Jay: Here's a comparison of all the different film stocks we could find.
Somewhere around here is my model, so, if you see her, let me know.
[00:00:06] [silence]
[00:00:22]
So we've shot all of our film stock now.
It's time to get it all processed.
We'll send it out to Richard's Lab, where they're going to process it for us, then we'll
get all those scans back, and we're going to put all those up, and just compare them
and look at them.
I'm going to sit down, I'm gonna look at each one, and give you my thoughts on what I think
works, what I think doesn't.
I'm excited to do this because I love the look of film, so let's get back to the lab
and see what we got.
Hi, this is Jay P. Morgan
Kenneth: And this is Kenneth Merrill.
Jay: Today on The Slanted Lens we're going to take look at film stocks.
Kenneth: Film stocks.
Jay.
Not soup stocks.
Kenneth: People don't know what soup stocks are.
Jay: I know.
They don't know what film stocks are either.
Kenneth: That's true.
Jay: But here we are, film stocks.
It's a different kinds of films you can shoot, all in 120.
So, we're looking at the different film stocks that are available that you can shoot in the
120 format.
Kenneth: 120 being medium format.
Jay: Medium format, both color and black and white.
And so we're going to take a look at those.
We went out on location, we have a model we set up there, we did the same model, same
lighting [SP] situation, and just shot through every one of the different stocks we could
get.
Different films we get.
I always call them film stocks.
Kenneth: Stocks is fine.
Jay: So, anyway, take a look at all those.
We want you to look at the comparison of each of those on different ISO levels, on which
one would you choose for what you're doing, and just give you a good perspective, because
if you don't know, it's kind of daunting.
There's a lot of them out there.
So we definitely want you to take a look at those.
We're going to put them up over at The Slanted Lens, theslantedlens.com.
There'll be a tab there where you can download these images and really take a look at them
and play with them, do whatever you want.
The scans is what you're looking at.
We sent them out to a lab, they were processed and scanned then sent back.
So we're going to take a look at film stocks.
Before we get started with that, just a little thought.
If you have not checked out our download for stop motion, go to theslantedlens.com.
Trisha Zemp is a master at stop motion.
She's done stop motion for many, many, many major brands, and she has great tutorials
there that will teach you how to do stop motion.
So, go over to theslantedlens.com and check that out.
And right now, we're going to check out film stocks.
Kenneth: Let's do it.
Jay: So, number one.
We're going to start with our low ISO.
So this is Fuji Acros, is that how you call it, what do you call this?
Kenneth: I don't know actually.
I have never shot this film before.
Jay: I have not either.
I have not.
But it was out there, and I thought it was interesting.
So there's 100 ISO, just to get a quick look at this.
My sense about it, there's two things that I immediately kind of feel.
It has a nice black, it has a nice open shadow, it's holding the highlights in the background
really nicely.
We don't have much grain, it's just a clean film
Kenneth: To me it looks like it has a very linear response, you know, so like a very
smooth transition from the...so it has a deep black, and then it immediately goes into this
nice darker shadow in the mid tones and just straight up.
Jay: In the background, you see this...the highlights are very strong back there, but
it's giving us, and that's what giving us a little bit of that, kind of, flair into
the hat, and the top of her hand a little bit.
I think it's the white in the background.
Kenneth: But it's not like punching you in the face, you know?
Jay: No, not at all.
Kenneth: It's really nice roll off.
Jay: It's a very pretty film.
When she turns into the light, especially to her left, camera right, and just gives
us a nice highlight.
This is kind of lit by the natural light, this coming in from the camera right side,
then we have a reflector kind of opening up the shadows.
Kenneth: Yeah you have Silver Lake.
You were next to Silver Lake.
Jay: We're right next to Silver Lake there, so we had all of Silver Lake lighting us.
All right, so now we're on the Ilford 100 black and white.
Kenneth: Way more contrast.
Jay: Way more contrast immediately.
And the grain is even a little harder.
I mean, I see it in her face.
Kenneth: You see it in her arms.
