New Film, Who’s This | First Look at Ferrania P33

It’s always exciting news when a new film hits the market, and it seems that the folks at FilmFerrania are certainly working hard to bring back as much B&W stocks from the original version of Ferrania as possible. Last year we saw the introduction of Orto their newest film since the initial release of P30. And earlier this year they announced the reintroduction of Ferrania P33. P33 is another classic film stock from the Italian manufacturer.

With a sensitivity of 160 ASA, the P33 ensures a simpler and more versatile photographic experience compared to the past. Designed to overcome the processing and printing challenges faced by enthusiasts of the P30, the P33 offers distinctive features such as fine grain and defined contrast. This film not only meets the needs of professionals but also makes analog photography accessible to less experienced enthusiasts. Remaining true to the tradition of Film Ferrania, the P33 combines innovation and tradition, demonstrating the company’s ongoing evolution in the industry.

While my review cycle is closed off for this year, I didn’t want to wait to try this one out, because as much as releases like Harman Phoenix, a colour film, is exciting, I don’t shoot a lot of colour film. I do however shoot a lot of black & white film, so news of P33 was pretty exciting. I jumped and got a couple of rolls sent my way to try them out, with the intention of completing a proper four roll review next year. I selected my Minolta Maxxum 9 for the camera using the 24mm f/2.8. In both cases I also put a Yellow-12 filter on the lens. And developing both rolls in Kodak D-76 using the listed 1+1 time, but reducing by 10% to account for constant rotation.

On the datasheet provided by Ferrania, they advise against using constant rotation with their films. This warning does extend to P33; that being said, after pulling both the rolls out of the tank, I was pleased with the results. The film loaded onto my Patterson reels without difficulty, and the film base is the same polyester stock that the other two films are, which is a nice touch. Not too thin, but also not too thick. The negatives struck a good balance with many details, precisely what I sought in a negative destined for scanning. The film dried with a slight cup, but here in Canada, at this time of year, that doesn’t surprise me. There was nothing so wrong that sitting with a bit of a tight backroll wouldn’t correct. The scan went smoothly, with my Epson V700 and Silverfast 9 handling the film efficiently. And there was only a minimal amount of work needed in Photoshop to get the images where I wanted them.

And colour me impressed; these images look amazing. First, the quality is excellent, with beautiful tones and contrast. There is some visible grain, but it is well-structured and adds to the classic look of P33. I have noticed a need for dynamic range, which I will explain in the first roll, because of the wildly different EV levels between my highlights and shadows. This is less pronounced with the second roll because the light was evener, thanks to the location. P33 also responded well to the yellow filter, with the sky being heavily darkened. I don’t have the spectral sensitivity chart on P33, but I suspect it has some good red sensitivity. The one thing a fellow film nerd mentioned is that the negatives are dense enough for scanning but too dense for darkroom printing. And I agree, while I primarily scan, I think a drop by 15-30 seconds would clean up that density to make it easier to print in the darkroom. So that will be something I’ll keep in mind for the future. I’m impressed by P33, although I want to see what it looks like unfiltered; that will be the full review.

If you’re waiting for a sign to try out Ferrania films or have had a bad experience with their previous two products, P33 is undoubtedly one for you. It’s far more forgiving; it looks like a classic emulsion; in chatting with a fellow film nerd, it seems like a classic Plus-X, with a beautiful set of mid-tones, controllable contrast, and incredible sharpness with grain structure. It excites me to see what Ferrania has coming down the pipe; maybe we’ll see their P36 later this year. Either way, I’m looking forward to getting this into a review cycle.