The film you load into your camera has as much impact on your final image as the camera itself. Different film stocks render color, contrast, grain, and tonality in distinctly different ways. A portrait shot on Kodak Portra looks fundamentally different from the same portrait shot on Fujifilm Pro 400H or CineStill 800T. Choosing the right film for your subject and vision is one of the great creative decisions in analog photography. This guide compares the most popular and widely available film stocks across color negative, slide (reversal), and black-and-white categories, helping you understand what each one does and when to reach for it.
Understanding Film Characteristics
Before diving into specific stocks, it helps to understand the characteristics that differentiate them.
Speed (ISO): Film speed determines sensitivity to light. Lower-speed films (ISO 50 to 200) need more light but produce finer grain and more detail. Higher-speed films (ISO 400 to 3200) work in lower light but show more grain. The ISO setting on your camera should match the film speed, unless you are intentionally pushing or pulling the film during development.
Grain: Film grain is the visible texture created by the silver halide crystals in the emulsion. Slower films have finer grain. Faster films have more pronounced grain. Grain is not noise. It has an organic, pleasing structure that many photographers consider a feature rather than a flaw. Different films produce different grain patterns, from barely visible to aggressively textured.
Color rendition: Each film stock has its own color palette. Some lean warm (reds, oranges, yellows emphasized), some lean cool (blues, greens), and some aim for neutral accuracy. Skin tone rendering varies significantly between films, making some stocks better suited for portraits than others.
Contrast: Some films produce high-contrast images with deep shadows and bright highlights. Others render a flatter, more even tonal range. Higher contrast films tend to look more dramatic. Lower contrast films preserve more detail across the tonal range and give more latitude in post-processing.
Exposure latitude: This describes how forgiving a film is when you miss the ideal exposure. Color negative film generally has wide latitude (you can over or underexpose by two or three stops and still get a usable image). Slide film has very narrow latitude (half a stop off and you notice). Black-and-white film varies, but most have reasonably wide latitude.
Color Negative Film
Color negative film (also called C-41 after its development process) is the most popular and forgiving film type. It produces negatives with an orange mask that are inverted and color-corrected during scanning or printing. Color negative film has excellent exposure latitude, making it the best choice for beginners and for shooting in unpredictable lighting conditions.
Kodak Portra 160
Portra 160 is a professional film designed for accurate, natural skin tones. It has extremely fine grain for its speed, warm but not exaggerated color, and beautiful pastel rendition in highlights. The low saturation and gentle contrast make it the film of choice for wedding, fashion, and portrait photographers who want a clean, elegant look. It thrives in good light. In low light or heavy shade, the low speed becomes a limitation. Best for outdoor portraits, fashion, and well-lit editorial work.
Kodak Portra 400
Portra 400 is arguably the most versatile color film available. It combines the beautiful skin tones and color accuracy of the Portra family with enough speed to handle a wide range of lighting conditions. Grain is remarkably fine for ISO 400. Color is warm and natural. Exposure latitude is extraordinary: you can overexpose Portra 400 by two or three stops and get luminous, pastel-toned images with minimal grain increase. Many photographers shoot Portra 400 as their default color film for everything from weddings to landscapes to everyday snapshots.
Kodak Portra 800
The fastest member of the Portra family. Grain is noticeably more present than Portra 400 but still refined and pleasant. Color remains in the warm Portra palette but with slightly more saturation. Portra 800 is valuable for indoor events, low-light situations, and any time you need a faster shutter speed without a flash. It can also be pushed to 1600 or 3200 during development with usable results.
Kodak Gold 200
Kodak Gold is a consumer-grade film that delivers warmer, more saturated color than the Portra line. Yellows and reds pop. Grain is slightly more visible than Portra 160. The look is distinctly “Kodak”: warm, golden, and nostalgic. At a significantly lower price than Portra, Gold 200 is an excellent everyday film and a great starting point for beginners who want affordable color shooting.
