Print film reccomendations?

Hey, I'm needing to get back into some print film. I need to be able to get same-day results and slides just don't cut it. But I certainly don't want to sacrifice quality for speed. Since I never needed to shoot pro print film before, I'm in the dark as to what works the best. I would like a good fine-grain film with wide latitude, even tones, good sturation, etc. I'm a Fuji fan and I hate Kodak (except the Ektachrome 100 VS- awesome stuff!) so that should narrow it down. I'm eyeing some of Fuji's pro press print film... but what kind? What speed? And will it hold up to the horrible one-hour processing I will have to use? Thanks all!

Try some Fuji Reala 100 and NPH 400 as a starting point.

I'm a Fuji film fan myself. Mostly Superia - which can be had in 100, 200, 400, and 800. Pretty realistic color rendition across the board, thanks to a '4th color layer' technology that serves to stabilize the other three. Also features the ultra-tight grain technology originally developed for APS. Only the 800 gets into notable grain - and that not as bad as other 800 films.

I've also tried the Press 400 and Press 800. Well balanced color like the Superia, but a bit softer toned overall, as the Press films are tuned to render best what will readily transfer to newspaper printing technology (guess that's why they call it Press).

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Originally Posted by Outdoorsman

Hey, I'm needing to get back into some print film. I need to be able to get same-day results and slides just don't cut it. But I certainly don't want to sacrifice quality for speed. Since I never needed to shoot pro print film before, I'm in the dark as to what works the best. I would like a good fine-grain film with wide latitude, even tones, good sturation, etc. I'm a Fuji fan and I hate Kodak (except the Ektachrome 100 VS- awesome stuff!) so that should narrow it down. I'm eyeing some of Fuji's pro press print film... but what kind? What speed? And will it hold up to the horrible one-hour processing I will have to use? Thanks all!

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Basically there are three families of Fuji print films:

1. The Superia (amateur) and Press (Professional) ranges are almost identical and would have no problem with being treated in a minilab. These films are designed for punchy results so the contrast and saturation are good and strong.

2. The Portrait range (NPS/NPC/NPH/NPZ) is designed specifically for pictures of people. These films don't scream at you - contrast and saturation are turned down compared with the Superia/Press family. These are still C41 films but a minilab might not know what to do with them.

3. Reala is off on its own with high saturation and low contrast.

My personal choice is as follows :

- Reala (100 ISO) in bright conditions as a replacement for Provia slide film
- NPH (400 ISO) most of the time
- Superia 1600 (1600 ISO) in low light

Charles