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 […]
Tag: Film Review
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 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 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 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 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 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 […]
Posted inFilm stock reviews
My 2020 lockdown journey: a comparative test of Kodak EKTACHROME E100 and Fujifilm Velvia 50 (bonus Portra/Lomography included)
I set out this Spring and Summer to do a comparative test of Kodak EKTACHROME E100 and Fujifilm Fujichrome Velvia 50 (RVP50). In my lifetime experience with film (going back to childhood), I’ve mostly shot slide film, and we had those traditional slide shows with Family and Friends because my mother used the original EKTACHROME from […]
Posted inArticles, CONTAX film camera reviews, Film camera reviews, Kodak Film Stock Reviews, Reviews
Expired Film from 1987! Kodacolor VR 400 and the Contaflex Super (New)
Discovered in the depths of the cellar this film from 1987. My oh my expired, brittle and a pain in the major to develop and scan. Nonetheless, its finally done! Video and Images of my adventure across an alpine pass and up to the Ramsau am Dachstein plateau from some images taken with the Contaflex […]
Posted inArticles, Film Notes, Film stock reviews, ILFORD Film Stock Reviews, Kodak Film Stock Reviews, Reviews
Film Notes: Current high-speed films, ILFORD Delta 3200 Professional and Kodak T-MAX P3200
I’ve often described how I think that people looking for a different “look” from film would be better suited exposing and developing in a different way before they’d see any benefit from switching emulsions. Unless someone is searching for a specific “effect” in terms of grain structure, or halation, then most films will produce fairly […]
Posted inKodak Film Stock Reviews
Trying out night photography with Kodak Tri-X 400 at EI 1600
I love street photography, though I don’t consider myself a great photographer neither a master but I really enjoy shooting film. My work as an interiors and boudoir photographer is of course 100% digital and does not leave me much time for my personal projects and I almost forgot the pleasure I feel each time […]
Posted inFilm stock reviews
An on-the-cheap private investigation into European BW films: ORWO or Kentmere, to be or not to be?
The whole idea behind this article started as I was looking into finding a “daily” use black and white film, on the cheap, so that I could bulk roll my own. As I’m from Europe (Romania, just one sharp right away from the Black Sea), I first looked into Foma Bohemia films, which are quite […]
Posted inReviews
Still life in lockdown: Yashica MAT-124 and Fomapan 200 Creative
Greetings and salutations from Quentin Quarantino at Club Lockdown! I’ve always appreciated still life but never really practised it at a photography level. If you need encouragement may I recommend having a look at the work of Josef Sudek. What this master can do with just an egg and a glass, is outstanding! Even though […]
Posted inKodak Film Stock Reviews
Film stock review: Kodak EASTMAN DOUBLE-X (5222) – 35mm format
Any cinephiles reading this have seen Kodak’s DOUBLE-X 5222 shine its magic even if they didn’t know it. It’s the stock that Manhattan, Schindler’s List and Raging Bull were shot on, as well as parts of Casino Royale, Kill Bill, and Momento. When shot properly, it yields fantastic results. Those familiar with Cinestill’s films may […]
Posted inLomography Film Stock Reviews
Lomography Peacock X-Pro Slide 110 film: Just because it says X-PRO doesn’t mean you should
What did my mother tell me about talking to strange men on the internet? That’s right, I shouldn’t do it. Did I listen? That would be a no. Social media is a strange place and you can end up chatting to many different people on a whole range of subjects, but I digress. On this […]
Posted inArticles
Film stock review: LomoChrome Metropolis XR 100-400 in 35mm and 120 format – A new color negative favorite
In 2019 Lomography announced the launch of a Kickstarter campaign to fund a brand new film emulsion: LomoChrome Metropolis XR100-400.
Posted inFilm stock reviews
CatLABS X-Film 80 with the ONDU 612 MULTIFORMAT pinhole camera or… how to screw up a roll and learn to love the mistakes
An article about learning to love photographic mistakes may not be completely interesting to all of you reading this. Stay with me for a minute. My promise to you is that at the very least, I will end with my feelings on Catlabs X-film 80 as they specifically relate to my experience with the ONDU […]
Posted inKodak Film Stock Reviews
Kodak T-MAX 400: An honest film stock review
I have always been on the fence about Kodak’s T-MAX 400 film. I have been using it on and off for the last ten years now but only had really used it for specific purposes, mainly portraits due to its super sharp rendering and high resolution with very fine grain. T-MAX 400 also has beautiful contrast right off […]
