I picked up a Rebel S dirt cheap primarily because I wanted the lens that it came with which was selling for more that I paid for the camera with lens.

I have shot a couple rolls of just plain Kodak 400 through it and am interested in trying to use the camera more and am looking for suggestions on what to use for film. I imagine I can get better results with better film but I am not sure what to buy.

I am what I would call a photographer of intermediate skill. I am no pro but I also don't shoot on auto and try to call my self a photographer. I have enough understanding of photography to switch to manual on my 20d and 350d and get good results.

I am sure there are lots of threads on this already however searching brings up thousands of unrelated results.

Are you wanting a color film or B&W? Do you shoot it on a tripod or off hand?

I'm far from a film expert but lots of people swear by the new kodak porta which is color, apparently it can be pushed very well. I've shot some kodak 400 black and white that has treated me decent the best part being I can get it processed locally since its C-41.

I've also read Ilford delta 100 is good for B&W film. I have a few rolls but haven't shot any of it yet.

I would jump on ebay and buy a few rolls of different stuff to try out it's usually pretty cheap. Then you can decide what you like best for what your trying to shoot.

Good luck and post up your results when you get some I'm always interested in seeing comparisons.

I primarily shoot off hand. I like what I am reading about Kodak Porta - I think I will grab a roll of Porta 400 on my way home today and try it out this weekend.

Porta appears to be C-41 - I don't want to get into shipping away for processing.

Posted by Cor726 I primarily shoot off hand. I like what I am reading about Kodak Porta - I think I will grab a roll of Porta 400 on my way home today and try it out this weekend. Porta appears to be C-41 - I don't want to get into shipping away for processing.

I hear you on the shipping thing. I'm not saying that some day I won't reach the point where I'm having things shipped for development. But when I'm trying different things with different films I'm too impatient to wait for them to be sent somewhere and then back. Especially when I can take anything c-41 in and have it back in 1 hour.

Maybe when the novelty of playing with film wears off it won't be such a big deal.

I am thinking that with trying to apply my photography knowledge to film where you don't get the instant results of digital, I may end up with rolls of film with spoiled photos as part of the learning curve so I would like to keep my costs down as much as I can.

I have a feeling using film will get old but I figured I would give it a try. I have shot 3 rolls of film since 2005 lol - 2 of them last weekend.

Fuji>Kodak imo. At least their low-speed slide films are, Velvia 50 ftw. Lovely, intense colors. I wouldn't spend your hard earned dollar on slow slide film until your comfortable shooting high speed color-neg, which is much more forgiving. I like Portra 160, very true colors, super fine grain, pushes really well.

For black and white I like Tri-X

If you are interested in processing and printing yourself, Ilford Delta 100 is my go-to standard. Its sensitive enough to use in relatively low light, especially with a tripod. I like to use HP5 400 for a grainy effect. It is really hard to go bad with Ilford for B&W. I've also been known to keep a few rolls of XP2 400 for C41 processing.. Unfortunately I don't know much about color films. Hope this helps!