Cool Films For Your $100 35mm Camera

By: Kase van Rees

One of the many great things about shooting 35mm is that you can pick different types of film to give your photos tons of great aesthetics. Experimenting with new film types and developing techniques can give your photos that artistic edge over digital without subjecting your pictures to terrible iphone filters.

Black and white films give a great vintage aesthetic when you're going for those really "old timey" looking shots. Ilford HP5 pictured above has a very dark and gloomy appearance and can enhance the mysterious feel of most fairly ordinary environments like this parking garage. However, the previous black and white film, Ilford SFX, picks up some infrared light giving it much higher contrast. But not every photo looks better in B&W, and there is also a surplus of great color films to choose from each with their own traits.

The Ektachrome film pictured above is more expensive than most but definitely worth it. Ektachrome is a recently re-released film that makes for some really great shots if you want more blues and purples. Other color films also work well with warm temperatures like the cheaper Kodak colorplus.

No matter what vibe you're going for you can hardly go wrong when picking new films to try and with all of the different methods they can be altered and processed there are endless ways for your rolls to turn out. If you aren't into photography yet definitely consider buying into film first, the cameras are cheaper and you'll learn the basics of photography quicker. Just make sure to buy equipment from a certified reseller, sites like Ebay will get you gear that is broken more often than not.