Which film for landscapes/portraits?

[Max Taylor]

Can someone please give me a recommendation on which film to use (make and speed) for landscapes and which to use for portraits. I hope to enlarge the better ones into a size suitable for hanging on mey wall. I have recently purchased a Kardan Color 4X5 with 90 1.8 Super Angulon, 150 5.6 Symmar and 240 5.5 tele Arton. Thanks Max Auckland NZ

[Greg Fisch]

Over the last 20 years, I have had extremely good results using Kodak Plus-x 4x5 (rated at 100) developed with Kodak HC-110 developer, Tri-X (rated at 250) with the same developer gives very good shadow detail, but with more grain. I am cu rrently working with T-max 100, again with HC-110 since Kodak does not recommend the T-max developer for sheet film. I'm still not sure if I like it better tha n Plus-X.

For color work, Fuji's Astia is rather amazing for skin tones and overall qualit y. For general color work, Ektachrome 64 is my stand-by, mainly because its pre dictable and readily available.

I print the B/W on either Ilford Galerie, or Oriental Seagull (now hard to find) for prints up to 16x20. I always tones the prints in Selenium.

For color prints from transparencies, Ilfochrome (formerly Cibachrome) looks gre ats and also has the benefit of having good long-term color stability. This is important if you are interested in selling your work through galleries.

Good luck Greg (Downey, CA USA)

[Peter Thoshinsky]

Black and white or color ? Negatives or slides ? What will the end result be u sed for, publishing or prints ? Due you prefer preloaded films or are you using standard (load 'em yourself) film holders ?

[Peter Thoshinsky]

..........that's "do" not "due". I'm not illiterate. The best spell check would know what I want to say not what I type

[Mark Windom]

I use Fujichrome Velvia exclusively for my landscape work. As a professional st ock photographer I have found the saturated colors, high contrast, and exception al sharpness of this film to be readily accepted, even appreciated, by photo edi tors. I have also made Type R and Ilfochrome prints from masked Velvia chromes w ith excellent results. Many pros rate the film at ISO 40 rather than the suggested 50.

[Peter Hughes]

For my 8x10 work, I use T-Max 400, processed in T-Max RS developer (in a tray, a s a one-shot), nominal time 5 minutes @ 75 degrees F. I like it because its reci procity characteristics are far superior to Tri-X and other non-T-grain films. T his is very important when your exposure times are over 1/2 second. I don't reco mmend developing T-Max films in anything but T-Max developers. It's expensive bu t well worth it. By the way, I strongly disagree with those "pros" who recommend rating Fuji Velv ia at ISO 40. Velvia (like all slide films) likes to be slightly UNDERexposed, a nd thus a rating of 64 or 80 seems far more appropriate. Test first, then bracke t.

[Gordon Vcikrey]

I suspect that many folks who accept both parts of Peter Hughes' advice:

"...Velvia (like all slide films) likes to be slightly UNDERexposed, and thus a rating of 64 or 80 seems far more appropriate. Test first, then bracket."

--will find themselves happier with part two than part one.

My experience supports the numerous recommendations I have read regarding the ex posure of Velvia: I find that it gives me better exposures at ISO 40 than it doe s at its nominal rating of 50. With some of my gear, and under certain condition s, a rating of 32 works better still. Films that are arguably overrated with res pect to their speed do not "like" to be further underexposed.

[Robert Parsons]

I shoot landscapes in the 4X5 format and after spending several years with T-Max 100 and 400 I found myself trying a box of Tri-X when my supplier was out of T- Max 400. While I never really cared for Tri-X in 35mm or medium format I found that whe n I used it for 4X5 it gave me a gradation and tonality that I found quite nice. The increased grain is slight but I think it adds something subtle to my work. I generally develop in either Rodinal or HC-110 (dil B) and print on Kodak Polym ax Fine Art FD or Kodak Elite. Try it, you may like it as well.

[Jim Chow]

For landscapes, I shoot almost exclusively velvia rated at 40. At 50, it's over- saturated, IMHO. For portraits, I really like E100SW. The extra warmth looks rea lly good on skin tones. It also works well for photos in the high mountains/snow since it sort of acts like a built-in warming filter.

[Ron Shaw]

Well...It seems most everyone likes Velvia for landscapes (I do too), and I also like Provia (rated at 100), but you got very little info on a portrai t film (aside for a recommendation for Fuji Astia). I strongly feel that if you are going to make prints, use print film. It will be far cheaper than making high quality Ilfochromes. For portraits, I also recommend films made for portraits, such as Kodak VPS (160 daylight, 125 strobe, 80 outdoor shade) or Fuji NPS. These films are reduced contrast films, necessar y for getting a full range of shades onto print paper. You may want to refer to Kodaks excellent book 'The Portrait'. It has much usefull info on all aspects of portraiture.