When I started out in film photography, I was doing it as way to feel connected to my late father who also loved photography. I remembered his Canon SLR that he constantly took photos with when I was a kid. I couldn’t remember though, what model it was only what it looked like.

I went on eBay and just bought one that looked familiar, and made around the time he would’ve purchased his. This camera ended up being the Canon TX. It’s not a popular model, but at the time I didn’t know much, so in my eyes it made no difference.

I got it for $30. It came with two off-brand lenses, and accessories. I purchased a battery from Amazon and was happy to find the meter worked accurately. I also purchased a roll of Kodak Professional BW400CN, not knowing it was recently discontinued, and this would be the only time I’d get to shoot with it. I fell in love with the soft tones, and grain that it gave to my very first set of black and white pictures.

I have been on the search for a similar film since then. I’ve shot different ones without the results I was looking for. In comes ILFORD’s XP2 Super. I was pleasantly surprised by the soft grays and blacks it gave me. The contrast wasn’t too harsh and the blacks weren’t too dark and that is what made me fall for the CN400. Both films are C-41 processed so that may be why they’re similar. Also, as chromogenic films they have softer grain and less contrast than true black and white films.

I shot these pictures with the Access P-MC Zoom 35-70mm Macro lens that came with the TX. I was pleasantly surprised by this lens and the results I got with this set up. I’ve been dealing with a flare-up from Crohn’s Disease the past few months, so I have not been able to go out and shoot and have made due shooting around my house and in my backyard.

These pictures are from my everyday life.

~ Aly

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2 responses to “5 Frames… With ILFORD XP2 Super (35mm / EI 400 / Canon TX)”

  1. Nice photos! I recently scanned an old roll of XP2 and I was very surprised at how good it looked. Completely forgot about the smoothness and detail this film provides. Haven’t used it in a couple of years, but I’m definitely gonna try it again now!

  2. Great pics! I like the look of that film. I use my late grandfather’s Olympus and Leica cameras all the time. Mostly to take pictures of my kids. I think he would’ve liked that. : )

 

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