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It seems that Fuji enjoyed cutting off film stocks that had become rather popular among photographers, and most are legendary and much-loved colour-negative film stocks. Recently we saw the end of the Fujifilm Pro 400H along with Superia 200 and Superia C200. But one of the earliest discontinuations I remember that caused ripples through the community is Fujifilm Superia Reala 100, or Reala (the older version of this film). I’ve only tried this film in 120 formats after being gifted several rolls from my good friend Andrew Hiltz and picked up a few more along the way. I always thought it was a 120 onlyRead More →

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Christmas came early last year with the latest film offering from the Finish film photography store KameraStore. SantaColor 100 is a modern, fresh colour negative film designed for aerial surveillance. While not available to the general public, large orders allow suppliers to purchase and re-spool this film stock for public consumption. And with all the trouble last year getting colour negative film, having another option is always good. It’s an open secret that SantaColor 100 is Eastman-Kodak Aerocolor IV 2460 and that it’s been made available under multiple brands, Silberra Color 100, FlicFilm Electra 100, and FilmWashi X. As a technical film, SantaColor is uniqueRead More →

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Last year when I reviewed Fortepan 200, I indicated that I would love to review the 400 and 100 flavours of the Fortepan line. And the film photography community being fantastic, responded. On the post to a Facebook group, a reader indicated they had a large stash of Fortepan 100 and asked if I wanted some. Well, he came through, so thank you to Wendell Anderson for sending over the rolls for this review. Film Specs Type: Panchromatic B&W Film Base: Acetate Film Speed: ASA-100, Latitude: 50-400 Formats Available: 135, 120, Sheets Discontinued: 2007 Roll 01 – Kodak D-76 I decided to shoot the firstRead More →

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CatLABS is an interesting company, their X Film lineup hit the markets several years back, and I reviewed X Film 80 and loved the stock. But they also included an X Film 320 in their initial lineup. I didn’t review that one because it was only available in 35mm and turned out to be Eastman Double-X 5222, with tweaked developing times. But last year, they announced new versions of both X Film 80 and X Film 320. I will be reviewing X Film 80 later this year, but in the colder, darker months, X Film 320 Pro is the film that will suit the dullerRead More →

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I’m not often excited about a colour film hitting the market. As someone who primarily shoots B&W, another colour stock isn’t much to get excited about. But as a part of the film community, I know that getting your hands on fresh colour film has been difficult for the past several months. So when CineStill dropped the news of a new colour film stock, I was excited for all my fellow photographers who gobble the stuff up. Plus, I always like to expand my horizons regarding photography. And CineStill has done so much good for the community by sourcing and modifying film stocks, releasing easy-to-workRead More →

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It was raining in the city by the lake, a hard rain. A hard rain would wash the silver halides off any type of film. I was looking for something or someone for that matter. Someone contacted me about something new hitting the streets. A film stock would deliver the look of those old detective movies from the mid-century. I spent hours in the old one-screen cinema watching these films when I was a kid, growing up on the wrong side of the tracks. He called himself Shadow, Agent Shadow, although, given his love of cloak and dagger, I think the “agent” part was made-up,Read More →

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When people hear the name ORWO, they mostly think of their brilliant motion picture films, UN54 and N74. Their newer offerings include the recently announced but yet-to-arrive NP100 and NP400 plus NC500. But that is only a small cross-section of their original offerings. ORWO, or rather ORiginal WOlfen is built in Wolfen, Germany, the original Agfa plant that ended up on the eastern side of the iron curtain and continued to produce films and developers after World War Two through the Cold War. Their films became popular among photographers in East German and the Soviet Bloc. My first experience with ORWO films is one ofRead More →

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This isn’t my first experience with Tasma film, I have shot NK-II in the past and their Type 25L. As a company, Tasma or Тасма has been producing photographic products since 1933. The name is a shortened version of Татарские светочувствительные материалы or Tatar Sensitized Materials, and they have carried that name since 1974. Originally operating under the name Film Factory No. 8, the Kazan-based factory continued operations through the entirety of the Soviet involvement in World War II and earned the Order of the Red Banner of Labor in 1944. Following the collapse of the USSR, the company reorganised as a private firm inRead More →

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If you’ve been in film photography for a while, you’ve seen big companies come and go. And a pile of companies were rarely seen here in North America. The iron curtain, for many years, divided the world in two, between the west and the east following the Second World War. The Cold War kept western films out of the east and eastern films out of the west. One such brand is Forte. I’ve only seen one roll of Fortepan before; I remember using it, but it’s not on my film log, so maybe I ended up giving it away. Kodak opened a photochemical plant inRead More →

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Here I go again, sticking my nose into a speciality film. Copex Rapid, as the name on the tin says, is a high-contrast copy film that requires a special developer. Copex Rapid is a faster version of the original Copex. So a stop faster can be helpful in the right conditions. The trouble is that the special developer is not readily available in North America and is even harder to get in Europe. But that hasn’t stopped me before, so I took a chance. You’ll notice that I decided to drop one of my usual developers, Ilfotec HC, as it stated it was high-contrast, andRead More →