Jay: Yeah, you see it in her arms.
Kenneth: A lot more texture.
Jay: Yep.
A lot more texture in that [inaudible 00:03:38].
Kenneth: What I do like about this, I like how the mid tones are pulled up a little more,
you know, so her face is a little brighter.
Jay: Well you see that in that full body shot.
Because just the hair and the hat just kind of blend together.
So there's an Ilford 125.
Why would Ilford make a 100 and a 125?
But [inaudible 00:03:54].
Kenneth: I don't know, but they look super different.
Jay.
They do.
The 125 is really contrasty, and this, the 100 is way more open.
It's just, it's in all of her hat and her hair separates, there's nice fall off, it
rolls off much nicer.
It's just very different.
So their 125 is kind of the equivalent of what we saw with the Fuji 100, Fujifilm 100.
Kenneth: Yeah, they look very similar.
Jay: Very similar.
Kenneth: I'd say this is a little bit softer, the tonaility is a little softer in this,
it's not quite as even.
But real nice.
Good for portraiture.
Jay: So let's jump now to what's considered the T-Max 100, which is kind of the go-to
film forever.
And you see it in this, you can see why.
Kenneth: Oh, so clean.
Jay: It's so clean, and the shadows are so open, it's not too contrasty.
Kenneth: Butter is like the word I'd use for this.
Jay: Yeah.
It's just really pretty.
When you get the right highlight with this film, it's just really pretty.
Kenneth: Wow, yeah.
Jay: So, what would you choose, the Ilford 125 or the...
Kenneth: That's tough.
Jay.
That is tough.
Kenneth: I...man, that's hard.
The thing is, the situation, you know, that Ilford 100 look, it's very contrasty, but
it could work for the right thing.
It'd work really great for a lot of fashion stuff, I think.
Because they kind of like that high contrast.
If you're doing the more editorial style fashion.
For portraiture, though, it's hard to beat the T-Max 100.
Jay.
T-Max 100 is fabulous.
I think the Ilford 125 is a pretty close second, man.
All right, so let's take a look at the medium ISO.
We've got first the Ilford Delta 400.
Which starts off with, you know what, from a grain perspective, I see the grain in your
face, you see it, really see it through her skin tones.
You see it in the background, always just see it in the shadows.
You don't see it in the highlights, obviously, because...but you see it in these grays, these
transition areas, by her arms and the grass in the background.
Kenneth: To me, this is like classic street photography, war photography kind of look.
Jay: All right.
Now we're going on to Ilford HP5 400.
So it's...I'm just curious, we look at those compared to each other.
So there's the Delta 400, and the HP5 400.
Boy, the HP5 is far less contrasty.
It's very, very open.
It's almost flat flat.
Kenneth: Yeah.
Looks to be a little less grainy, but not too much.
You know, some people like to shoot film because they don't have to manipulate it as much.
Jay: Well, the reality, you love shooting log, so the reality between those two films
is that I would choose the one that's a little more flat because on the scan, you can now
go in and you can punch the contrast, you can play with it.
Because you're going back to a digital format.
If you're just doing straight up prints, that's a different story.
Kenneth: Yeah, absolutely.
Jay: Yeah, I think if you're doing this and you're going to go to a digital format to
do your finish work, then the 400 gives you more options.
This case right here, when you look at these two side by side, there's just a crispness
about the Delta 400 that you don't get...
Kenneth: With the HP5.
Jay: Yeah.
Kenneth: That's true.
Jay.
All right.
Let's go on here to Ilford XP2 Super 400.
Kenneth: This is interesting because this film is meant to be processed in a color process,
right, C-41.
Jay: It is, C-41 process.
Kenneth: So this is almost like cross processed black and white film.
Jay: And it looks and feels like that, [inaudible 00:07:15] to me.
It definitely does.
Looks like that's processed.
Kenneth: Oh yeah, absolutely.
Has that really punchy...I mean, this to me feels more punchy than even the Ilford 100
felt.
Jay: It does, yep.
Very, very punchy.
