Updated: film Q, a web app for inverting film negatives in batches.
Version `v1.0.0-beta.6` includes several important bug fixes and a new feature, Auto Start.
With the Auto Start setting turned on, film Q will automatically process files as soon as they are uploaded. This can be helpful for speeding up the workflow, especially if you scan directly into your Dropbox folder.
For example, you can set up a folder on your computer, which will automatically invert your negatives as soon as you place your files in it. Watch this video to see how it works: youtube.com/watch?v=xQk2gy….
This update also fixes dark or distorted results when processing DNG files made with Silverfast scanner software and simplifies the user interface (fewer buttons). See help docs for more info: analog.cafe/app/film-q/help.
`Invert v1.2-beta`
Invert is a computer vision component of film Q. It calculates values for histogram equalization and manages camera RAW interpreter software.
This update fixes the image area detection mechanism, which has previously caused blank frames with certain types of scans. Version `v1.2-beta` also improves the saturation levels for camera RAW formats and colours on frames that may have scanning issues near the fringes.
Polaroid film reacts to sun exposure by fading, which has long been considered its downside. But this disadvantage (common amongst most printed materials) can be used creatively to make fun designs that reveal themselves after a few days of exposure, while saving birds from hitting a window.
I made a short video to demonstrate how easy Sol Prints are, what they look like, and how does it feels to reveal them after all the time spent waiting for a result: youtube.com/shorts/tjlqrhC….
For more details on how this works and how to make one (or a few) Sol Prints yourself, see this article: analog.cafe/r/how-to-make-….
Flying with film? DO NOT X-RAY — a new travel pouch by Sissi Lu may help.
Sissi Lu, a New York-based photographer, has just launched her DO NOT X-RAY Film Pouch product, available at most camera stores in the US and Canada, and directly from Sissi’s website: sissilu.com.
The pouches are designed to organize your film rolls/packs and communicate with the security agent at an airport where you’d like to have your film hand-checked in 27 languages.
I asked Sissi a few questions about her creation ahead of launch. In turn, she revealed a success story of a well-received product for photographers intending to travel with film.
My first question was about the motivation behind it. Here’s her reply:
“It started from a personal need. I had a long international trip planned at the end of 2023, and it was my first time travelling with only film cameras—110, 135, 120, and Polaroid. I was honestly so stressed about X-ray and CT scanners damaging my unexposed and undeveloped film. To protect them—and to avoid the language barrier at airport security—I printed a simple label in multiple languages asking for a hand check and stuck it on a clear pouch.”
“When I shared a photo of it on my Instagram story, my DM was flooded with people asking where it was from.”
Last year, Daren, Yvonne, and I proved that you can. We tried a whole range of unconventional developers, and our “Sativa Cannanol” mixture proved to be very effective for low-grain, high-quality results with Ilford HP5+.
This pot-based recipe has a development time of 420 seconds at 69℉ (no joke). We tested it with our wonderful model, Lily, who helped us build a chart of exposures used to determine its effective ISO.
You can find the instructions for developing your black-and-white film with “Sativa Cannanol” and other unusual mixtures here: analog.cafe/r/i-developed-….
Polaroid Flip is a new film camera that uses classic tech to take better photos.
Those of us who grew up in the ‘90s may remember the old boxy Polaroid cameras like the Polaroid Sun 660. I lived in Moscow then, and we had one too. Polaroid Flip appears to be a modern reincarnation of those 600-series.
The Flip uses sonar and a 4-lens step focus just like my Sun 660. Polaroid’s earlier design, Polaroid Now, does not have that ability (later designs got 2-step autofocus).
I’m fascinated by Polaroid’s choice of sonar for autofocus, despite other tech like Lidar being more popular today. But the Flip also does some new things: film packs with a rechargeable battery, under/over exposure warning, a (presumably) more powerful flash, and Bluetooth connectivity with an app for manual control, double-exposures, etc.
From the release: “The Polaroid Flip will be available for €219 / $199,99 / £199,99 / CNY 1699, with early access for members starting April 15. It launches on polaroid.com on April 29 and in retailers from May 13.”
Like this camera, Polaroid is a reincarnation of the original brand that began with a defunct factory takeover. A brief history of Polaroid: analog.cafe/r/a-brief-hist…
Video: How I scan, invert, and archive film negatives.
In this video, I’ll walk you through my scanning workflow, which has helped me keep an uncompressed archive of my precious scans and given me more control over the results:
I built this software to invert film negatives in batches using a simple and easy-to-understand image processing method three years ago. For the longest time, it only worked on my machine, but this year, I finally took the plunge and turned it into a service anyone can use.
Previously, I referred to the technique that sets the black-and-white points of an image to their respective maximum values as “histogram equalization.” That was incorrect. This technique should be called “histogram stretching” or “normalization.”
I’ve corrected all the articles and documentation references to use either “histogram stretching” or “normalization” when talking about this topic.
“Histogram normalization” is a wrong term for what I’ve been explaining, but it is also a (different) image processing technique. You can learn more about both terms on Wikipedia.
