Film types and formats

Learning goal

You will be able to tell apart the films on a photo shop's shelf and choose a roll suited to your own camera and the work you want to shoot. You will explain the difference between color negative film, slide film and black-and-white film through whether the image forms on the film reversed or directly, exposure latitude and the development process. You will compare thirty-five-millimeter film in small canisters, medium format with wide rolls and large format working with sheet film through the size of the frame, the number of frames on a roll, the size of the camera and cost. You will see that the format is usually decided by the camera, while the film type is decided by the light, how the result will be used and the budget. In situations where people of different skin tones are in the same frame, you will assess why a narrow-latitude film carries a risk and which film is more forgiving in that frame.

The question

Your friend is standing in a photo shop, in front of a glass cabinet. On the shelf there are small cylindrical canisters; some say color, some black and white, and a few have the word slide on them. On the lower shelf there are thicker, shorter rolls wrapped in paper. The seller comes over and asks the first question: "Which film does your camera take?" Your friend takes the older member's camera out of their pocket and shows it.

The seller nods and widens the question: "What will you shoot, and where will you see the photos?" Your friend can't give an answer. Which film should I buy? How do you choose one among so many rolls in the same shop, and how much does this choice change the photo?

Context

While explaining crop factor you saw that a full-frame sensor is the same size as the common thirty-five-millimeter frame of the film era (Lesson 12.5). While examining the masters of light and nature, too, you met the large-format camera that uses film in sheets (Lesson 26.3). In the previous lesson we also talked about what slowness shooting with a screenless camera brings and about a roll's own particular look (Lesson 27.1).

This lesson separates two different choices. The film type decides how the film responds to light, how it records colors or tones and by which process it is developed. The format, on the other hand, decides the film's physical size, and therefore the size of the frame and which camera it fits. The two choices are independent of each other: the same type of film is often available in different formats.

Simple explanation

How are film types told apart?

Color negative film is film that records colors and tones reversed, showing light areas as dark, dark areas as light and colors as their complements, and that is reversed again during printing or scanning. In the negative that comes out of development a face looks dark, the sky light, and there is an orangey tone over everything. Color negative film is mostly developed with a standard color negative process, so it is easily processed at many labs. Its wide exposure latitude makes it a forgiving choice in the street where the light changes quickly, at a wedding or in everyday shooting.

Slide film is film that records the image directly as a positive, that is, with the colors and tones the eye sees, and that can be looked at directly when held up to the light or projected onto a screen. Its colors are usually vivid and its contrast high. But its exposure latitude is narrow; many sources say it leaves a margin of only between half a stop and one stop on either side of correct exposure. Exposure that can be readjusted at the printing or scanning stage with negative film has to be given correctly at the moment of shooting with slide film. Slide film is also developed with a separate process, and fewer labs offer this process.

Black-and-white film is film that doesn't record colors, shows the scene only in light and dark tones, and mostly works as a negative. Color shifts, mixed light sources and color balance problems disappear in black and white; the photographer focuses on the direction of the light, the tones and the texture. Black-and-white film, as you will see in the following lessons, is usually seen as the film type best suited to developing at home, which is why many students start working with film with it.

How are formats told apart?

Thirty-five-millimeter film is the most common format, sold in small cylindrical canisters and giving frames of about thirty-six by twenty-four millimeters. Rolls of thirty-six frames are common; shorter rolls are also available. The cameras are small and light, film and development relatively cheap; that is why it is often chosen for street, travel and everyday shooting.

Medium format is the family of formats that use wider roll film wrapped in paper and give frames several times larger than thirty-five millimeter. How many frames come out of the same roll depends on the camera's frame size: with six by four and a half centimeter frames you get fifteen or sixteen, with six by six square frames twelve, with six by seven ten, and with six by nine around eight frames. A larger frame means less enlargement at the same print size, and therefore finer grain and smoother tonal transitions. The price of this is larger, heavier cameras and a higher cost per frame.

Sheet film is film that isn't in a roll but has each frame cut as a separate sheet, loaded one by one into holders; large-format cameras use this film. One of the common sheet sizes is four by five inches. Because each frame is loaded separately, the photographer can develop each sheet differently. Shooting is slow, the camera large and the cost per frame high; in return come very fine detail and the possibility of a large print.

How is the right film chosen?

The choice usually starts with the format, and the format is decided by the camera: a medium format roll can't be put into a thirty-five-millimeter camera. Since your friend's camera takes thirty-five-millimeter film, the question comes down to the film type. Three questions help here: how changeable is the light, where will the photos be seen, and how big is the budget? For a roll to be shot in changeable light, scanned and seen on screen, and bought on a limited budget, color negative film is a forgiving start. If you want to learn light and tones and do the development yourself, black-and-white film may suit you. Slide film, on the other hand, offers vivid colors to the photographer who knows light well and can meter exposure precisely. These aren't rules, but tendencies; many photographers prefer to work with the same film type for years and get to know it deeply.

