Hi you film users,i need advice on which film to use for best results,i have read that Kodak porta 400 is a good all round film,i know you get what you pay.Thoughts please.
I don't know much about colour film A lot depends on what you're shooting. Portra has a more natural lower contrast look - although when I used it for landscapes I had to do a fair bit of colour correction. That could have been crap developing though. Kodak Ektar 100 is my usual go-to film for general colour use - although I've not done a lot of it. I tend to shoot a lot more black and white than colour, I like developing my won stuff and it's all part of the hands on appeal of film for me. For that my go to is Ilford FP4 - or HP5 if the light is poor and I need ISO400. I do like Fomapan 100 and 400 too.
This may be useful https://alifedeveloping.org/2014/04/22/comparing-films-kodak-ektar-and-kodak-portra-400/
Ektar is a lovely, lovely film but of course, only ISO 100 so you need plenty of light. High in contrast, high in saturation. Some people say not to shoot portraits with it, but I have done with some success. It seems to enhance reds, so if your subject has a red complexion, it can look a little displeasing, however when I have worked with people with quite a pale skin, it's amazing. It was my go to film for my Iceland trip in 2015, using a tripod when it was overcast to make sure I could use a sufficient shutter speed. Portra 400 is very, very nice indeed. It seems to render green slightly different to Fuji Pro400h (also very good), which is why I favour it. My absolute favourite film is Kodak Portra 800. More contrast, saturation and grain that the 400 (or 160) equivalents. It really depends what results you want from film. Do some research and see what suits the kind of look you want. Slide film is another beast entirely. I really love the look of it, but I often lean towards colour negative. It is much more forgiving if you meter wrong. I have started to shoot more B&W again just so I can enjoy developing it myself. As @Oy says, it's a big part of the process and the magic of taking the film out of the canister and seeing your images doesn't wear off. For info, I tend to shoot most colour negative at half box speed (except Ektar). So I will shoot Portra 400 at ISO 200, same with Fuji Pro400h and develop as normal, so effectively overexposing it by a stop. I shoot Ektar at it's box speed of 100 though. Waffled on enough there I think. Enjoy finding what film you like and what works for you.
