REFERENCE
Film speeds I have tried
📌 TL;DR / Quick Summary <div style="background: rgba(0,0,0,0.3); border: 1px dashed rgba(255,255,255,0.2); padding: 15px; border-radius: 8px; color: rgba(255,255,255,0.7); margin-bottom: 30px;"> Every kind of film I have put through the rangefinder since August 2019, by speed and type, with what each one did in the light I actually have, which is estuary light: low, grey and sideways for seven months and then suddenly too much. No brand names, because I have never been able to tell two rolls of the same speed apart and I have tried. Part of 🪁 Film photography. </div>
🛠️ Instructions / Core Material
| Speed and type | What it did here | Where it earned its place | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 colour negative | Beautiful for one hour a day in June. Otherwise the shutter speed drops to something I cannot hold. | The ferry in Lisbon, at noon, facing a container terminal | Trips to the south only |
| 200 colour negative | Honest colour, fine grain, forgiving. | Averley at Easter, Ljubljana | The summer default |
| 400 colour negative | Copes with the tram, the market hall and four in the afternoon in November. Greys go a little green. | Most months | The default |
| 800 colour negative | Grainy and warm. Makes a restaurant counter look the way it felt. | My birthday at Emil's counter, Noor's farewell | Evenings and October |
| 400 black and white | The estuary in January is already black and white, so this is just agreeing with it. Mud, cranes, fog. | The morning loop, Sintra inside a cloud, Lake Bohinj | Favourite |
| 400 black and white, pushed one stop | More contrast than I wanted and no detail in the shadows. Once. | Indoors at the wall, 2023 | Not again without a reason |
| 100 colour slide | One roll in 2020. No latitude at all: a third of a stop out and the sky is gone. | Nowhere | Too exact for me |
What I have settled on
- October to March: 400, black and white or colour depending on mood.
- April to September: 200 colour, with one 400 black and white in the bag.
- One roll a month is the rule. Trips are allowed more.
⚠️ Key Warnings / Constraints
- These are notes about my eyes and one camera, 🎒 35 mm film camera, whose fastest shutter speed is 1/500. On a bright beach with 400 film that is not fast enough at any sensible aperture.
- Negative film forgives too much light and punishes too little. When unsure I give it one stop more. Slide film is the opposite and I have stopped arguing with it.
- Hand luggage only, and ask for a hand check for anything at 800.
- Write the speed on the back of my hand when loading. The camera does not know and in February neither did I.
🔗 Related Entities & Resources
- 🎒 35 mm film camera: the one camera all of this was learned on.
- 🪁 Film photography: the hobby note, with what to pack.