What type of camera, or will you decide that after picking up your film?
What do you want the film for; your purpose, or use?

Film is an intermediate — a step along the way to something else. Color negative provides greater versatility than transparency film, but transparencies can be viewed and evaluated easier than negatives. With negatives you can make prints, easily. Prints are the designed goal of color negatives. Slides scan easily, so a film to digital process could be an easy pathway to follow.

I prefer using color negatives. Always have … back when film was the mainly, there were more choices than time to decide. Now, the choices are very limited.

Current Roll Films

220 Film

• Kodak Portra 160 Color –
• Kodak Professional Portra 400 Color Negative

120 Film

• Kodak Ektar 100
• Kodak Portra 160
• Kodak Professional Portra 400
• Kodak Portra-800
• Fujifilm Pro 400H / Fujicolor

Kodak has pulled from the transparency (chrome / slide) business. Fuji color has more films available for transparency shooting, but they do have the one negative film 400H. They are, also, the main (only) maker of color paper.

I shoot Kodak Portra 400, in 120 and 220. It is easy to maintain consistency with this simplification of process. I could have chosen Portra 160, since it’s available in 120 & 220, but I prefer shooting at base of 400 speed. I enjoy the latitude in exposure; it also makes switching to BW quicker, since I shoot Tri-X, also at 400 base.

Notice that my choices aren’t based upon sharpness, grain, nor any other XZW, it is based upon inclusion in my artistic process. I go out, either to the street, or the studio, and shoot — then soup; — If the grain is too much, or too little; if the negative is too soft, or sharp, I adjust, either by re-shooting, or altering in post procedures. In that way, I spend more time making pictures for what they look like to me/

bees dance to live –but first they hunt.