It's still holding...look at the whites though, it doesn't blow the whites out.
There's kind of almost a sepia cast to the whites that you don't get in the Ilford HP5
400.
Boy, I mean, that...
Kenneth: You look at the wide, the blacks.
Jay: So contrasty.
All right, this is the 400 TMY-2 by Kodak.
I tell you a couple things going on, it's contrasty and almost flat at the same time.
The mid tones are up and...
Kenneth: Well, the blacks, it doesn't have a true black.
It just levels out, you know.
Yeah, it's so interesting.
Jay: Not near as contrasty as the Ilford or Ilford XP2 Super.
Kenneth: Yeah.
The whites are a little strong for me.
You know, I wish there's a little more gradation in the highlights.
But that's kind of nice.
Jay: Okay, Tri-X 400.
This is tried and true 400.
Tri-X is kind of the film, or was for a long time.
And I can see why.
You're not blocking up in the blacks, the mid tones are pretty bright.
Kenneth: Pretty bright.
Jay: And you're holding your highlights, which is really interesting.
Kenneth: The thing I don't love about Tri-X is I feel like the mid tones are almost held
back at a certain point, you know?
So it's this really nice, smooth gradation until you get to the upper mid tones and that
kind of flattens out and jumps up to the whites.
Let's compare the Delta 400 close up to the Tri-X close up.
Jay: Okay, here we go, so there's the Delta 400, and there's the Tri-X.
As just the two images side by side, I take the Delta 400.
But I would shoot the Tri-X, because I know I can get it to the Delta 400.
Kenneth: Right, all you have to do is increase the contrast a tiny bit.
Jay: Just a little bit.
Kenneth: That's true.
Jay: And you would have that option, but you're gonna have...
Kenneth: But I think you're right, I feel like the Delta's a little more crisp.
Jay: Look at the grain, though, of the Delta.
Look in her cheeks, above her cheeks, across the bridge of her nose, look at here, the
Tri-X is much...
Kenneth: Little less clean.
Jay: ...nicer, much nicer, much cleaner.
So I'd say the Tri-X 400 is...I would probably shoot the Tri-X 400, but I certainly love
that Ilford Delta 400.
Kenneth: I'm team Delta.
Team Delta all the way.
Jay: To our High ISO black and white.
Kenneth: Really have one film in this category.
Jay: But look at that 3200, the grain is in full play.
But, you know what, it's interesting, and pushing that to 3200, even though the grain
is so strong, it is interesting that you're really not blocking up the blacks like I thought
you would in this.
If you look at the close up, it's much more open, but it's just, it's very grainy.
The grain looks prominent, so prominent.
Kenneth: Yeah, the blacks look really good, actually.
It's the mid tones that suffer.
Jay: They do.
Kenneth: I mean it turns out grainy, you have to push it a little bit but...
It's kind of there if you need it.
Jay: All right, let's take a look at our low ISO C-41 color, or color, it's the process
in C-41.
Portra 160 is kind of the standard for all this.
Kenneth: Yeah.
I mean Portra is beautiful.
Jay: It's just so beautiful.
Kenneth: The skin tones are just always look perfect with Portra.
Jay: Just a little bit of sun got on the corner of her shoulder, but the balance is still
coming in on her face.
Kenneth: I mean, the skin tones are perfect.
Jay: That's just a beautiful image, and it feels so vantage.
It feels like that, you know, that film era.
It's just so pretty.
Kenneth: Well the colors are so rich.
Jay: They are.
So now, here's an Ektar 100 color.
It's so interesting because this is a way different look.
Kenneth: Yeah, that's crazy.
Jay: It's crazy contrasty, it's just, it's very hard.
Yeah, so that Ektar 100 is a pretty heavy handed...
Kenneth: Seems like a real specialty.
Jay: This, definitely the Portra 160 is the quintessential of that era, but this, the
Ektar, is what people think is [crosstalk 00:11:17] for that era.
It's like that era on steroids, you know?
Kenneth: That's so true.
