Re: Best current 35mm film ...
Shoot transparencies to see just how much quality your lens is capable of
delivering. Virtually all consumer-type photofinishing for color negative
film will end up yielding cheapo prints, and you may end up thinking that
your film shots are really poor.
If you are on a budget and must get in as cheaply as possible I recommend
the PrimeFilm PF3650Pro3 scanner, available on Amazon at about $350.00. It
has Digital ICE3, and that sets it apart from the rest of the pack of
low-end film scanners. The Nikons are preferable, if you can afford them.
Without a decent film scanner your having to rely upon photofinishers to
make machine-made prints will limit your results.
Film scanners may be more economical if you already have decent bodies and
lenses. A scanner does, in a sense, turn all of your film cameras into
digital cameras. I routinely take my film to CVS Pharmacy for negative
development only. They charge $2.50, and the process takes under 15
minutes, so I just wait at the counter for them. They are instructed not to
cut the roll, but instead to roll them up and return them in the plastic
film canister. I then put the roll into my scanner (it accommodates
continuous rolls as long as 40 frames), I do a quick pre-scan, then pick out
the images I want to scan and I come back in 2 hours and the job is done. I
find that much more preferable to using a scanner that requires you to cut
the film into strips, then insert the strips in film carriers. That
requires inserting a new strip every 20 minutes or so, rather than just
letting the scanner do all the work.
Before you even think of chucking all your film equipment, do read this page
from Bob Monaghan's site, which gives you excellent reasons to stick with
film, or at least, to not completely abandon film:
http://medfmt.8k.com/mf/filmwins.html
Check amazon.com for a good price on a film scanner. They also have a very
liberal return policy.
Jeremy
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