What is the difference between 200 and 400 film?

I have just bought an old school camera, just a normal film one with flash for taking some cool shots of things I see and people etc. I've bought 200 film and 400 film in colour and black and white but I don't actually know the difference between the two 'speeds' or whatever it is. Can some one explain to me the difference between the two and the best film to use for my little old camera?? I want some pretty but standard shots from them.|||Hi,


Nice to hear of someone who isn't using a digital camera.





You can use both films.





Basically the 400 is a 'faster' film and was designed more for dim light pics. The 200 is for more general use. However, I think those guides were more for olden times film. As far as I know modern films are more flexible.





Read the leaflet that comes in the box with the film - that should answer most of your questions.





Hope you can adjust camera speeds and apertures. If you can, go to your local library and ask for a book on photography - WITH A FILM CAMERA!


Happy snapping!|||The main difference is the light sensitivity. The 400 film is twice as sensitive as the 200 film (which in turn is twice as sensitive as a 100 film etc.). In practice, that means that in the same situation, with the same f-stop, the 400 film will permit (or force) you to use half the exposure time compared to the 200 film.





So far for the obvious differences. But there are some other differences (which is why a lot of people used 50..100 films as standard films). Basically, the more sensitive films start to exhibit a coarser grain, i.e. the pictures get noisy, although this type of noise looks different than the noise in a digital camera from higher sensitivity settings.





For colour films, colour reproduction also deteriorates (in general - just don't compare a 200 Fuji against an 80 Kodak) for higher sensitivities, and the grain/noise problem is worse than with b%26amp;w films.|||The speed/ISO of the film refers to the film's sensitivity to light.





400 film is more sensitive to light than 200 film and therefore requires shorter exposures under the same conditions.


It's a 3 way relation between, film speed, shutter speed and aperture (of course that assumes that the intensity of the light is constant).


Anyway, trying to explain the differences simply;


-200 film will generally necessitate the use of slower shutter speeds or larger apertures than with 400 film.


-200 film will generally have less grain than 400 film.





As for the best film, there's no such thing. It's a very subjective thing. It depends on your taste, what you're photographing, what camera you're using, what kind of light you're shooting under, how the film will be developed, how important predictable results are, how much you are willing to pay... You just have to try a few different films, find the ones you like and stick with those.|||Film speed is the measurement of sensitivity to light. The larger the number the more sensitive a film is, doubling the number doubles the sensitivity. 100 films are generally used in daylight. 200 and 400 films are general purpose films, the 400 can be used indoors with good light, 200 probably don't be so good indoors. You will also find that if developed in the same chemical at the same temperature a faster film produceds more grain.|||The difference is 200, OK on a more serious note, 200 speed films are considered medium speed and 400 speed films are fast. For most general work 200 is fine and it costs less. However if you are shooting indoors, or in other low light situations or need faster shutter speeds 400 is the better choice.|||400 iso(asa) is one stop faster than 200





Which means that you can use 400 in lower light conditions than 200 and still get a decent shutter speed.





200 is a good general purpose film.|||200