Photography of Simon Galbally - f8Vision

About

Film, Glorious Film - the film I prefer to use

I shoot both colour and B&W film – each 50% of the time and in 135, panorama, medium and large formats.

All the images in my Galleries detail the film used.

Colour Negative Film

For the past 15 years I was something of a Fujifilm devotee; but, in the past year I have migrated towards Kodak colour print films - I seem to prefer the "warmer" tonality. Although for people images I am staying with Fujifilm - in 100 and 400 ASA variants, it produces very neutral skin tones and with very fine grain for their respective speeds.

The best attribute of Portra 160NC is that despite its low colour saturation, any bright colours in the image are faithfully rendered as such - the film does not pull back striking colours. The picture of the clowns is a good example of that attribute.

Generally my preferred films are:

Portra 160NC
Ektar 100
Portra 400NC, 400VC and occasionally 400UC
Fuji Press 400.

I select the specific Kodak films for the job based on the subject and light at the time, which is reliable and easy due to the product code designation.

Ektar 100 is a very new technology emulsion developed since 2008 and boasts arguably the finest grain of any colour negative film ever made. It is simply a beautiful film.

Specifically my favourite is 160NC - it has quite beautiful characteristics; flexibility enabling some desired over exposure when set to an effective 100asa speed. With digital scanning and software 160NC responds very well and increased saturation settings remain natural.

For very fast action and intensive non-portrait flash shooting with a 135 SLR:

Fujifilm Superia 200 or 400

Despite being a standard consumer film, it's fine grained, exceptionally reliable and predictable, sharp and works superbly with flash and scans reliably.

Colour Positive Film

In a similar way I am shooting much more Kodak positive film than Fujichrome. I restrict positive film to early morning and late afternoon to avoid burnt highlights and blocked shadows during the day due to positive film's lower exposure latitude. I mostly shoot Kodak positive film now again finding most Fujifilm positive film too cool or even too artificial (Velvia’s predisposition to “colour casts” never fills me with confidence - despite how legendary that film is):

100VS
100GX

Occasionally I need to use 400asa colour positive film in which case I then use Fujifilm Provia 400.

B&W Film

When I need the convenience of C41 process B&W film I always shoot with Ilford XP2 Super. Mostly I overexpose it by 2/3rds of a stop. But in very contrasty light I overexpose it 1.5 stops.

Otherwise my preferred 135 format B&W film is:

Ilford Delta 100 @ 100asa;
Ilford XP2 Super @ 250-320asa.

I really like Delta’s controlled contrast and wide progressive tonality and sharpness. However, I am about to experiment with Fujifilm’s Neopan 400, which is highly regarded.

When I need very fast B&W film, I only use Neopan 1600 and typically expose it at 1250asa if the light allows - that helps avoid the blacks choking up.

For MF and LF using 120 roll film backs I chose differently finding that Fujifilm's superb Acros 100 greatly benefits from the larger emulsion format. It is fine grained and has an excellent tonal range and sharpness. I always manage to expose it perfectly:

Fuji Acros 100.

Acros 100 is something of a "dark horse" in that while there are many devotees of Kodak's excellent TMax emulsion and various wonderful Ilfod emulsions like their HP5, Acros is quite special to my eyes.

Large Format Film

For colour 4x5 sheets I always shoot positive film and use Ektachrome. I get the tonality I want and the best from my Schneider and Rodenstock lens characteristics.

For B&W negative film I use Ilford's slowest available 4x5 film - regardless of what that may be at the time. For me this is where Ilford's B&W expertise shines.

SUGGESTIONS

I recommend that any keen photographer experiment with different emulsions and make notes while shooting to avoid memory failures. It's amazing what you discover! There are so many truly wonderful films available today.

And, for those Australians who find the local price of film to be a financial burden - buy ex-USA. You'll save at least 40% including freight and GST on arrival and freeze what you don't need to use in the next 12 months!

DIGITAL NOTES: Since I made a transition to 135 format digital, it has become clear to me that some sensor developers have managed to emulate the characteristics of some film emulsions. In particular, the Kodak sensor in Leica's M8 is remarkably similar to Portra 160NC. Interestingly they both have a base ISO rating of 160 ISO!

This image demonstartes my point.

Photos and text are copyright of f8Vision and SimonPG.