phoenix 200' which has attracted quite a bit of attention. But to give a definitive answer to George's question is difficult because I'm largely out of touch with film these days and suspect there to be very few ardent film users on this forum either (correct me if I'm wrong). There are however, a number of Youtubers who appear to be dedicated to film who might be worth checking out, I'll provide a couple of links below to two of my favourites. Generally speaking though, as with all photographic ventures, some research and experimentation is required.

link

link

Enjoy your new to you K1 and your future film endeavours.

I was also a Kodachrome slide user (ISO64).

The current choices in slides are expensive and I find don't scan wonderfully.

If you want the punchiness of K64 or K25 I would go for Kodak Ektar 100 now. If you want more subtle colours, go for Kodak Portra 160.

Lots of other films about (including a lot of "experimental" ones) but Ektar and Portra give me the most consistent and pleasing results for colour.

Best wishes, Kris.

Many thanks for your replies, chaps, especially to Kris. That's exactly what I wanted to know.

I have to say I had to sit down for a moment when I saw the prices of film today. Shooting film has become a rich man's hobby!

But in a way that's good. It forces you to think carefully about each shot. Quality before quantity.

Curious....

Did you use a dedicated transparency scanner or an adaptor for flat bed?

When I used to scan slides I used a Canon transparency scanner. Fair enough back then it cost an arm and a leg, but it did the job. I also had a flat bed with a transparency adaptor. It did not do the job... at all!

As an occasional film user (in my P50 and Z-1p) the price of film makes me weep, as does the processing costs.

When I was transitioning to digital, Kodak was slowly discontinuing Kodachrome, the final nail was the closure of the Hemel Hempstead lab. The feeling of putting your finished film in the supplied envelope and putting on a 25p stamp and getting the finished slides in their lovely yellow plastic box was wonderful...

Then Fujilab had their promotions... 3 x Provia 100 or Velvia 50 with processing vouchers for £20. I made a lot of use of that.

In 2010 or so Karstadt in Germany would still have a vibrant photography department where you could by 5 x Elitechrome films with processing vouchers for €20!!! Karstadt is the German equivalent of John Lewis but with the financial clout of House of Fraser / Debenhams...

I bought a Canon scanner around 2000, it's utility was limited by 2006 when it wouldn't work with Windows 7, then my Nikon scanner suffered the same fate a few years later when I struggled to get drivers to get that to work on a Win 10 machine. Now I have an Epson V850, it works but I am not overly satisfied with the output. So the Z-1p and P50 get less use than I would like.

I gather from other sources Kodak Portra is good for what you need, but availability and price is an issue.... Good luck (and great to have you back George!)

Older slides in my collection I scan myself. I was talking about new film which I have scanned along with the development. I'm always rather disappointed with the colours compared to Ektar. I've used three different labs.

K