UNSW Photography Club

This tutorial is designed to help you make some sense out of the fridges of film you see at a photo shop in the city.
This tutorial will grow as more films, examples and additional information is added.
Slide and print film are sold under professional and consumer labels. The key difference is that the consumer films are designed to be left for a while before being used, whilst the professional films manufactured with the expectation that they will be used immediately or refrigerated. The reason behind this is the colour balance of the film. Furthermore there is an expectation of consistency in the film batches.

Slide Film

Fuji Velvia 50 ~ $19
One of the most passionately loved slide films around. It produces incredibly saturated colours and detail. A lot of people expose it one third of a stop over (ISO40) to bring out the shadow detail. At this speed it usually means a tripod or a bright day is needed for good results. A favourite for landscape and nature.

Fuji Velvia 100F ~ $20
A recent addition to Fuji's line of slide films, it is a faster version of the film but the colours are not as punchy or saturated as Velvia 50.

Print Film

Fuji Superia 100
This is a great all-round consumer film for use outdoors. Low grain.

Fuji Superia X-TRA 400 ~ $7
It has much lower grain than the Kodak equivalent (MAX 400). It is also rather contrasty and tends not to reproduce skin tones in such a flattering manner. This film is recommended for general use with compact point and shoot cameras.

Kodak MAX 400
This is a consumer film that is very grainy for its speed. The Fuji Superia 400 offers a better alternative but its often slightly more expensive.

Fuji NPS 160 ~ $14
NPS160 is one of Fuji's portrait films. At a speed of 160, usually means you need lots of light however it produces excellent results. It has low contrast so when used on people blemishes aren't highlighted. It also means that you keep great detail in clothing. As such its often used for weddings or portraits. It performs well under mixed lighting and has very little grain.

Fuji NPC 160 ~ $14
NPC160 is a slightly more contrasty film than NPS160. However it is still a portrait film. Great for fashion photography where you want more punchy colours as well as retaining the good skin tone reproduction.

Fuji NPH 400 ~ $15
NPH400 is fast portrait film that is very useful when ISO160 is a little too slow (such as when you are indoors and have to use a flash) it's a low contrast film and it has good skin tone reproduction as well.

Fuji Press 800 ~ $10
This is the workhorse film of the photojournalists and concert photographers (well, those that shoot film anyway). Highly recommended for use when you want to capture ambient light without camera shake, cant use a flash, or need to use a long lens (and as a result faster shutter speeds to avoid motion blur). Its obviously more grainy that slower films but on small prints it holds together well, and on larger prints there is very little grain for the speed. Colours are punchy too. It pushes well to ISO1600.

Black & White Print Film

Kodak Tri-X Pan 400
A "Classic" black and white film. Released in half a century ago, it has a characteristic grain which a lot of people like. Chances are you would have seen a large B&W poster from the 60's-70's etc. that was taken using this. It has a nice contrast and is good for portraits.