Kodak Ultramax 400
Another consumer-grade Kodak film with warm, saturated colors and visible but pleasant grain. Ultramax 400 is one of the most affordable color films available and widely stocked at pharmacies and supermarkets. It produces vibrant images with strong saturation, especially in warm tones. A solid choice for casual shooting, travel, and learning.
Kodak Ektar 100
Ektar 100 is the finest-grain color negative film currently in production. It delivers extremely high saturation with vivid, almost hyper-real color, particularly in reds and blues. Contrast is higher than the Portra line. Grain is virtually invisible. Ektar excels at landscape photography, architecture, and product photography where you want punchy color and maximum detail. It is less flattering for skin tones than Portra (skin can appear overly red or ruddy), so it is not the first choice for portraits.
Fujifilm C200 / Fujicolor 200
Fuji’s budget color film has a cooler, more neutral color palette than Kodak’s warm consumer films. Greens and blues are rendered cleanly. Grain is moderate. It is a straightforward, honest film that reproduces colors without heavy editorial bias. A good choice for general photography and for photographers who prefer cooler tones.
Fujifilm Superia 400
Fuji’s consumer ISO 400 film, with a cooler character than Kodak Ultramax but similar versatility. Greens tend toward emerald, blues are prominent, and overall saturation is moderate. Grain is visible but controlled. A reliable all-around film that performs well in a wide range of lighting conditions.
CineStill 800T
CineStill 800T is actually Kodak Vision3 500T cinema film that has been modified for standard C-41 processing. The “T” stands for tungsten-balanced, meaning it is designed for warm artificial light. Under tungsten and neon lighting, it produces accurate, beautiful color. Under daylight, it shifts strongly blue, which can be corrected with an 85B warming filter or embraced as a stylistic choice. The signature feature of CineStill 800T is its halation: a soft, reddish glow around bright light sources caused by the removal of the remjet backing layer. This gives images from CineStill a cinematic, almost ethereal look, especially at night. It has become a popular choice for night street photography and urban work.
Slide Film (Reversal / E-6)
Slide film (also called reversal or transparency film) produces a positive image directly on the film. When you hold a developed slide up to the light, you see the image as it appeared in real life, in full color and density. Slide film is projected or scanned. It is not printed through a negative process.
Slide film offers vivid color, high contrast, and a luminous, three-dimensional quality that is difficult to achieve any other way. The catch is that exposure latitude is extremely narrow. Half a stop of overexposure can blow highlights irretrievably. One stop of underexposure pushes shadows into dense black. Shooting slide film well requires careful metering and a solid understanding of the exposure triangle. It rewards precision and punishes guesswork.
Fujifilm Velvia 50
Velvia 50 is legendary among landscape photographers. It delivers saturated, intensely vivid color with strong contrast and ultra-fine grain. Greens are lush and deep. Blues are rich and saturated. Reds and oranges positively glow. The look is dramatic and punchy, making Velvia the go-to film for landscape photography, nature work, and any subject that benefits from bold color. It is less suited for portraits because the high saturation exaggerates skin tones. Exposure must be precise.
Fujifilm Velvia 100
A faster version of Velvia with slightly lower saturation and contrast than the 50. Still vivid by any standard, but with a touch more versatility. The extra stop of speed makes it more practical in varying light conditions while maintaining the signature Velvia color intensity.
Fujifilm Provia 100F
Provia is Fuji’s neutral, professional slide film. Color is accurate and well-balanced rather than exaggerated. Grain is extremely fine. Contrast is moderate. It is more versatile than Velvia and works well for a wider range of subjects, including portraits and documentary work. If Velvia is the dramatic, high-saturation choice, Provia is the honest, accurate one.
Kodak Ektachrome E100
Kodak revived Ektachrome after discontinuing it in 2012. The current E100 delivers clean, fine-grained images with neutral-to-slightly-warm color and moderate saturation. It sits between Velvia’s intensity and Provia’s neutrality. Blues and greens are particularly well-rendered. It is a solid general-purpose slide film and the only current Kodak option in the E-6 process.
