2 Budget Films to Try Today

Finding inexpensive film can be a bit of a challenge these days. A challenge, but not impossible. Over the course of the past year or so I’ve discovered and tried a variety of fantastic film stocks that don’t break the bank from a number of different manufactures. In this newsletter I’m going to share with you two of my favourites.

This is a budget film stock that is actually quite well known within most analogue photography circles. While it’s known for sometimes having the odd manufacturing issue, I’ve had nothing but positive experiences with this film since I first tried it this spring.

A bit of background on Fomapan 100, it’s a classic grain black and white negative film emulsion that the Czech company Foma has been making for more than fifty years at this point. The images rendered by this emulsion have, how to put it, evocative characteristics. There’s an lovely old-fashioned air about the images that inspires nostalgia in me. This film is wonderfully contrasty, but doesn’t sacrifice on latitude or dynamic range. The grain too is quite unobtrusive, if more present than on other 100 speed films that I’ve tried. One final note on the image quality of this film is that this film exhibits more halation than on most black and white films these days. Perhaps the anti-halation layer isn’t as strong, I’m not sure. But you’ll find slightly more highlight bloom using Fomapan 100 than you would with another 100 speed film. I like it, but it might not be to your taste.

Fomapan is, as promised, quite budget friendly. It comes in 100, 200, & 400 ISO versions. I generally see the 100 ISO listed for anything between $4.00 and $7.00 per roll for 35mm cassettes. This film is also available in just about any format, from 35mm, to 120 and sheet-film formats. It’s typically readily available too, most major places that carry film will have Fomapan 100 in stock, slightly less so in America compared to Europe; regardless it’s still easy enough to find.

I love this film for it’s tonality. The grey to grey tonality of this film is wonderfully smooth, without sacrificing contrast. APX 100 is a film that is not as well known perhaps as some other budget options, but still very much worth considering, especially since it’s made by Harman technologies, the people who make Ilford; how’s that for quality assurance?

I’ve shot this film, and it’s 400 speed sibling extensively. I bought a whole load of it when I first got my Olympus Pen F (Gothic F) last year because I was looking for lower speed, inexpensive film stocks that would both work well with the 1/500 sec. maximum shutter of the Pen F and had fine grain with decent resolution. This film really hit the mark for me. The characteristics of this film air on the neutral side. Fine classic grain, smooth tonality, good sharpness and resolution, and decent latitude are all hallmarks of this film. You could describe this film as a bit plain Jane, but in my book that’s good. It’s easy to shoot and easy to develop. It’s equally at home doing every type of photography from landscapes to candids to portraiture, etc. Plus, just like every other Harman made film I’ve tried the negatives dry flat, and stay flat, making them great to work with. This is the film, out of the two I’m mentioning in this letter, that I’d recommend the most to beginners.

This film only has two real drawbacks. One, it’s sometimes hard to get a hold of, more so in America than Europe, but still. Two, it’s only available in 35mm cassettes. It is however, generally quite inexpensive if you can find it, ranging from $5.00 to $7.00 per roll.

These are two of my favourite budget black and white film stocks. I love shooting each of them not so much because they are cheap, but because I love the emulsions. I’d still shoot them if they cost double what they do. But, it’s nice that they don’t. If you’re looking for a less expensive film stock to try why not give these are try?