Can you tell what brand the 35mm film is from the negative?

I am going through my old negatives, and noticed some sets of photos are better than others. I assume it has a lot to do with film quality/brand, so I would like to know if it is possible to determine the brand of film used by the markings on the negatives themselves. That way I know what film to purchase again. Thanks in advance! :)|||First, Yes you can know what type of film the negatives are. Almost all film (almost regardless of the format: 35mm, 110, 2x2, etc.) have a coding on the edges on the negative. In this case the coding is on the top and/or bottom of the film: right under/above the track of holes and maybe even in the track. You just have to know the code and you'll be able to find what film it was. For instance my favorite 35mm was TMAX 400 (B/W) which has the code TMY400; it's funny because it's cousin Tri X 400 was marked TX400. I'm sure there's a list you can look up on the Internet.





Now, film is only one of the factors for a good picture. The film determines color saturation and resolution (this is how grainy or ungrainy a photo is). So yes, photos are influenced by the film. However, the most important part in Photography has to be the exposure (proper amount of light absorbed by the film). So even with crappy film, the picture can turn out beautiful if the exposure was right versus a pro-film with poor exposure which will look crappy. The only way you can tell the difference in film is to compare pictures from one film versus the other in the SAME situation with the SAME camera. Film choice, in all actuality, is really subjective.|||Usually you could find it on the side if the negative strip, along with the number frame it is and everything.





Interesting enough, now, with the huge boom in the digital era, manufacturers are making less and less film for people with SLR cameras to buy, hence film that was cheap back then is actually now more expensive. It's such a loss, because eventually in the the coming years, film is going to stop being made. This s so sad because not only do prints that are done with film and enlargers (old fashioned =] ) last longer, but they are just so much more beautiful.|||Most negatives have the film brand in the margin above the image. Kodak, Fuji, Agfa ect. should appear somewhere on the strip.





The quality of the film doesn't necessarily affect the quality of the photo. The original exposure, processing and how the negs were stored can have a lot to do with their current condition.