With the digital age upon us, this might not seem like such an important article, however many of us die-hard photographers still swear by our film cameras. In fact, photographs from film have been proven to outlast photographs taken digitally. This is why many of us still tend to take several rolls a year. So if you are one of those people who still takes photographs using film, this article is for you.
It is important to choose the right film. There are different speeds of film that are made to specifically deal with certain types of lighting, the time of day you are trying to take photographs and for the activity or event you are taking pictures of – sports photography requires a much higher speed. There are so may different types and speeds available, it is like a big jumble of information.
The three most popular print film speeds are 400, 200 and 100. Those are the film speeds people purchase the most for various events and photography situations. All film cameras are equipped to handle these three speeds. However, there are several other speeds of film available. Some are 1000 or higher, and some that have a different name like Kodak Gold Max.
As a gal who takes photographs on a very regular basis, of everything under the sun, I strongly recommend using a good film type like Kodak Gold Max film. It is by far my favorite brand and type. It is the best standard speed film out there for movement, low and high lighting and regular pictures. It is a good general use film, by a good company. It allows the most flexibility with vibrant, beautiful photographs as the outcome.
Understanding film speeds is the key to perfect photographs every time instead of just some of the time. Knowing which films handle which types of photography (sports, low-light, outdoors, indoors, night, etc), is important to get better photographs.
Be sure to see Taking the Guesswork Out of Film Speeds for a breakdown of different speed film.