Film: What you need to know

Film comes in a variety of speeds, and that determines how well it does in different situations. High speeds for example, 800 ASA/ISO to 3200 ASA/ISO are great for low light, long exposure photographs, where as lower speeds like 25, 100, 125 are great for bright light & fast action photographs.

Speeds are standardized through ASA or ISO. Anything with the symbol DX means that automatic cameras can automatically determine the speed of the film, but we don't care about that, since you are using a manual camera!! :)

ASA/ISO Speed	Lighting	Action (of subject)
100/125	Outdoor / Bright Light	very fast, quick shutter speed
200	Outdoor / Good Light	normal to fast shutter speed
400	Versatile: In / Outdoor	normal shutter speed
800	Indoor	dim to normal lighting
1600	Indoor	dim lighting/night shots with long exposure time
3200	Night Photographs	Shutter open for long periods of time

Types of Film vs. Grain

Graininess is the dots on the photograph that are so close together that they form the image on the paper. Different types of film and different speeds determine this as follows:

ASA/ISO Speed	Film Brand	Graininess
100/125	Kodak TMAX Pro	Fine grain
400	Kodak Tri-X Pan	Coarse grain, very visible in enlargements
100	Kodak Plus-X Pan Pro	Very Fine Grain
400	Ilford HP-5 Film	General Daylight Film, Fine Grain
100	Ilford FP-4 Film	I dont know

About 35mm Film

Shooting Subjects

Developing Film

The Darkroom

Presentation

Taking Care of Your Photos

Accessories