Best Film for the Vivitar V2000
The best film to use in the Vivitar V2000 will be based on the available light, lens, and if you want to shoot color or black & white.
To eliminate having to haul around a flash and/or tripod, get a 35mm film that has an ISO of 400 or faster.
If you would like to shoot images in low light, such as indoors, make sure you are using a fast lens. Have a look at my short article on the 5 Best Lenses for the Vivitar V2000 for recommendations.
Color Film
Consumer
Kodak UltraMax 400 - This film can be used in a large range of lighting conditions and is a great choice for a color 35mm film. Using this film you should be able to handhold the V2000 in most situations.
The images will have terrific skin tones and is on the warm side.
Fujifilm Superia X-TRA ISO 400 - A different option than Kodak that could have far better availability based on where you are in the world.
Fujifilm photographs tend to have cooler colors with stronger blues and greens, compared to Kodak.
Lomography 800 - You’re limited to just a small number of options if you want a color ISO 800 film. For 35mm film focused on consumers, Lomography 800 is the single choice.
Additionally, if you own a medium format camera, it’s also for sale in 120 film format.
Kodak Gold 200 - A staple film that started production in the mid-1980s. Kodak Gold 200 has the look and feel of family snapshots from the 80s and 90s. For the classic experience try an on-camera flash.
To bring the ideal look out of the film, you will have to over-expose it by 1 or 2-stops. This will ensure that you get the beautiful colors everyone loves Kodak Gold for.
Professional
Kodak Portra 400 - Among enthusiasts online, Portra 400 is undoubtedly the most popular color 35mm film emulsion. Overexpose the film by 1 or 2-stops to get the look the film is known for.
Kodak Portra is also available in ISO 160 and ISO 800 emulsions. It is also offered in rolls of 120, 4x5 sheets, and 8x10 sheets.
Black and White Film
Consumer
With reasonable costs and good favorable to be used in the Vivitar V2000.
The largest draw for budget minded photographers and photography students is the very affordable cost. Even if you wouldn’t put yourself in that group, it is good to have low cost rolls of film available for trying out recently acquired used gear.
Kentmere 400 - It is made by the parent company of Ilford, Harmon Technology. This is excellent since that allows this to be the most broadly available film out of the three.
Foma Fomapan 400 Action - Might be easier to find in Europe as the film is made by Foma Bohemia in the Czech Republic.
An ideal film stock to employ for your first couple of attempts at developing film at home or film photography. Also a good selection if you happen to be trying out a camera to make sure that it’s totally functional.
Ultrafine eXtreme 400 - You can get the lowest price by purchasing it straight from Ultrafine.
If you develop film yourself, you could have used developer sold by them.
Professional
The 2 most commonly used black & white 35mm film emulsions are Kodak Tri-X 400 and Ilford HP-5 Plus 400. While they both do have individual looks, they have numerous attributes in common that help makes them a favorite.
You can enjoy good results after pushing both film emulsions 2-stops. This makes the film versatile as a roll can be shot at ISO 400, 800, or 1600.
Ilford HP5 Plus 400 - The primary differences are that HP5 Plus has lower levels of contrast and is more affordable compared to Tri-X. Low amounts of contrast can be helpful because of the fact contrast can be added when making a print or editing digitally.
The film emulsion has subdued grain and still looks very good when pushed 2-stops.
Kodak Tri-X 400 - This film emulsion possesses a stronger aesthetic. To achieve the legendary grain structure, contrast, and look of the film, it should be processed in Kodak D-76.
Tri-X 400 undeniably has higher levels of contrast. That is awesome if that is the look you are looking for because it involves considerably less work when through digital post processing or printmaking.
Transparency Film
Film emulsions that produce a positive image are typically referred to as reversal, slide, or transparency film. That means a projector or lightbox can be used to view the slides.
This is unique from the more prevalent negative films that result in photographs that require the colors to be inverted in order to be viewable.
Slide films have a smaller amount of latitude and dynamic range when compared to negative film and so they are perceived as more difficult to use.
Kodak Ektachrome 100 - This is a film known for fine grain and excellent skin tones. There’s not any hypersaturation of colors. Ektachrome is daylight color balanced.
Fujifilm Velvia 50 - Produces unique looking shots that have substantially increased levels of saturation and contrast. It is razor-sharp with a daylight color balance. When compared to all the slide films you can buy, it has the top resolving power.