Thank you reader, who pointed this out! Feedback like this helps me improve the quality of this website and its content. I appreciate it.
Fujifilm announced the first price hike on film of 2025.
Fujifilm, Kodak, and Ilford (Harman) announce film price increases roughly once, sometimes twice a year.
In their announcement (fujifilm.com/ffis/ja/news/…, previously shared by PetaPixel petapixel.com/2025/04/04/f… and DPReview), Fujifilm said they worked on improving their efficiency, but, unfortunately, the increasing price of raw materials still drove the prices up. It’s implied that they won’t be subsidizing their film manufacturing.
As a result, the film prices will go up 21-52% (the higher number applies to reversal films like Velvia and Provia).
We are yet to see the results of those increases and the new US-imposed tariffs on price at the counter. Subscribe to Film Price Reports newsletter to get notified of major film price changes later this year: analog.cafe/account/subscr…
ORWO Net AG is insolvent, but ORWO film production is apparently unaffected.
The ORWO brand has had a tumultuous history, with bankruptcies, company splits, false starts, and numerous failed businesses. And last week, ORWO Net AG became insolvent.
ORWO Net AG owns the name “ORWO” in Germany. It sells printed goods and operates a large photo lab. But it doesn’t make film.
We buy ORWO-branded film from FilmoTec GmbH, which is under shared ownership with InovisCoat — a company which manufactures film components for brands like Polaroid B.V., Adox, Bergger, Lomography (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ORWO).
Though FilmoTec has had some troubles in the recent past (orwo.wtf/blog/orwo-managed…), it’s a separate entity and does not seem to be affected by ORWO Net’s financial troubles.
This post was inspired by the recent news of ORWO Net AG’s insolvency (mz.de/lokal/bitterfeld/orw…), which confused me until I’ve done some deeper reading about the company’s history. It’s sad to see another business fail, but I’m glad it’s not the one that makes film.
To be sure, I’ve contacted ORWO directly and will update this article if anything changes.
Film photography is now recognized as a cultural heritage in Germany and is on the path to UNESCO listing.
Silvergrain Classics, a German English-language film photography magazine, has just shared the news on their blog: silvergrainclassics.com/en….
“Analog photography has now been officially registered in the State Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. This has made it possible for the state to nominate analog photography for inclusion at the German federal level.”
This nomination and its advancement could mean several things for analogue photography, including greater recognition and perhaps further efforts and investments by German and European governments to preserve and advance this medium.
I think that film is on the same level of importance as books and paintings. Hopefully, the governments agree, as keeping this medium alive on the level we have today costs billions of dollars, and it would be unfortunate to see it dwindle should an economic downturn take place.
I wrote this guide four years ago after researching ways to personally take over the process that traditional scanning and film inversion apps obfuscate.
I needed to know how exactly the software affects the colours of my film to identify and control the visual differences between film stocks and measure the effects of my lenses, filters, and exposures.
Having learned a great deal about the transformative path of a negative with an orange mask to a digital colour image, I could confidently write film reviews where I measured and compared minute differences between film stocks (whereas others may’ve deferred to internet lore, marketing material, or inconsistent scanning workflows). I could also get more image data out of my scans and gain greater editing flexibility.
This weekend, I rewrote the guide completely and added new illustrations. It’s no longer focused on Photoshop or any particular editing tool, and the new article explains the theory much more diligently (with examples).
Lomography has updated its DigitaLIZA Scanning Kits.
The new DigitaLIZA+ and DigitaLIZA Max modular scanning setups allow phone or camera scanning for multiple roll formats: 35mm, 120, 110, and 127. Medium format scans can be as large as 6×7.
The new backlight included in both kits features CRI 97, which means it emits 97% of wavelengths compared to incandescent light bulbs. Keeping this number as high as possible is crucial for getting accurate colours out of your negatives. Plus, you can use your own backlight instead if you’d prefer.
Both kits use magnets to keep the film flat, whereas the Max includes a phone stand as an additional component.
film Q User Guide is now public, while the app is still in private beta.
film Q is a new app that inverts film negatives on the Analog.Cafe website without the need to install any software. It connects to your Dropbox account and processes your files in the cloud.
This app will have several advantages over traditional film inversion apps, such as hands-off batch processing, zero resource usage, and an open and consistent inversion algorithm.
My goal with this app is to show you exactly what the inversion software does so that there are no unanswered questions about your exposure, film development quality, or the impact of your software on the image.
This app is still in active development and is only available for testing upon request. However, you can get a glimpse of how it looks and works through the help docs that are now live:
If you’d like to try this app or have any questions or feedback, please let me know. I want this new product to be as helpful as possible for folks who scan film at home.
Cameradactyl is trading art sales for enormous RA-4 paper cartridge, camera back, and direct positive processor blueprints.
Last week, Ethan Moses of Cameradactyl posted a video about his invention, a new “film” format that uses roll RA-4 paper to make about 100 4x5 exposures in a giant daylight canister. The rolls can be used in Ethan’s enormous TLR-like camera or adapted to 4x5 cameras as a back.
