Opening Caveat: This is not scientific and wildly subjective.
There are many films I thoroughly enjoy shooting with, but after much consideration one rises to the top. But before I get there, I will list the runner ups in no specific order.
Why I like it:
- Makes pretty pictures.
- Wonderful colors as slide films do.
- Cost no object and with all the time in the world, it would be my first choice.
Why it is not my favorite:
- Accurate metering is a must so I would not use it in certain cameras.
- Takes a month of Sundays to get developed since slide film has to be sent to an outside lab by my local camera shop of choice.
- Not what one would consider inexpensive.
Why I like it:
- Nice contrast.
- Very sharp. Well controlled grain.
- Plays well with Cinestill Df96 for easy home developing.
Why it is not my favorite:
- Not what one would consider inexpensive.
Why I like it:
- The right kind of grain.
- Great for low light situations and very forgiving exposure wise.
- Plays well with Cinestill Df96 for easy home developing.
Why it is not my favorite:
- You pay for that low light performance.
Before I get to my favorite you may see a pattern here in the negatives listed. My favorite films are rather pricey. For that reason, I shoot with quite a few inexpensive film types. I appreciate all, but they usually share a common shortcoming. Colors. Always just a bit off to my eye. Almost picked Kodak Portra 160 as it is a favorite of mine. Kodak Color Plus 200 is also up there. While relatively well behaved it can also get a bit wonky under certain conditions. But I personally prefer 400 film all things being equal. And in my experience Porta 400 does not do it for me for some reason. So that led me to another 400 film that has a pleasing look and is as inexpensive as drug store multipack 24 Exposure film.
Lomography 400
Why I like it:
- Renders colors in pleasing cool tones.
- Nice grain control and full of detail.
- Very flexible at 400 and takes to editing well when needed.
- Quite affordable in 35mm and 120 forms.
Any downsides?
- Cool tones may not be your thing.
- Out of stock from time to time.
- (My backups are Fujifilm Superia X-Tra 400 and Kodak Color Plus 200 {I know, wrong speed.} when this happens.)
Here are a few samples below and here is a link to an ongoing gallery.
Eric L. Woods 
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