Originally Posted by
Drew Wiley
Ideally, large format film needs to be relatively stiff sheet film that won't easily sag in a holder. Some people use thinner lith film for sake of economy, but it's not an ideal practice. Otherwise, there's quite a selection to choose from. One shoe does not fit all. Characteristic curves can vary somewhat by developer choice, strength, degree of development, long exposure characteristics, and even color of filter if it is deep enough. But in other ways, you can study their published characteristic curves, and if you learn how to actually interpret these graphs, understand why some films respond to scene contrast and range much differently than others. But even doing that correctly requires a degree of hands-on experience first. There are obviously also differences in film speed and grain. But I sure don't recommend buying a "box of each" unless you are rich and have a lot of time on your hands. You'd equally need a "bottle of each" kind of developer, and a box of each kind of paper. It's more effective, when first starting out, to take your best guess, ideally based upon the advice of experienced people like on this forum, and then learn the potential of that one specific film before opening an entire casket of confusing options. A lot depends on your intended subject matter and how you intend to print it. I'd start with a versatile forgiving sheet film like
FP4, unless you know you need something faster. But there are a variety of excellent choices out there. Don't overthink it.
Get to first base first.
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