Critical Point

film stock opinions

Emma? Has Opinions? Of fucking course she does.

This page exists mostly so I can keep track of what I shot. I’m considering adding a few example pictures to each category but for now, I will just make it a list.

edit: opinions are out of date. revision coming shortly

black and white

  • Ilford HP5+ – the absolute GOAT film. the grain looks like proper Film Grain without ruining any shot. it pushes beautifully and honestly, shoot it at 800 and stand dev and you get the perfect BW film
  • Ilford Delta 400 – Not for me. Def does not like to be stand deved, came out very grainy.
  • Kentmere 100 – Quite sharp for a budget film. Kentmere is great for reliable films.
  • Kentmere 400 – budget HP5. essentially everything from above, but apparently it likes being pushed even more. more testing needed. the actual plastic base sucks to load into a Patterson tank
  • Kodak Tri-X 400 – Kodak’s version of HP5 (don’t @ me). Beautiful, good grain, every shot you take with it just feels like *film*
  • Kodak TMAX 400 – really unimpressed by it. I would take Tri-X any day.
  • Ferrania P30 – incredibly sharp, detailed, smooth, beautiful film.
  • Arista/Fomo 400 – i might have made a mistake shooting this at 1600 and didn’t dev it enough. but i was not thrilled with the results at all. i might shoot it again but with easy access to HP5 and Kentmere, i don’t see the need
  • Orwo UN54 (Lomo Kino Potsdam) 100 – Honestly a little impressive, pretty good resolution for a cheaper film

color

Kodak

  • Gold 200 – the perfect consumer filmstock. Way sharper than it has any business being. Absolutely perfect in 120.
  • ProImage 100 – plain, flat, hard to get good results outside of direct sunlight.
  • ColorPlus 200 – just worse gold 200
  • UltraMax 400 – just worse gold 200, but at least it’s faster
  • Kodacolor 100 – not really impressive. but it is cool to see Kodak bringing a couple new filmstocks to market.
  • Kodacolor 200 – rumored to be the same as ColorPlus 100. I have not shot it.

  • Ektar 100 – near perfect nature color film. very vibrant and bright
  • Portra 160 – in my mind, this is basically “Gold 200 but professional”. The colors are slightly better technically, the dynamics are better, the grain is better. I need to try this film out at night bc people swear by it.
  • Portra 400 – there’s nothing i can write here that hasn’t been said before. It’s a great filmstock, it’s incredibly dynamic, it has that hipster look. If i was going to be doing anything where grain and resolution matter most, I would buy this film.
  • Portra 800 – probably my fav color negative filmstock since Superia’s discontinuation. I love the color, i love being able to shoot at night, i love the latitude, i love the depth, i love that i can make this film look moody.

  • Ektachrome E100 – This is the prettiest filmstock I have ever shot. I am astounded that I metered correctly for this film. The shots were fucking incredible I couldn’t believe it. Worth it. So fucking worth it.

Cinestill (Re-spooled Kodak Cinema Film)

  • Cinestill 800T – I tried to learn to stop worrying and love the halation. I just couldn’t. No matter what I try, Cinestill 800T does not look good in my hands. I’ll leave the gas station photography to the experts.
  • Cinestill 400D – more serviceable than 800T. but the halating nature of the film is just too much for me. i want something more reliable out of my film. However, this film does have it’s own look and feels like the closest i’ve come to Fuji Superia
  • Cinestill BwXX – only way to really shoot Kodak Double-X cinema film, only way to shoot it at 120

Lomography

  • Lomo Color 800 (Kodak Gold? 800) – the Lomo Color line (100, 400, 800) are respooled Kodak Gold. Only sold in packs, annoyingly expensive. It feels similar to Portra 800 in color and tone, but with less dynamic range. At my local camera store, it is the same price per roll to Portra 800 so I just buy Portra instead.
  • Lomochrome Purple – my one example of a really fun shitty film. has a pretty pastel pinkish look to it at 100, a cool purpley look at 200, and a deep look at 400. Does not handle shadows well at all, loves light and wants to see well lit scenes
  • Lomochrome Color’92 (Orwo NC500) – washed out “vintage photography” style film. didn’t really impress me, but could have its uses

Fujifilm

  • Fuji Superia 400 – my favorite film stock. i have not found a film that has the right balance of color, quality, and straight up nostalgia goggles that Superia 400 delivers.

Harman (Ilford)

  • OG Phoenix 200 – not for me, honestly i kinda hate it. but the fact that Ilford/Harman is making new color film is so cool
  • Phoenix II – SIGNIFICANTLY better as a general filmstock than Phoenix 1. Halates less (tho still a lot) and has way nicer colors. It seems like a filmstock that isn’t ugly as shit in the Gloom. The dynamic range isn’t great and shadows get lost quickly on this filmstock. it does NOT make a good nighttime filmstock. But it def has a place in my life in a way that Phoenix 1 never did.