How to Choose Black-and-White Film for Photography

Based on what I’ve seen firsthand and via feedback from expert film photographers, it’s nearly impossible to tell which black-and-white film an image was shot on.

So, how does one choose film for their camera when the choice is vast, and the film selection plays a minimal role in the final result? Should we go for the cheapest?

This article explains a few useful principles for selecting black-and-white film, many of which will contribute to your final results in ways you may not have expected.

In this article: It’s nearly impossible to tell which black-and-white film an image was shot on. The quality of a photograph depends on more than just the rendering. Choose black-and-white film based on its box speed (ISO). Choose black-and-white film based on its reciprocity failure rate. Choose black-and-white film based on its push & pull tolerance. Choose black-and-white film based on development times and development chemistry. Choose black-and-white film based on its dynamic range. Choose black-and-white film based on its light spectrum sensitivity. Choose black-and-white film based on its archival properties. Choose black-and-white film based on its base thickness, curl, and colour. Choose black-and-white film based on format. Choose black-and-white film based on price. Support this blog & get premium features with GOLD memberships!

It’s nearly impossible to tell which black-and-white film an image was shot on.

I suspected as much, and so did the film photography community at large.

To test and illustrate the theory that it’s hard or impossible to tell which black-and-white film a photo was shot on, Daren, Yvonne, and I built a game. It’s called “What The Film?!” and it’s meant to test the players’ ability to recognize film stocks from the community-submitted photographs.

All three of us performed poorly. I did the best in our group with a 27% correctness rate, which is not far from a coin flip. The only film we could confidently and correctly guess was infrared — but we could not identify the brand of infrared film. We also regularly confused budget and premium black-and-white emulsions.

If you think you can do better, try guessing black-and-white film brands from photos yourself here. Or maybe you have a friend who swears by “the look” of a certain black-and-white film? — ask them to play that game!

✹ Update: I’ve tabulated the gameplay results from 573 players and have the stats for you here.

The quality of a photograph depends on more than just the rendering.

In film photography, where a big part of the process is bound by the laws of physics and chemical reactions, your approach to selecting materials must include that reality.

If you’re new to film photography, you may want to unlearn what you may’ve assumed from using digital photo filters and film simulations. Even though they often use film brands in their names, choosing film is more like choosing an entire camera — not just the software running it.

In other words, your film (like your digital camera sensor) dictates low-light sensitivity, dynamic range, reliability, and more. Whereas properties like contrast and grain size can be manipulated and are not particularly defining.

And so, though the end result may not reveal the film that was exposed to create it, the choice of emulsion nevertheless dictates the kind of photograph that can be taken and how.

Choose black-and-white film based on its box speed (ISO).

If you need to take action shots at high shutter speeds or are planning a night photography session without a tripod, there’s no better way to prepare than to pick a high-ISO black-and-white film. A good example of such a film is Kodak T-Max P3200.

But if you want to create images with shallow depth of field (bokeh) and fine grain in daylight, you’ll need a slower film, such as Fujifilm Neopan Acros II. It’s rated at ISO 100, which means it’ll let you open up your aperture to 𝒇2 with the shutter set to 1/500th in slight shade. You may go even lower with something like Lomography Fantôme Kino (ISO 8) that’ll let you shoot at 𝒇2 in full sun.