RC35 film

[Sideroad]

Hi I've been trolling here for a bit. I just bought a RC35 on ebay as a gift for a friend who is going into photography. Waiting for it to arrive so I need to get some film. Can someone suggest some good film that can be easily processed anywhere. I've seen mentioned that Kodak BW400CN is a good B&W film. any other suggestions. What about a good colour film?

I've really only had digital experience so don't know much about film or processing it. I'd like to try the camera out and make sure it works well before I give it away, and give some film with it.

Thanks

[Uwe_Nds]

Both Kodak BW400CN and Ilford XP2 are very much ok.
Both are developed and printed just like colour films, e.g. in the minilab. The Kodak has the orange mask just like the colour films which should give more neutral prints on colour paper. The XP2 does not have this orange mask and should give better and/or easier prints on b&w paper.
So, for just trying out the camera, I'd recommend the Kodak. Expose it, hand it in to your trusted 1-h-minilab and enjoy the results!

Nice little camera, btw.

Best regards,
Uwe

[Matthew Allen]

Ilford XP2 is the other popular C-41 b/w film. It and BW400CN are both very good films so I'd buy whichever one is easier to get or cheaper.

For colour, Fuji Superia is a good general purpose film but there's endless choice and it's hard to go very wrong. If you want to compare different films, do some searches on Flickr.

Matthew

[Spider67]

400 CN is a good choice as a B&W Film another option would be Ilford's XP2. Some prefer it as it's better for enlargement with BW Paper.
Nice Gift! And welcome to the forum!

[ruben]

Well, it seems that a black sheep must come to every thread, so I would say just one thing, and in a way that may spare as much discussion as possible.

BW films to be processed at one hour minilabs are wonderfull, no doubt. Yet there is a slight trap concerning the minilab in whose hands you fall. So the more these days in which color processing machines are running at slower paces than in the past.

Accordingly my very small suggestion is that before you try a BW film, pick a color one, Fuji preferently. After having secured at least one decent color film, smelled the minilab, etc. then I would start with BW films.

Cheers,
Ruben

[shadowfox]

Agree with Ruben, I always use a color film to test a camera. They are cheaper, and a they will show moderate light leaks more visibly than black and white films.

[Sideroad]

Thanks for the suggestions. Got a good idea of what to try.