Black-and-White Film
Black-and-white film removes color entirely, leaving you with a grayscale image defined by tone, contrast, texture, and light. The look of a black-and-white image depends heavily on the film stock, the developer used, and the exposure. Our black-and-white photography guide covers shooting and processing techniques in detail. For home development guidance, see our film developing guide.
Kodak Tri-X 400
Tri-X is the most iconic black-and-white film in history. It has been in production since 1954 and has defined the look of photojournalism, street photography, and documentary work for decades. Tri-X produces images with moderate-to-high contrast, visible but beautiful grain, and a classic tonality that is instantly recognizable. It responds well to pushing (to 800, 1600, or even 3200) and pairs beautifully with a wide range of developers. If you can only try one black-and-white film, make it Tri-X.
Ilford HP5 Plus 400
HP5 is Ilford’s direct competitor to Tri-X and an equally excellent choice. It has slightly lower base contrast than Tri-X, producing a smoother, more gradual tonal range. Grain is similar in character but slightly less pronounced. HP5 pushes extremely well and is often considered the better pushing film of the two. Many photographers choose between Tri-X and HP5 based on personal preference rather than any objective quality difference. Both are outstanding.
Ilford Delta 400
Delta 400 is Ilford’s modern, tabular-grain (T-grain) ISO 400 film. It produces finer grain than HP5 at the same speed, with a smoother, more modern tonality. The tonal range is wide and even. It responds well to fine-grain developers like Ilford DDX. Delta 400 is a good choice if you want the speed of a 400 film with the smoothest possible grain.
Kodak T-Max 400
Kodak’s T-grain film is the counterpart to Delta 400. It produces extremely fine grain for its speed, with a wide tonal range and moderate contrast. T-Max 400 is technically impressive but has a different character than Tri-X. Where Tri-X has a gritty, organic look, T-Max 400 is smoother and more controlled. Some photographers find it clinical; others appreciate the cleanliness. It is an excellent film that rewards careful exposure and development.
Ilford FP4 Plus 125
FP4 is a medium-speed, fine-grain film with a classic look. It produces images with moderate contrast, excellent sharpness, and very fine grain. The tonal range is long and smooth. FP4 is a good choice for controlled situations where you have adequate light: studio work, outdoor portraits in good conditions, landscape photography, and architectural subjects.
Ilford Pan F Plus 50
Pan F is a slow, ultra-fine-grain film that produces images with extraordinary detail and smooth tonality. In good light, the results can approach medium format quality from a 35mm frame. It excels at landscape and still-life work where you have a tripod and ample light. The slow speed makes it impractical for fast-moving subjects or low-light situations, but in its element, Pan F is remarkable.
Kodak T-Max 100
Kodak’s finest-grain black-and-white film. T-Max 100 delivers exceptional sharpness and a wide tonal range with virtually invisible grain. It is excellent for studio work, product photography, and any controlled situation where detail matters. Like Pan F, it needs good light.
Ilford Delta 3200
Delta 3200 is a high-speed film designed for low-light shooting. Its true sensitivity is closer to ISO 1000, but it is designed to be pushed to 3200 or even 6400 during development. Grain is pronounced and atmospheric. Contrast is high. It is a specialist film for available-light photography in dark conditions: indoor events, night street photography, dimly lit interiors. The grain becomes a feature, giving images a raw, energetic feel.
Ilford XP2 Super 400
XP2 is unique: it is a black-and-white film that uses the C-41 color negative process for development. This means any lab that processes color film can develop it. The images are chromogenic (dye-based rather than silver-based), producing extremely fine grain with a smooth, almost digital-looking tonality. XP2 has outstanding exposure latitude. It is a practical choice if you do not develop your own film and want high-quality black and white without seeking out a specialty lab.