Skin tone is also part of the choice. In a family or group-of-friends photo where light-skinned and dark-skinned people are in the same frame, in the same light, the brightness difference between the two skin tones can be several stops. Narrow-latitude slide film may not be able to carry this difference: if the exposure is set for the light skin, the shadows of the dark-skinned face close up; if it is set for the dark skin, the light skin slides toward a detailless white. Color negative film carries this range much more comfortably; black-and-white negative can also preserve both skin tones as tones.

Visual evidence

Your friend tells the seller what they will shoot: for a month they will photograph their neighborhood, the market and their neighbors, and will scan the photos and see them on screen. The seller gives them a thirty-six-frame color negative roll and explains why they didn't recommend slide: at the market the light keeps changing between the shaded stalls and the sunny road.

Two weeks later, at the same market, your friend photographs two siblings standing side by side in front of a stall; one has light skin, the other dark. They set the exposure between the two faces and keep it a little generous toward the dark skin. In the scan of the negative that comes back from development both faces are readable; the light-skinned sibling's forehead is bright but detailed, and texture holds in the shadows on the dark-skinned sibling's cheeks.

The older member shows a similar frame of the same kind of scene that they shot years ago on slide film. The colors are more vivid but the exposure was set for the light skin; the dark-skinned face has almost turned into a silhouette. Side by side, the two frames show how the choice of film can change a face's visibility.

Common mistakes

Summary

Color negative film records tones and colors reversed and is forgiving with its wide latitude, slide film records the image directly as a positive, with vivid colors but a narrow exposure margin, and black-and-white film works only with tones and is seen as the type best suited to developing at home. Thirty-five millimeter is small and cheap, medium format gives large frames and frame counts that vary with the format, and large format offers the finest detail with sheet film; the camera decides the format, while light, use and budget decide the type, and in situations where different skin tones are in the same frame, narrow-latitude slide film can make one face lose its shadow or the other its light.

Mini assignment

In this assignment you will choose a film for your own situation and write down your reasons.

1. Find out which format a film camera you have or can borrow takes; if you don't have a camera, find three different formats and three different types on the shelf of a photo shop or an online seller.
2. Write in one sentence each what you will shoot next month, how changeable the light will be, where you will see the photos, and your budget.
3. Choose a film type according to these answers, and justify your choice in a short paragraph by comparing it with two alternative types.
4. If people of different skin tones will appear in the frames you shoot, note whether the film you chose can carry the brightness difference between the two skin tones and how you will set the exposure.

Check yourself

• Can you explain the difference between negative, slide and black-and-white film to a friend?
• Can you explain that the camera's format and the film type are separate choices?
• Did you assess whether the film you chose can carry different skin tones in the same frame?

Glossary

Mini quiz

1. Which film type has the narrowest exposure margin?

• A) Color negative film
• B) Black-and-white negative film
• C) Slide film
• D) They are all the same

2. About how many frames do you get from one roll of film on a medium format camera shooting six by six square frames?

• A) Twelve
• B) Thirty-six
• C) Twenty-four
• D) Four

3. Which choice is usually made first for a film camera, and why?

• A) The film type, because the format doesn't matter
• B) The format, because the camera takes only a certain format
• C) The development process, because it decides the film type
• D) The paper, because the print decides everything

4. In a frame where two siblings with light and dark skin stand in the same light, which film is more forgiving?

• A) Slide film
• B) None
• C) Sheet film
• D) Color negative film

Answers

1. C — Because slide film records the image directly as a positive, exposure has to be given correctly at the shoot and its margin is narrow.
2. A — As the frame size grows, the number of frames on a roll falls; with six by six you get around twelve frames.
3. B — The format depends on the camera's construction; a roll in the wrong format doesn't fit the camera.
4. D — The wide latitude of color negative film carries the brightness difference between the two skin tones more comfortably.

Summary card

• Negative: records reversed, is forgiving.
• Slide: directly positive, vivid but with a narrow margin.
• Black and white: tone only; suited to developing at home.
• The camera chooses the format; light, use and budget choose the type.
• If different skin tones are in the same frame, think of a wide-latitude film.

Bridge to the next lesson

The roll is loaded into the camera, but your friend hesitates at the first street corner. On their digital camera they would look at the screen and see the brightness, focus and framing right away. On this camera, on the other hand, there is no screen; there is a small needle that meters the light, a focus ring turned by hand and a counter that drops a little with every press. They are wary of wasting one of the thirty-six frames. How do you shoot without a screen? The next lesson takes up metering with a light meter, finding focus by hand and working with a limited number of frames.