Yet to try this developer! I moved from Rodinal to Ornano Gradual ST-20 and I can really recommend that film! It works fabulously with Fomapan stocks in my opinion.
I have yet to try using powdered developers but I very much prefer one-shot developers because I can’t be asked to think if the solution is still strong enough or not lol
Daren describes his first impressions with the Kodak Snapic A1 film camera camera in-hand. I’ve spliced in a short video and samples shot on FP4+ on Snapic: youtube.com/shorts/6LC9_D6…
This is one of the photos from the roll I accidentally exposed during the podcast (I forgot I had a roll of Tri-X in my RETO Pano when I opened its film door to show Daren the camera’s construction on the inside… I snapped it shut super quick).
Most of the frames on the roll held up well, and only ~5 shots were affected at all. Lucky!
Kodak Snapic A1 actually has a window on the film door that shows which film is inside, which would’ve been helpful then.
This is Tri-X EI 200 (pulled -1 stop). You may also notice that this photo is slightly softer/fuzzier than the ones above, taken with the Snapic.
Analog.Cafe Podcast s1/e5 “Kodak Snapic A1: Best In Class!”
In this episode, you’ll hear me accidentally open my loaded film camera and ruin a few frames (gasp!). But more importantly, Daren and I shoot, develop, scan, and share our first impressions with the new RETO/Kodak film camera. We are impressed.
Kodak Snapic A1 is a $100 film camera with a 𝒇9.5 25mm coated glass lens, motorized film transport, 2-zone focusing, 1/100s fixed shutter, built-in flash, a double-exposure switch, and shaped like Ricoh GR1. We used a selfie taken with Snapic on the day of taping for this episode’s cover.
During this episode, we’ve got to test this camera together just before taping. We then took a break after recording the first part of the show to develop and scan the film so we could share our first impressions of the image quality from this lens (shot indoors on Ilford FP4+).
I will be putting a few more rolls through this camera on an upcoming trip and post a full review on Analog.Cafe shortly.
One thing that we forgot to mention in this episode is that longer focal lengths will require more focusing zones or risk blurry images due to a narrower depth of field: analog.cafe/r/what-is-aper…. On the other hand, Snapic A1’s ultra-wide lens ensures that most of the scene is in focus with just a simple switch for near/far.
This episode was published on December 17, 2025. 1 hr 4 min.
Kamerastore/Camera Rescue is handing off StantaColor 100 (Kodak Aerocolor IV) spooling production to Optik Oldschool.
If you’ve read the review or already have heard of the film, SantaColor is a respooled colour-negative film for aerial surveillance photography still manufactured fresh by Kodak. The Finnish Camera Rescue team was the first to discover and distribute this film for 35mm cameras, but, according to their announcement today, the operation will be handed off to the German maker Optik Oldschool.
Optik Oldschool will use its automated spooling machines to ramp up production and improve distribution; hopefully, making the film easier to find at your favourite shop.
Who is Optik Oldschool? You may recognize this lab’s name (located in Düsseldorf) from the OptiColour 200 film packs, which contain the brand-new German-made colour-negative film, reviewed here: analog.cafe/r/kono-color-2…. They are actually the first to make this film (a.k.a., ORWO NC200) in medium format.
Unfortunately, Lomography discontinued the Soviet-designed LOMO LC-A cameras.
According to Kosmo Foto, the historic design will no longer be produced, with the last of the stock being it for the camera. The LC-A platform is now being replaced by Lomography’s new point-and-shoot camera, the LOMO MC-A (analog.cafe/comments/4qqw), while the LC-Wide and the LC-A 120 will continue production.
I realized the other day that my fixer solution is over a year old. This may be acceptable, but my Tri-X negatives, which are normally transparent, have already begun to look purple (a sign of expiration). It would be nice to have an advanced warning for something like that! (TL;DR — get advanced warning for expired/exhausted chemicals with Chem Log — analog.cafe/app/chem-log).
Today’s update, Analog.Cafe v3.32.46, adds the long-overdue 2-level warning system to the Chem Log and Film Log (analog.cafe/app/film-log) apps. If you use either of them, you’ll get a yellow or red warning when your chemicals are nearing their end.
I’ve tuned the warnings to the following expiration and exhaustion thresholds:
*Bleach & C-41 developers* will get highlighted with a YELLOW warning after 1.5 months or 12 rolls. This is generally a safe amount of film for both 500ml/pint and 1L/quart; however, a RED warning — 3 months or 20 rolls — will be a significant issue for the pint-sized volumes and warrants action for the larger ones.
Note: You will need to toggle your developer to “C-41” to get these warnings. You can do this on the Chem Log homepage.
*Fixers* will get highlighted with a YELLOW warning after 6 months or 100 rolls and a RED warning after 11 months or 120 rolls.
*Stop bath chemicals* will get highlighted with a YELLOW warning after 11 months or 100 rolls and a RED warning after 14 months or 120 rolls.
*Prebath chemicals* will get highlighted with a YELLOW warning after 1.75 months or 15 rolls and a RED warning after 5 months or 30 rolls.
These approximate expiration times and roll counts are based on datasheets from Ilford, Arista, Kodak, and others, as well as personal experience. They assume storage in tightly-capped containers with little or no air inside the bottle (collapsible bottles can be a big help: analog.cafe/link/collapsib…).
Clicking the warnings displays a pop-up with the relevant expiration or exhaustion thresholds from above, along with the time elapsed, in months or weeks.
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I already have a few yellow and one red in my chemistry inventory. Gonna risk it until I have time to get replacements. Wish me luck! 😅
Analog.Cafe v3.32.43 adds various improvements to the Comments app. I worked on the Reply and Thread buttons, the avatar and date-posted fields, and the image, video, and article preview layouts in the list feed. I hope these changes make it easier for you to add and find comments!
Dilution Calculator (a feature of Film Log analog.cafe/app/film-log and Chem Log analog.cafe/app/chem-log apps) now remembers your values and preferences across your browser sessions. I found that I frequently use a 1+25 Rodinal dilution to make 300ml for a single 135 black-and-white roll; my guess is that you may also come back to your earlier recipes — this update should help us save a few seconds typing those numbers.
Thank you for breaking this down. I think if I had to choose between Color Plus and Kodacolor, I would pick the one that was less expensive. I have always been able to tell that Kodak Gold was different though. I like using it in the late afternoon (on sunny days of course). It really does pick up the golden tones of the “golden hour” better than any other inexpensive film I have tried.
There are much more accessories for the MX available:
- 250 shot bulk film magazine
- dial date back
- data back with a little window to scribe short text by hand (roll numbers for instance) — this is a unique product
- Motor Drive (5 fps) with NiCad pack or hand grip for AA batteries
- external control pack for timed serial images
And of course all the photographic accessories for macro, micro photography and for adapting the camera to telescopes (Pentax built first rate astronomical telescopes, some of those extremely fast and with a flat field, especially for astrophotography)
- the MX was available in chrome or black finish and meant to be the most light weight professional camera on the market at that time.
Analog.Cafe v3.32.28 adds a “Delete” option to all comments you may’ve authored. Please check this page to learn how this feature works: analog.cafe/r/introducing-…
I’ve also fixed a bug that prevented the comment message from being updated after it was edited or deleted.
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