I have a confession to make. I like to gamble… With expired film emulsions. What follows is the largest gamble I’ve made so far, and the images it delivered. This latest expired roll was made in 1963/64 by East Germany’s former Kodak factory, which was renamed to VEB Fotochemische Werke Berlin. The film expired in […]
Category: Film stock reviews
Read all EMULSIVE photographic film stock reviews here. Covering Kodak, ILFORD, Fuji, Rollei, CineStill, ADOX, Fomapan, Japan Camera Hunter, Ferrania, Bergger, Efke and more.
Posted inArticles
Review: Kodak Pocket Instamatic 10 + Lomography Tiger CN200 film
I recently picked up a Kodak Pocket Instamatic 10, it’s a 110-format film camera that produces tiny negatives. Since then, I’ve been obsessed with it. What made me fall in love with this pocket 110 camera was its uncommon visual appearance of it — it immediately attracted me. The second thing was the simplicity of […]
Posted inFeatured
Film stock review: Santa Color 100
I’m one of those people who, if a new film stock comes to the market, I’ll be the first to try it out, and Santa Color 100 certainly caught my eye. A little background online info gave me some first-hand information to start with, and as soon as I saw these first few images of […]
Posted inArticles
Film Stock Review: CineStill 400D
Like much of the film photography community, I waited with bated breath for my backer rolls of Cinestill 400D to arrive so I could jam it into a camera and start etching that sweet acetate. How would it look? Was it special in any specific way to pull people away from the bulletproof Kodak Portra […]
Posted inLomography Film Stock Reviews
Lomography special effect film comparison: Metropolis, Purple, Turquoise, Redscale
As a hobbyist photographer, I have historically not undertaken photo projects, doing so just wasn’t on my radar. Typically, I take a camera with me and shoot wherever I am, whether that is while traveling for work, or just going out for the day, etc. Basic enthusiast photographer stuff. Granted, a collection of shots from […]
Posted inKodak Film Stock Reviews
Film review: A roll of Kodak Portra 800 (Nikon F3 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AI-S) – by Dorothy Key
As a beginner film photographer, all I had ever heard was Portra 400 this and Portra 800 that. Kodak’s one color stock that reigned above all other colors stocks — with its accurate skin tones and delicate pastel nuance. But, up until my first trip to Seattle, Washington, I had only shot a couple rolls […]
Posted inArticles
My adventures somewhere in-between medium & large formats on 120 format Kodak Gold 200
Large format photography issue #1 – is it a 5×4 camera or 4×5? The answer seems to depend on where you live, and I’m in Australia, so I’m calling it 5×4. I’ve done a couple of workshops on large format cameras — a day learning the basics on a 5×4 field camera and another doing […]
Posted inADOX Film Stock Reviews
Film review: ADOX HR-50, a high-resolution film with a boost
Earlier this summer I shot a roll of ADOX HR-50. I had seen this film online and since I live in a country which can be very sunny I had decided to try slower films this summer. I went to the photography store (In Zurich I recommend ars-imago, the customer service is good and they […]
Posted inILFORD Film Stock Reviews
Kentmere Pan 400 at EI3200 – A low-cost, high speed alternative?