How to Choose the Right Film
Choosing film comes down to matching the film’s characteristics to your subject, conditions, and creative intent.
For portraits: Kodak Portra 400 or Portra 160 for color. Their gentle contrast and flattering skin tones make them the standard. For black-and-white portraits, Tri-X or HP5 at box speed delivers classic results.
For landscapes: Fujifilm Velvia 50 for vivid color slides. Kodak Ektar 100 for vivid color negatives. Ilford FP4 Plus or Pan F Plus for detailed black-and-white work.
For street photography: Kodak Tri-X or Ilford HP5 pushed to 800 or 1600 for black and white. Kodak Portra 400 or Ultramax 400 for color. CineStill 800T for night work.
For low light: Portra 800, Ilford Delta 3200, or push Tri-X/HP5 to 1600 or 3200. For color, CineStill 800T is designed for exactly these conditions.
For travel and everyday: Kodak Gold 200, Ultramax 400, or Portra 400 for color. HP5 Plus or Tri-X for black and white. Choose based on your typical lighting conditions and how much you want to spend per roll.
Understanding the exposure triangle helps you pair your film choice with the right camera settings for your shooting conditions.
Film Storage and Handling
Film is a perishable product. Heat, humidity, and radiation degrade it over time.
Store unused film in the refrigerator. Cold storage slows chemical degradation and extends shelf life by months or years. Keep film in its original sealed packaging to prevent moisture absorption. Allow refrigerated film to warm to room temperature (about 30 minutes) before loading it into your camera to prevent condensation.
Avoid heat. Never leave film in a hot car, a sunny windowsill, or near a heat source. High temperatures accelerate degradation and can cause color shifts, increased fog, and reduced contrast.
Shoot and develop promptly. Exposed but undeveloped film degrades faster than unexposed film. The latent image loses contrast and shifts color over time. Ideally, develop exposed film within a few weeks. If you cannot develop it soon, store exposed rolls in the refrigerator.
Airport X-rays. Modern carry-on X-ray machines at airports are generally safe for film under ISO 800. High-speed film (800 and above) and film that will pass through multiple X-ray screenings should be hand-checked. Never put film in checked luggage, as the CT scanners used for checked bags will damage film in a single pass.
Common Mistakes
Choosing film based on internet hype. Every few months, a film stock goes viral on social media, and prices spike. Choose film based on how it renders the subjects you shoot, not on what is trending. The best film for your work might be a humble consumer stock that nobody is talking about.
Underexposing color negative film. Color negative film loves light. Slight overexposure (one stop or so) often produces better results than nailing the meter reading exactly, giving you richer color and finer grain. Underexposure leads to thin negatives with muddy shadows, weak color, and increased grain. When in doubt, give color negative film more light, not less.
Using slide film without precise metering. Slide film has a very narrow exposure window. If you are not confident in your metering, stick with color negative film until your exposure skills are solid. Understanding aperture and shutter speed relationships is essential for slide film work.
Not trying different stocks. Many photographers find one film they like and never try anything else. Experimentation is cheap compared to the creative growth it enables. Shoot a few rolls of something unfamiliar. You might discover a look you love.
Judging film from bad scans. Lab scanning quality varies enormously. A mediocre scan can make excellent film look flat and lifeless. If you are disappointed with the look of a film stock, try scanning the negatives yourself or getting them scanned at a higher-quality lab before writing off the film.
Try This
The comparison test. Buy two different color films at the same speed (like Portra 400 and Gold 200 rated at box speed). Shoot both in similar conditions on the same day. Compare the scans side by side. This is the fastest way to understand how film stocks differ and to calibrate your preferences.
Overexpose Portra 400 by two stops. Set your camera to ISO 100 and shoot Portra 400 in bright daylight. Have it developed normally (do not pull). The resulting images will have pastel colors, minimal grain, and a luminous, almost ethereal quality. This is one of the most popular “looks” in modern film photography and a technique worth experiencing firsthand.
