Types Of 35mm Film
There are several ways to categories types of 35mm film. One way is by the speed of the film. Another is the quality of the film. The final way to group types of 35mm film is the output (or what the film looks like after the pictures are taken). The speeds for types of 35mm film are 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600. Each has a distinct use and lighting requirement. The types of 35mm film that can actually be purchased are consumer and professional. The types of 35mm film outputs are color negative, color positive, and black and white. These are the types of 35mm film available.
The speed of 35mm film is based on the graininess of the film and how long the shutter will stay open to take the picture. The lowest speed is 100. This type of 35mm film is for simple, easy, outdoor shots in very bright sunlight. This is the lowest quality of all the types of 35mm film.
The next speed of 35mm film is 200. It is definitely more versatile than the 100 speed, but is also requires a lot of light. This type of 35mm film is good if there is sunny or partly sunny day. It can be used indoors with a flash. However, the quality is not much higher than 100 speed 35mm film.
The 400 speed type of 35mm film is great for action shots. It can be used for sports. However, this type of 35mm film needs to be used outside when it is sunny or when the action is close and the camera flash is on. The only time still photos should be shot with this type of 35mm film is if it is very sunny outside and the person is in direct light.
The next type of 35mm film is 800 speed. This type of 35mm film should be used in low light at night with a close up target. This is good for evening sporting events or outdoor, low light, evening parties. This film should be used with the flash. The flash, however, does not reach far; so people or objects will need to be close to the camera for this type of 35mm film to work best.
The final speed of 35mm film is 1600. This film is best for extremely low light. Take this type of 35mm film with you when you are on a moonlit nature walk. It is great to use this film without the flash on the camera because the flash will make the object or person too bright. This type of 35mm film is the most expensive and has the most restrictions on usage (low light, night time, no flash).
The next way to categories types of 35mm film is by quality of the film. There are two grades of film’consumer and professional. Of the two, consumer is the cheaper type of 35mm film. It is good for people who are trying out photography because even if it is not used by the expiration date, it is still good. (Yes! Film has an expiration date!) It can be purchased at a drug store or corner store. The professional type of 35mm film must be purchased at a camera store. It also must be kept at a proper temperature (usually a refrigerator or freezer) until it is used. Processing or developing for the professional type of 35mm film will be more expensive than the consumer type. However the pictures from the consumer type of 35mm film will not have the high quality of the professional type.
The last way to describe types of 35mm film is by the type of output once the pictures are taken. First there is color negative film; then there is color positive film. Lastly, there is black and white film. Color negative film is the most common type of 35mm film. When the picture is taken, the image is captured on the film. When the photographer looks at the film after processing, they see the light areas of the picture look dark and the dark areas look like. It is reversed, but when the pictures are printed, they look like they are supposed to.
Color positive is another type of 35mm film. It is mostly used to make slides. It is also called ‘reversal film’ because it reverses what is normally seen on the color negative film. When the picture is taken with this type of 35mm film, the film captures the colors as they are.
The black and white type of 35mm film is actually named incorrectly. There are no strict areas of black and white. There is actually a spectrum of grays in the pictures. With this type of 35mm film, the camera takes pictures of color objects and turns it to grays, blacks, and whites on the film. This was used in old black and white television shows and movies before everything changed to color in the 1980s and 1990s.
There are many types of 35mm film. One way to categorize 35mm film is by the speed of the film. Another way is by the actual quality of the film. The final way is by the output of the image on the film once the pictures are taken.