Of course, shooting this huge format is just half the job to get an image. The other part is developing a thick roll of paper. This is why Ethan also built a contained conveyor-like machine that pulls the entire roll through the chemicals to produce a direct positive.
But Ethan isn’t planning on selling these devices as he does with the rest of his cameras. Instead, he’s proposing to trade sales of his photography (prints) in exchange for open-sourcing the entire project, which includes the canisters, camera back, and the film processor. Once Ethan sells $300,000 worth of his art, all files will be available for free (he will be releasing them incrementally as the sales progress).
An unusual proposition for a very cool project. I happen to have a roll of RA-4 paper in my closet and I’d love to use it in a 4x5 camera.
Here’s the video where Ethan explains his project and why he’d like to trade his art sales for 3D files: youtube.com/watch?v=PB0GPY…
You can find and purchase Ethan’s prints on his website: cameradactyl.com
Lomography released a development tank that makes loading film easier.
The fiddliest task of developing film is feeding it onto reels. Reels arrange it so that there’s spacing/no contact across the entire strip. This allows water and chemicals to flow freely across the entire surface, but it has to be done in darkness.
However, loading film onto reels can be difficult. Everything needs to be done by feel. Your hands are confined to a small space that can get warm quickly. As your hands get warm, the sweat makes the job harder. Films with a thin base, like Lomo 800, can be very frustrating to mount in these cases.
Lomography’s solution is a modular film loader and processing box. A core where you place your film roll is inserted into a plastic “doughnut” piece. You then wind the film from your roll into the “doughnut,” which houses the reels, remove the core with your empty canister and pour chems into the “doughnut.”
Lomo Daylight Developing Tank works for single 35mm rolls. The twist agitation looks a little messy in the video (youtube.com/watch?v=XyGh79…), but the inversion lock looks reassuring.
The tank & accessories are $79 at shop.lomography.com/us/day… — all you need is your film chemicals (and tools to mix them) to get started.
Harman, the company that makes the famous black-and-white Ilford emulsions, has just released a redscale version of their Phoenix 200 film.
Redscaling means loading colour film into your camera “upside-down,” which produces strong red tones on a darker exposure.
You can redscale any colour film at home (see below), even Phoenix 200.
Harman’s Red 125 has new packaging with an updated DX code to reflect the film’s lower sensitivity to light. The factory also printed the edge markings on the correct side so that all commercial labs could easily identify, develop, and scan this film.
A technical document about Red 125 (found here: harmanphoto.co.uk/amfile/f…) prints characteristic curves which show about 4 stops of composite dynamic range (3 for the red channel) and a very cool spectral sensitivity graphic.
Whereas the “normal” Harman Phoenix 200 came with special scanning instructions for commercial labs, the Red 125 document suggests standard settings for all scanners.
Film Ferrania’s Facebook page has been in the hands of alleged scammers for almost two years. It can be rough on the Internet, even for well-known brands.
Though I haven’t had my account stolen 🤞, it appears that restoring one can be difficult. In Lomography’s case, they were able to regain full access, but all of their content and followers vanished, prompting the company to ask us, the community, to re-follow as they rebuild their presence on the platform. See attached.
Film Ferrania’s Facebook page still has all of its original posts and comments up. Ferrania’s last post was on April 2, 2023; you can see the comments related to film photography under it. But the photos and the caption are in Vietnamese, and the profile name is now Bảo Lasvegas. Bảo’s subsequent messages are cryptic cringe, advertising a service that has the appearance of a pyramid scheme.
My understanding of these hacks is that they aren’t personal — rather a programmed automated attack designed to take over popular, poorly secured accounts and sell them to someone looking spam or appear reputable.
If you’re worried about your account, I suggest using a password manager service (1Password is good) and enabling two-factor authentication. You can go a step further and use an authenticator app like Google Authenticator.
Last week, Lomography updated its premium *multi-format* instant film camera designs with Pemberley (pictured) and The Blues.
Lomo’Instant Square Glass works with Instax Square *and* Instax Mini films via an interchangeable film back (compare film dimensions here: analog.cafe/r/instant-film…). It uses a 95mm lens (45mm equivalent — presumably with the square format), and its two apertures: 𝒇10 and 𝒇22 that you’ll need to zone focus (how to zone focus: analog.cafe/r/how-to-zone-…). Its fully automatic shutter can fire between 1/125s and 8s with a 30s max delay in Bulb mode.
With ‘Instant, you get to control flash, multiple exposures, and exposure compensation — but it’s otherwise a fully automatic film camera.
Glass lenses are a relatively new offering for a brand that’s been known for its plastic “toy” cameras, like the Diana Mini (analog.cafe/r/diana-mini-7…). Yet, Lomography is serious about their designs (see my Nour Triplet 2.0 review: analog.cafe/r/nour-triplet…) and a transition to a higher quality and pricepoint products in their lineup (they were the first in a long time to release a glass lens 110 camera: analog.cafe/comments/0jn2).
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