Shoot Tri-X two ways. Shoot one roll at ISO 400 and develop normally. Shoot another at ISO 1600 and push-process during development. Compare the grain, contrast, and tonal range. This exercise teaches you more about the relationship between ISO, exposure, and development than any article can.
Try one roll of slide film. Load a roll of Fujifilm Provia 100F on a bright day. Meter carefully. Shoot subjects with moderate contrast. When you get the developed slides back, hold them up to the light. The luminous, jewel-like quality of a well-exposed slide is something you have to see in person to fully appreciate.
Shoot black-and-white for a week. Load a roll of Tri-X or HP5 and commit to shooting only black and white for seven days. This forces you to see in tones and contrast rather than color, which strengthens your composition and light-reading skills regardless of what format you shoot.
FAQ
What is the best film for beginners?
Kodak Gold 200 for color (affordable, forgiving, warm, widely available) or Ilford HP5 Plus 400 for black and white (versatile speed, wide latitude, excellent with any developer). Both are inexpensive, easy to find, and forgiving of exposure errors.
Does expired film still work?
Usually, yes. Properly stored expired film (kept cool and dry) can produce good results years or even decades past its expiration date. The general rule is to add one stop of overexposure for every decade the film has been expired. Color shifts and increased grain are common, which some photographers embrace as a creative effect. Slide film degrades faster than negative film and is less reliable when expired.
Why is some film so expensive?
Film manufacturing is complex and capital-intensive, and demand has decreased significantly from the peak era. The remaining manufacturers produce smaller quantities, which raises per-unit costs. Professional films like Portra are priced higher because of the tighter quality control and research that goes into them. Supply chain issues and increasing demand from the film resurgence have also pushed prices up in recent years.
Can I use any 35mm film in any 35mm camera?
Yes. All 35mm film uses the same canister and frame size. Any 35mm film works in any 35mm camera. Just make sure to set your camera’s ISO dial to match the film speed (or set it intentionally differently if you plan to push or pull during development). If your camera has DX coding (metal contacts in the film chamber that read the bar code on the canister), it will set the ISO automatically for DX-coded film.
What does “pushing” and “pulling” film mean?
Pushing means shooting film at a higher ISO than its box speed (underexposing it) and compensating with extended development time. Pulling is the opposite: shooting at a lower ISO (overexposing) and reducing development time. Pushing increases contrast and grain. Pulling decreases them. See our film development guide for detailed instructions on push and pull processing.
Is there a “best” film stock?
No. The best film is the one that matches your creative vision, your subject, and your shooting conditions. Portra 400 is the most popular film in the world right now, and for good reason. But Kodak Gold at one-third the price produces wonderful images that many photographers prefer. Experiment, compare, and develop your own style. Your favorite film is the one that makes your photographs look the way you want them to look.
Where should I buy film?
Local camera shops, online specialty retailers (B&H Photo, Freestyle Photo, Analogue Wonderland), and directly from manufacturers. Buying in bulk (bricks of 5 or 10 rolls) reduces the per-roll cost. Avoid buying film from sellers who do not store it properly (no hot warehouses or sunny display shelves). For a guide to getting started with your first film camera, see our beginner’s buying guide.
Building Your Film Knowledge
Understanding film photography deepens with every roll you shoot. Each film stock has personality, and learning those personalities takes time and direct experience. Shoot a variety of stocks. Keep notes on what you used and in what conditions. Compare your results. Over time, you will develop intuitive preferences and reach for specific films the way a painter reaches for specific pigments, knowing exactly what each one will do on the canvas.
The film choices available today are narrower than at the peak of analog photography, but the remaining stocks are excellent. Every current film exists because it is good enough to survive in a shrinking market. Your job is to find the ones that speak to your vision and use them with intention. Combined with thoughtful camera settings and a solid understanding of your workflow, the right film stock can give your images a look and feel that no digital filter can truly replicate.