There is also another speed that is ISO 100.
Fujichrome Provia 100F - Produces vivid and natural colors with moderate color saturation and contrast. It’s a film balanced for daylight with ultrafine grain.
Foma Fomapan R100 - This is a black & white slide film, reported by Fomapan as having very fine grain, high resolving power, and increased levels of contrast. It’s also regarded as a alternative for the long discontinued Agfa Scala film emulsion.
Film Basics
Consumer vs Professional Film
Professional film stock have larger latitude, dynamic range, and can more easily be pushed, this is why pro-film costs more.
There might be a big difference in where rolls of film can be purchased. Consumer films can quite often still be found in big-box stores and pharmacies in anemic quantities. Professional level film emulsions should be ordered from a photography store or online retailer.
ISO
A film’s sensitivity to light is displayed by the ISO.
The higher the ISO, the less light is necessary to capture a photograph. In addition, expect to see more film grain.
ISO 100 and slower speed films (ISO 25, ISO 50, etc) can be tricky to use handheld with the V2000. The can take longer can be longer than what you’re able to handhold without causing motion blur unless you are shooting in full sun.
To prevent this you are going to need to use a fast lens, tripod, and/or flash. Using a fast ISO 800 or ISO 400 film probably will make the extra gear not needed.
The ISO dial is marked as ASA on the Vivitar V2000. The move to labeling ISO from ASA (American Standards Association) happened after the creation of the International Standards Organization (ISO).
Film Latitude
Latitude is the amount of stops a film can be overexposed while having usable images. Pro film stocks have a larger latitude paired with a slightly increased price.
Negative film has more latitude when compared to reversal film. That is one of the reasons why it’s perceived as more challenging to work with.
Dynamic Range
The range between the darkest and brightest details of a picture is known as dynamic range. Parts of a photograph that are not in this range will appear as white overexposed highlights or completely black underexposed shadows.
When shooting in a variety or quickly changing lighting situations, films with a larger dynamic range are a much better choice.
- Digital cameras 14+ stops
- Negative film up to 13 stops
- Slide film 6-8 stops
The small dynamic range of slide film is a further factor it is considered tough to shoot. The best time to try it out would be during the golden hour.
Film Type
35mm film that comes in canisters is used by the Vivitar V2000. It can also be referred to as 135 film, and it’s the most popular type of film.
120 or 220 film, used with medium format cameras, is the only other film format you are going to encounter}.
Swapping the film emulsion you are working with will alter the look of your shots. This is an example of the terrific things about using film.
DX Coded Film
Almost all commercially available 35mm film on the market currently has a DX code. This allows cameras to auto detect and set the ISO of the film loaded into the camera.
DX-coding doesn’t matter for the Vivitar V2000 because ISO must be manually dialed in with the ASA knob.
Vivitar V2000 Resources
Where to Get 35mm Film Developed?
You will find several possibilities for where to get 35mm film developed. For a more extensive explanation of the possibilities you can check out my article on Where to Develop Film.
WARNING: Pharmacies and big box stores no longer process film on location. They send the film off-site to be processed by a 3rd party. As a result, you won’t receive your processed negatives back.
- Develop Film at Home
- Use a Local Photography Lab
- Use a Mail Order Photo Lab
- Pharmacy or Big Box Store
Sending film to a mail-order photo lab to be developed and scanned is the least complicated solution if you’re new to shooting film. If you regularly shoot film, this can be a disadvantage because it can get really expensive.
As long as you’re shooting a medium to high volume of film, there are a few activities that you can do to limit your expenses.
Bulk Loading Film
Getting a bulk roll of 100’ of film and loading in into canisters by hand is considered one of the most well known options to save money.
A 100 foot bulk roll can fill up about 18 canisters of film with 36 frames each. Expect to see savings of 20-30% based on your pick.
Be aware that you are limited to rolls of black & white film. This is in part because black and white film is a lot easier and cheaper to process at home.
Home Developing and Scanning
You can easily process and digitize film yourself. It’s a good way to reduce costs so you can shoot more film with your Vivitar V2000.
Black and white film is significantly less complicated to process at home. Chemical temperature and time are not as necessary to get correct with black and white films as time and temperatures are for color negative or slide film.