Recently I looked at Kentmere Pan 400 made by HARMAN/ILFORD in the UK. I showed 5 Frames shot at box speed with my Leica M6 and 35mm f/2.4 Summarit-M. I was very pleasantly pleased with the prints I made from this film. How about rating the film for a higher EI (aka underexposing it and […]
Posted inFoma Bohemia Film Stock Reviews
Shooting 4×5 in 2021: Affordable Czechnology with Fomapan 200 Creative
Like many commodities affected by the COVID pandemic, photographic film prices have soared to unprecedented heights. I acutely remember 25 sheet boxes of ILFORD Delta 100 Professional 4×5 film selling for $45 at my local camera store in 2019, only to see that price rise almost 70% to $65 in September 2021 — before tax. […]
Posted inILFORD Film Stock Reviews
Chromogenic inspiration: ILFORD XP2 Super – Andrea Bianchi
What is the reason that drives a photographer or an analogue lover to use chromogenic black and white film in 2021? Personally, I appreciate them for the almost total absence of grain and the way they surrender detail. I like their characteristics and you feel good using them. Don’t get me wrong, I am a […]
Posted inFilm stock reviews
Svema Foto 65 – Shooting Expired Film from 1989
I didn’t imagine that film which over 30 years expired would yield any result, decent or otherwise. Following the unwritten rule of adding a stop of exposure per decade expired, my film speed plummeted from 80 ISO all the way down to 12 ISO. Not ideal for anything that moves, such as children or sports! […]
Posted inCineStill Film Stock Reviews
Film review: Cinestill 50D on Zurich’s smaller streets – Pentax MX and SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/1.7
I recently shot a roll of Cinestill 50D on a sunny, Saturday walk in Zurich. I chose to shoot Cinestill 50D because I had recently watched a review of it on the Analogue Wonderland Youtube channel. Having shot it before and not finding it particularly good, I wanted to shoot it again because the photos […]
Posted inArticles
Taking Stock: A shootout with 3 very different color films highlights creative possibilities – Kodak Portra, Fuji C200 and Fuji Velvia 100
I recently acquired a Rollei 35 after dreaming about shooting with this ultra-compact camera and its legendarily sharp Carl Zeiss lens for many years. I was able to score a great deal on a lightly used “Made in Germany” variant at my local camera shop by trading in an old Canon A1 and 50mm lens […]
Posted inLomography Film Stock Reviews
Purple nights on Lomochrome Purple with the Pixels and Grain Collective
Lomochrome Purple XR 100-400 is an interesting film, with unclear origins, that shifts colours towards the purple spectrum, like a fantasy/dream. Greens become purple, blues aqua/green, and skin tones orangey, in a psychedelic way. Iso 100? 200? 400? Take your pick! While there are many articles out there about the colour shifting properties of this film, […]
Posted inReviews
Film stock review: Cinestill BWXX
I started writing this article in 2019 and left it as a draft for EM here for quite a while. The reason for this is that while I enjoy writing, I don’t often think that my “reviews” are especially the most I have to offer. I wrote a disparaging follow up to a piece I’d […]
Posted inFoma Bohemia Film Stock Reviews
Foma Retropan 320 Soft: A valuable way of seeing
I recently wrote an article for 35mmc reacting to my inability to obtain one of my favorite films, Foma’s Retropan 320 Soft in 35mm format .In it, I touched briefly on why I shoot film and how Retropan has helped me understand that inclination more clearly. It has inspired me to consider this issue in greater […]
Posted inKodak Film Stock Reviews
Blood-red Witchery: Portraits on Kodak AEROCHROME III color infrared slide film
I spent a year preparing to shoot a roll of portraits on Kodak AEROCHROME III Infrared 1443, the false-color infrared-sensitive film manufactured by Kodak for aerial reconnaissance and scientific purposes in one shape or form between the early 1940s and 2010. There are some informative articles on the web about the film and how to […]
Posted inFilm stock reviews
ILFORD HP5 PLUS vs Kodak Tri-X 400 at EI 1600 in the Moscow Metro with the Mamiya 7II
I highly recommend the Moscow Subway Metro. As someone who loves spending time exploring underground, this was perhaps an unexpected highlight of my 2019 trip to Russia. If you are going for a photo trip (after the obvious COVID restrictions are lifted), I highly suggest Sunday mornings between 8-10am. Weekdays will be hell as you’re […]
Posted inKodak Film Stock Reviews
Croatian views and colour tones on a Hasselblad 500C/M and Kodak Portra 160
No matter where I’m heading travel-wise, I always make a point of doing some sort of online recce before I depart. I think It gives you a visual understanding of the geographic layout and nature of the country you’re heading to and Croatia wasn’t a country I’d travelled to before. This online point of reference […]
