Best Film for the Nikon N8008
The best film to use in your Nikon N8008 will depend on the lighting conditions, your lens, and type of film you want to use.
Getting an ISO 400 35mm or higher speed will help you skip needing to haul around a flash and/or tripod.
Make sure you have a fast lens if you want to take pictures in low light, conditions that are frequently encountered indoors. Read my short article on the 5 Best Lenses for the Nikon N8008 for lens ideas.
Color Film
Consumer
Kodak UltraMax 400 - This film can be used in a variety of lighting conditions and is a fantastic selection for a 35mm color film. Using Kodak UltraMax 400 you should have the ability to handhold the N8008 in most scenarios.
The images will have excellent colors and is on the warm side.
Fujifilm Superia X-TRA ISO 400 - Depending on your location, this film might have greater availability. It’s a very good alternative to Kodak film.
Fuji pictures appear to have cooler colors with notable blues and greens, when compared to Kodak.
Lomography 800 - If you want a color film with an ISO of 800, there are only a small number of possible choices. For film stocks targeted towards consumers, Lomography 800 is the only choice.
The film can also be found in the 120 film format, for use with a medium format camera.
Kodak Gold 200 - A staple film stock that was launched in the mid-1980s. It offers the look of snapshots from the 80s and 1990s. For the authentic shooting experience try an on-camera flash.
To bring the best out of this film, you’ll have to over-expose it by 1 or 2-stops. This will produce the great colors people love Gold 200 for.
Professional
Kodak Portra 400 - Among film shooting enthusiasts online, Portra 400 is by far the most widely used color film emulsion. Overexpose Portra 400 by 1 or 2-stops to get the rendering the film is highly regarded for.
Plus, ISO 160 and 800 versions of Portra. 8x10 sheets, 4x5 sheets, and rolls of 120 are also manufactured.
Black and White Film
Consumer
With affordable costs and very good very popular for use in the Nikon N8008.
The main attraction for photography students and budget minded photographers is the very affordable price. Even if you wouldn’t put yourself in those groups, it is great to have low-priced rolls of film available for trying out newly acquired used gear.
Kentmere 400 - Manufactured by Harmon Technology, which is also the parent company of Ilford. This is good considering that makes this the most widely sold B&W film of the 3.
Foma Fomapan 400 Action - Will be much easier to acquire in Europe as the film is produced by Foma Bohemia in the Czech Republic.
A good 35mm film to work with for your first couple of attempts at developing film at home or analog photography. Also a good option if you happen to be trying out a camera to guarantee that it is functioning correctly.
Ultrafine eXtreme 400 - The cheapest place to buy this film is straight from Ultrafine.
They sell developer kits for 35mm film, so if you develop film at home you could have previously interacted with them.
Professional
Kodak Tri-X 400 and Ilford HP-5+ 400 are the 2 most popular black & white 35mm films. They do have several attributes in common that make them so well liked, while retaining individual styles.
Both film emulsions can be pushed 2 stops and produce solid photos. This makes the film versatile as a roll can be shot at ISO 400, 800, or 1600.
Ilford HP5 Plus 400 - Between the two film emulsions, HP5 Plus is more affordable and has less contrast. A lack of contrast can be beneficial due to the fact contrast can be changed when making a darkroom print or through digital processing.
The film stock has subtle grain and still appears outstanding when pushed 2-stops.
Kodak Tri-X 400 - This film emulsion provides a more distinctive aesthetic to it. To achieve the legendary grain structure, contrast, and look of the film, it needs to be developed in D-76.
You’re going to clearly notice greater contrast with Tri-X. That’s ideal if it’s the style you want to have because it requires much less work when printmaking or editing digitially.
Slide Film
Film emulsions that make a positive image can be called slide, reversal, or transparency film. That means a projector or lightbox can be used to view the photographs.
The colors are not required to be inverted to be viewed, contrary to the more widespread negative film emulsions.
Slide films have a smaller amount of dynamic range and latitude when compared with negative film and so they are viewed as more difficult to work with.
Kodak Ektachrome 100 - This is a film known for fine grain and picturesque skin tones. The colors won’t appear oversaturated. It has a daylight color balance.
Fujifilm Velvia 50 - Provides signature looking photos that have high levels of contrast and saturation. It is sharp and color balanced for daylight. When compared to all the slide films available for purchase, it has the top resolving power.
