My favourite film/developer combinations change on an on-going basis so this is just a snapshot of my favourites at the moment.

35mm black and white

I really like Tri-X developed in D76, but the film I use most is Ilford XP2 developed in Rodinal. XP2 is supposed to be developed in C41 chemicals, but I really like it stand developed in 1:100 Rodinal for about 90 minutes. Great tonality, good contrast and very fine grain make XP2 a winner in my book. XP2 also dries nice and flat for easy scanning and, being a C41 film, you can use digital ice when scanning if you wish, unlike ‘normal’ B&W film.

35mm colour

This is a tough one – I use Agfa Vista and Fuji Superia (basically the same thing) a lot because they’re cheap and I like the results. I think my favourite colour film, though, has to be Agfa CT Precisa – which is re-branded Fuji Provia. Reasonably cheap, wonderful colour rendition and fine grain. For bright days this is my go-to colour film, otherwise it’s some variation of Superia (200, 400, 800 or 1600 depending on the available light). I do find transparency film easier for scanning and in the Jobo it’s no harder to develop than C41 film.

Ogmore & the Bristol Channel Olympus OM-4ti, Agfa CT Precisa, developed in Tetenal E6 kit

120 black and white

For hand-held photography my go-to film is Tri-X developed in D76 but without question, the film I use most is Fuji Acros 100, developed in Rodinal 1:25 for 6 minutes at 20C. I do also like Ilford FP4 and Delta 100, though, and with Fuji films getting ever more expensive I may switch allegiance at some point, but for the moment Acros is the one that gets the most use, especially in my Hasselblad.

120 colour

For hand-held shots I tend to use Fuji Pro 400H. I prefer it to Portra, mainly because I find it easier to scan. I always seem to have trouble getting the colour balance right with Portra. I know I should use Vuescan and Color Perfect, but I like to keep things simple and just use Epson Scan. The colour film I use most though, by some margin, is Velvia 50. What can I say, Velvia is just a magical film to use, especially in the golden hour at the beginning or end of the day.

Large format black and white

My go-to film for 5×4 black and white is Fomapan 100 for the simple reason that it’s cheap – and I like the results. I usually develop it in Rodinal.

Large format colour

At the moment, the 5×4 colour film I use most is Provia, because I bought 100 sheets of expired Provia so I have a reasonable supply in the fridge. I think my favourite would still have to be Velvia 50, though. Shame it’s only available from Japanese sellers (as far as I know, anyway).

It will be interesting to do this again in a year’s time and see whether my tastes have changed by then.