After a long struggle trying to find the right lens for my Leica M6, I decided to give the 7Artisans 50mm f/1.1 a try (in other words, I was giving myself a chance to shoot with the Leica since getting my dream lens was not that affordable). The day I received the lens, I couldn’t wait to try the M6 since it has been in its box untouched for 8 months. The only problem was that I’d never stocked up on 35mm films, I’d been using my Hasselblad and never expected to unleash the Leica. I’m used to shooting with Kodak Ektar, Kodak Portra, or Fujifilm Pro 400H. Choosing the Kodak ColorPlus 200 was a choice made for me since it is the only film remaining in the Lebanese market.

I’ve always considered the Kodak ColorPlus 200 as the lower end of consumer-grade commercial film stock, although the roll costs around 6 US Dollars in Lebanon. I loaded the film and went for some focus testing, and captured portraits of my wife in natural light. The same day, I developed and scanned!

First impression… never judge a book by its cover! I’ve underestimated the film; I never expected such rich and dreamy colors from this film. The skin tones are slightly leaning toward warm colors, surprisingly it has wide latitude, yet its only disadvantage was the grain. Maybe too much for my taste.

At first, I thought it was from the scanner since it was my first time of scanning at the store rather than using my Epson Perfection Pro v750 scanner (I was too excited to wait). Later on, I rescanned the image I doubted with their outcome, and I got the same grainy texture, which turned out to be one of the film’s characteristics.

Here are my five:

The images you are seeing are from my fourth roll. A getaway weekend with my wife. The location was vintage and nostalgic, and the film’s mood and characteristics matched the atmosphere. I used the cloudy ambient light as the main source and the indoor chandeliers for the warm filling.

All that I can say is that the film is forgiving, and if it wasn’t for its over-pronounced grain, it could have been one of my favorites.

~ Adib Mufty

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9 responses to “5 Frames… With. Kodak ColorPlus 200 (EI 200 / 35mm format / Leica M6)”

  1. I like the grain in your photos but colorplus 200 is normally not this grainy. I’ve shot with this stock numerous times and my photos rarely came this grainy.

  2. @AdibMufty I must admit to liking this film stock *a lot* – think it’s the dreamy, nostalgic look it… https://t.co/MV0m9Gs1s9

  3. Lovely images and write-up, Adib. You did your beautiful wife justice with these fine environmental portraits.

    I agree that the grain is a bit excessive, but the colors are still quite nice. But that’s the fun and beauty of film photography, I suppose.

  4. Thank you alan, how would describe the amount of grains in your images ?

  5. I too struggle with finding film in Lebanon Adib. I often bring a bunch with me whenever I visit.
    Good photography with a photogenic subject.

    1. Thank you Elie, if you are in Lebanon and in the mood in some street photography film. why not we meet for a photo walk in Lebanon. The film are on me 🙂

  6. @AdibMufty This is weird because that’s also the combination that was my first roll of film with my n… https://t.co/PYjlt55ByQ

    1. What a coincidence! what do you think of this combination? show us some images! 🙂

  7. alan withington Avatar
    alan withington

    Great results and lovely natural photos! Definitely underrated film choice, I use it a lot and sometimes get better results than much more expensive, ‘better’ quality films. Best wishes Alan

 

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