An ISO 100 version is also available to buy.
Fujichrome Provia 100F - Creates natural and vivid colors with medium contrast and color saturation. It’s a ultra fine grain film balanced for daylight.
Foma Fomapan R100 - This is a black and white transparency film, reported by Fomapan as having very good resolving power, higher levels of contrast, and very fine grain. It’s also mentioned as a substitute for the discontinued Agfa Scala Film Stock.
Film Basics
Consumer vs Professional Film
Pro film stocks cost more due to the fact that they have a greater dynamic range, are easier to push, and increased latitude.
There’s a big difference in supply. Consumer films can quite often still be obtained from pharmacies and big-box stores in anemic quantities. Pro film emulsions will need to be purchased from a online or specialized photography store.
ISO
Film speed is displayed by ISO, that can also be regarded as the film’s light sensitivity.
The higher the ISO, the less light will be required to capture a photo. In addition, be prepared to see noticeably increased film grain.
It is often quite challenging to handhold the N8008 with ISO 100 or slower speed films (ISO 25, ISO 50, etc). The will probably be longer will likely take more time than what you’re able to handhold without producing motion blur unless you’re in full sun.
A flash, fast lens, and/or tripod can assist you with longer shutter speeds. The extra accessories may not be needed if you go with a higher speed ISO 800 or ISO 400 film.
As a quick note, the ISO dial is listed as ASA on the Nikon N8008. The move to labeling ISO from ASA (American Standards Association) happened after the creation of the International Standards Organization (ISO).
Latitude
Latitude is the range of stops a film can be overexposed while having usable photographs. Professional film emulsions have a greater latitude to go along with a slightly higher price.
Negative film has more latitude compared to reversal film. That is one of the reasons why it is viewed as more difficult to shoot.
Dynamic Range
Dynamic range is the range between the darkest and brightest parts of a picture that can be captured. Sections of a photograph that fall out of this range will be rendered as black underexposed shadows or white overexposed highlights.
When working in a variety or quickly shifting lighting conditions, film stocks with a bigger dynamic range are a superior choice.
- Digital cameras 14+ stops
- Negative film up to 13 stops
- Slide film 6-8 stops
Slide film is considered to be tough to shoot as a consequence of the limited dynamic range. A very good time to try it would be during the golden hour.
Film Type
35mm film that comes in canisters is used by the Nikon N8008. 35mm film can also be referred to as 135 film, and it’s the most popular type of film.
120 or 220 film, used in medium format cameras, is the only other type of film you are going to encounter}.
Swapping the film emulsion you are using will transform the look of your shots. This is an example of the excellent things about shooting film.
DX Coded Film
Almost all available 35mm film offered for sale at this point has DX encoding. This allows electronically controlled cameras to detect and set the ISO when the film canister is loaded.
ISO (ASA) on the Nikon N8008 needs to be set manually. Which means that DX-coding doesn’t make a difference.
Nikon N8008 Resources
Where to Get Film Developed?
You will find a handful of options for where to get film processed. For a more detailed explanation of the options read my guide on Where to Develop Film.
WARNING: Pharmacies and big box stores don’t process film locally. They mail film off-site to be processed by a third party. As a consequence, you will not be given your processed negatives back.
- Develop Film at Home
- Use a Local Photography Lab
- Use a Mail Order Photo Lab
- Pharmacy or Big Box Store
The easiest solution and what I would suggest doing if you are just starting to use film is to ship your film to a lab to be developed and scanned. If you regularly use film, this might be a downside due to the fact that it can get pricey.
Assuming that you’re going through a medium to high volume of film, there are two things that you are capable of doing to limit your expenses.
Bulk Loading Film
Investing in a bulk roll of 100 feet of film and manually loading in into canisters yourself is one of the most popular ways to cut costs.
A 100 foot roll should fill typically around 18 canisters of film with 36 exposures each. Expect cost savings of 20-30% based on the film you go for.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you’re going to be limited to bulk rolls of black & white film. This is due to the fact black & white film is easier and more affordable to develop yourself.
Home Developing and Scanning
All film can be developed at home. In fact it’s an intelligence option to spend less so you can shoot more film with your Nikon N8008.
Black and white film is much easier to develop yourself. Temperature and time are both not as crucial to get correct with black & white films as temperatures and time are for transparency or color negative.