Professional negative film

Agfa Optima
Agfa's Optima range comprises ISO100, 200 and 400 versions which now use Agfa Eye Vision Technology for more precise colour reproduction. Agfa claims this helps display real life colours even with difficult subjects and is especially beneficial when used under fluorescent light or light from neon tubes and low-energy bulbs. The film records without a green tinge. It also helps if you are a gardens photographer as certain blue flowers reproduce more naturally.
The films are available in 35mm and 120 for all three speeds and 220 in ISO 400 speed. Choose Optima 100 for high, but natural colour saturation and superb fine grain for high degrees of enlargement. Optima 200 is good for users of zoom lenses and for flash photography, while Optima 400 provides rich colours in critical light conditions

Agfa Portrait
Agfa also makes a special film for social photographers called Portrait 160 which Agfa says has soft colour characteristics, extremely fine grain and natural skin tones. This is sold in 35mm 120 and 220 formats.

Fujicolor NPS

It hardly seems six years since this ISO 160 daylight film hit the scene to replace its predecessor NSP. Fuji may only have shuffled the letters around, but it developed a completely new replacement with a far smoother grain structure and wider exposure latitude that can be stretched two stops either side and still get a good result. It's a great choice if you're unsure of the lighting conditions. A film that offers clean colours, super flesh tones and brilliant white in all formats. NPS 160 is sold in all sizes from 35mm to sheet film

The tungsten version of NPS that also went through the same update six years ago. NPL has wide exposure latitude, good gradation of tones and extremely fine grain. It's sharp and gives a good balance of highlight and shadow detail. This is the film to use if you shoot portraits using continuous studio lighting, or architectural photography using available tungsten light. Shame there's no 35mm version though as NPL is only in 120 and sheet film sizes.

This film includes much of this Japanese company's advanced emulsion technology. This jargon clad film boasts a DIR coupler to improve image definition when processed. There's also a Cyan coupler in the emulsion to minimise light scattering and Real Tone Technology improves skin tones. Grain's half the size of previous structures and it comes in all but sheet film sizes. use this film when you require something with more speed and that's where NPH 400 will deliver and ISO 400 film displaying similar qualities to the 160 variety, but with additional push pull capabilities. It's available in 35mm 120 and 220.

Fuji NPZ
Medium-format photographers can take advantage of an extra stop speed of the NPZ800 which, Fuji claims, has a grain structure that rivals ISO 400 films. It's sold in packs of five in 120 and 220 formats

Fuji Super HG 1600
Finally sports photographers who need speed can take advantage of Fuji's Super HG 1600 a 35mm pro pack of 20 rolls ideal for fast sports and indoor events.

Kodak Royal Supra
Royal Supra is a new family of three speeds ISO200, ISO400 and ISO800 that replace the original Royal ISO200 and ISO400 and Supra ISO800 films. The 200 and 400 options are different emulsions from the original versions. Kodak claims all three films have the best grain in their speed categories, and the speeds offer something for every type of 35mm photographer from the classic landscape shooter to the action grabber.

Kodak Portra range
The Portra films below all offer -2 to +3 exposure latitude and smooth natural flesh tone reproduction. Also, thanks to Single Channel Printing technology the colour match from one speed to the next will be the same, allowing you to switch films mid roll when the lighting or situation changes.

Kodak Portra 160NC
This film provides a sharp, excellent colour balance for photographers who need accurate, natural and non-garish colour reproduction. It's sold in 35mm, 120, 220 and 30m bulk rolls, as well as 5x4in and 10x8in sheet films.

Kodak Portra 160VC
VC stands for Vivid colour in all other respects it's same as the NC version and sold in 35mm, 120, 220 plus 5x4in and 10x8in sheet films.

Kodak Portra 400NC
When you need the extra speed over the ISO160 version you'll choose this film. Like 160NC its natural colours provide excellent realistic results. It's sold in five pack sizes for 35mm, 120 and 220 and individual 35mm.

Kodak Portra 400VC
Again like its ISO160 version but with the extra speed to provide vivid colours when you need your photos to stand out from the crowd. It's also sold in five pack sizes for 35mm, 120 and 220 and individual 35mm.

Kodak Portra 800
Choose Portra 800 when shooting with longer lenses or in low light. Quite fine grain considering the speed and sold in packs of 5 in 35mm and 120 formats

Kodak Portra Tungsten
Here's one for those who need to shoot in artificial light and dont want the speed loss caused by correcting daylight balanced film using an 80 series filter. The ISO100 speed delivers fine grain and good colour accuracy. It's available in 35mm 120 5 packs and 54xin sheet film.

Kodak Portra which film?
Here's an indication of suitbale subject applications provided by Kodak.

Konica Impressa
Although more geared up for the enthusiastic amateur and snapshooter with its range of Centuria and VX films Konica also makes Impresa - a range of 35mm colour print films for professional users who demand accurate colour reproduction and extremely fine grain. There are three options - Impresa 50 Professional, Impresa 100 and Impresa 200.

Impresa 50 is for those who need ultra-sharp, extremely fine-grain images with the widest possible range of tones.

Impresa 100 is ideal for portraiture with its natural skin tones and smooth highlights to shadows gradation. It delivers accurate colour reproduction and has wide exposure latitude.

Impresa 200 is positioned as a general purpose portrait film that copes with artificial or daylight and offers a higher speed with rich gradation and fine grain. Konica says it can also cope with difficult tones such as the green of landscapes and its wide exposure latitude is fine for use with flash or strong sunlight with heavy shadows. Like SR-G160, it's sold in 35mm and 120 roll-film formats.