Jay: Now this is a CineStil 50D, which is a very...
Kenneth: Specialty.
Jay: Specialty.
Kenneth: So, CineStil film is Kodak motion picture film, and they've taken it, they've
stripped off a layer so that it won't ruin the C-41 chemicals, because you can't process
motion picture film in C-41.
So, you've stripped off a layer, and then processed it in C-41.
It has this really dreamy soft, and there's something nice about it.
I don't love the red halation you get around her hat.
Jay: Boy, it's amazing how strong that is.
It's all the way around her hat.
All right, let's go to the mid tones, mid tone colors.
Do you know what I love about the Fuji?
It just pops.
Kenneth: Yeah, that's true.
Look at that red, the red on the chip.
Jay: Yeah, it just pops, and there's something so clean about it.
I just really kind of love it.
Kenneth: I'm a fan of the Portra, because I think the skin tones are a little more realistic.
Jay: Mm-hmm.
They are.
Kenneth: More flattering.
Jay: Boy, both of these are pretty nice.
Look at the shadows on this, they seem very red, and then her skin tone seems kind of
yellowish on the Kodak Portra 400.
Yeah, those two are interesting.
So which of those would you choose?
Kenneth: I'd probably still go with Portra.
Feels like the safe choice to me.
Jay: It's a safe choice.
It really is.
And you've got some options to work with there.
And the color rendition has a nice color gamut, has a nice fall off on the skin.
Kenneth: I got to say, for 400, this seems cleaner than the black and whites did.
Jay: It really does.
Didn't gain near as much.
All right, let's go on to our high ISO color.
Okay, so we've got two of these films as well.
We got the CineStill, look at that one last.
And then we've got your Portra 800.
Which is kind of, Portra 800 is, again, if you're going to higher ISO, it's pretty much
a standard.
Boy, when I look at the Portra 800 compared to the CineStill 800, look at that CineStill
800, there is an openness.
There is just a pretty...and the grain is very clean.
Kenneth: Yeah, this is probably the cleanest 800 I've ever seen.
The CineStill.
And this CineStill 800 is a tungsten stock, so that all of these, when they've scanned
them, they adjusted the light balance.
I mean, the Kodak's really nice, it's kind of what you expect, but the CineStill almost
feels like more organic.
Jay: It really does, there's something...I don't know, I just I like it.
Actually, I like both these film stocks in a way I didn't think I would.
I didn't expect to respond to them like we have.
And that's at an 800, that's really nice.
Kenneth: I got to say, even these, both of these 800 feel, again, better than, you know,
the Ilford Delta 400 in terms of grain.
Jay: All right, so there's the film stocks.
So we looked at low ISO, medium ISO and high ISO for two different film stocks, black and
white and color.
There's some great film stocks there to work with, but it seems to me like it boils down
to kind of where I've always boiled down to, you know?
Kenneth: What are you shooting?
Jay: Yeah.
I mean, it ends up being a lot of Kodak products, I still feel like are very strong.
Kenneth: Yeah, absolutely.
Jay: Ilford has a great place and there's people out there that are diehard Ilford fans.
And Fujifilm as well has a great look.
So download those, take a look at them, see which ones you love, give some comments, give
us your perspective in the comments, you know.
We're glad to hear about it.
So click on the three dots in the corner, you'll see an option to help translate.
We're looking for people to help get our body of lessons translated into Spanish, and I'm
hoping we'll have some great followers who would love to do that for us, and will participate.
And I think the person who translates the most for us will probably be rewarded.
And make sure you subscribe to The Slanted Lens, you know.
Get on there and follow us on YouTube, subscribe to our Facebook, get onto our group.
Post your images that you shot in black and white, give us perspective about what you
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Love to have your comments on this video because we really want to get the perspective on what
you're thinking these film stocks look like.
So keep those cameras rolling.
Kenneth: And keep on clicking.
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So and also I've got Jenny here with me.
Jenny: And you can follow me on Instagram, @jennawalasek.
Jay: So there you go, subscribe and follow us.