What is the Best Brand of B&W 400 ISO Film to buy? WHeres the cheapest place to get it Wholesale?

Answer 1

There isn't really a "best brand" out there. Each formulation of film has a unique set of characteristics: grainy, not grainy; high contrast, low contrast; shape of the light sensitivity (film) curve. All of these elements (and more) will contribute to how it captures the image. My suggestion would be to get one roll of several different type of film and use all of them to shoot the same subject. Then once you get them developed and printed you can compare the results and pick the one that best suits your tastes and subject matter.

Below are a few links that might help you

Answer 2

I like Illford's film for B/W. There's also Illford's C-41 BW film, which is BW film that is processed like color film. So to process it you can take it to any photo process place and they process the negatives for you w/o printing the pics, which is the part that cost money. after you shoot the C-41 BW film take it to your local photo store and ask them to just process the film and don't cut it. it'll cost you like $1.50.
The quality of the film is excellent, very fine grain and very versatile. i love it when i shoot BW. You can buy it from various online stores. such as adorama.com or B&H photo video. It may not the cheapest but the process will save you time and money for chemicals to process normal BW film.
For cheaper means of BW film there is Bulk film. where you buy like a whole reel of film (around 100 feet of film) and you have several empty film canisters you load them in. There's a kit for you to buy that is very inexpensive and saves money in the long run. I never used it but a lot of friends in my photo dept. used it a lot. just google it bulk film or check it out on those web sites i listed.
I know how expensive being a photo major is and saving every penny is very important. Good luck.

Answer 3

it depends on your subject matter and if you want grain or limited grain. for scenic and architectural i recommed ilford's 400...for portraiture and glamour where you want it a bit softer and not so difinitive, kodak triX is good... then depending on your processing temp, you can limit or increase grain.