Fujifilm is famously opaque when it comes to communicating its work on film production. Though a former rival of Kodak for the top spot in emulsion sales worldwide, the Japanese brand of today makes the most money in makeup, drugs, digital cameras, and other chemical products. Film is far down the “todo” list for Fujifilm, which you can also gleam from the great number of emulsions they discontinued over the years: analog.cafe/search?for=fuj…
The latest in Fujifilm’s apparent lags in film production was “Fujifilm 400” colour film for their lower tier of emulsions that replaced Fuji Superia X-Tra (analog.cafe/r/fujifilm-sup…) and has been theorized to be just rebranded Kodak Ultramax film (analog.cafe/r/kodak-ultram…).
The Good News. Though Fujifilm doesn’t open its factory doors like Kodak (analog.cafe/comments/tnq0) or Polaroid, the company did say that the film production delays should be temporary: kosmofoto.com/2021/11/fuji…
You may’ve seen some Fuji stocks reappear in your local store already, but that probably won’t compare to how things going in Japan, where Yvonne found fresh Fujicolor and, 200/400 ISO Superia Fujifilm stocks: youtube.com/watch?v=vwQ6Wj…
MiNT shared a little more today about their new premium 35mm film point-and-shoot that’s coming this year.
Looks like the Rollei 35AF will look nearly identical to the original Rollei 35 — in more ways than some of us may’ve thought.
Back in January (analog.cafe/r/film-photogr…), Gary Ho confirmed what was already evident from his earlier assembly images (analog.cafe/r/film-photogr…): his new premium point-and-shoot camera will be based on the Rollei 35 body.
MiNT, known for refurbishing and modifying Polaroid SX-70 cameras, uses the Rollei name on some of its instant film SLRs, but it had not designed something that resembles an iconic Rollei product so closely. But now we know: the new Rollei 35 will be a faithful modernized classic with some of the same materials as the original, including a metal body construction:
- It’ll have the same form factor and a very similar appearance to the Rollei 35 S (analog.cafe/r/rollei-35s-c…)
- Its body will be made of metal, like the original
- It’ll feature an 𝒇2.8 lens with coated glass elements
- It’ll be a full-frame 35mm film camera
- It’ll have a lidar autofocus, presumably autoexposure as well
- It’ll have aperture controls
- It’ll cost 650-800USD
No release date yet, but you can enter the waitlist here: rollei35af.com/
I developed & fixed film using nothing but edible ingredients from a grocery store. It’s been over twelve months, and it’s time to re-scan to see how the picture holds up.
Developing black and white film with coffee is a well-known trick. Many photographers tried this method and its edible variations. However, the last step usually involves industrial chemicals.
The Caffenol film development experiment I tried last year used an unproven substitute for the last step (fixer): table salt. It got results, but I wasn’t sure if the film would fade over time.
Something reminded me of this experiment today, and I decided to scan the film again to see how well it held up.
Turns out it held up well. I see no significant difference between today’s scan (attached) and the results I got in December 2022 (see the article ☝️).
The salt fixer works!
My fixer recipe used 300g of iodized salt with 1L water (or as much as could dissolve). After some agitation, the film was soaked in salt overnight.
I can confirm this works, but could this recipe be altered to be more practical? Would an hour or even less time in salt still work?
Update: In An Instant has a video overview of this camera, which is particularly informative about the format itself. You can watch it here: youtube.com/watch?v=pGEU5N…
I am also attaching one of the sample images Lomography sent me with their press package. A significant downside of this type of camera is the challenge of scanning such a small film. It’s smaller than a half-frame format and, as a result, makes less detailed images.
However, that doesn’t have to be a bad thing; simply something to consider when picking up one of these cameras for your project.
I’ve added the new Editorial Comments section to Analog.Cafe, where I plan to publish timely announcements (like the one above) and opinion pieces.
Editorial comments will be short, with a maximum of one image per post (some will also have video). There won’t be any fancy formatting or beautiful display like on the main article posts.
Editorials will be distributed alongside the articles on the RSS feed and a few other places like Flipboard (flipboard.com/@analog_cafe). You may now see something new from me daily (sometimes less, sometimes more — I promise not to spam).
One more thing: you can now add #tags to comments on Analog.Cafe. I’ll feature the best ones at the top of analog.cafe/comments
Lomography just released a new “advanced” mini 110 film camera: the Lomomatic 110. It features a multi-coated glass lens, built-in flash, and automatic exposure (with aperture and ISO control).
Lomography is one of the few major film retailers that actively makes and promotes the 110 film format. Though it can be tricky to develop at home or at a lab, the 110 format is extremely compact, lending to tiny camera designs.
Unfortunately, the small film size also makes home scanning challenging. Thus, you may be limited by your lab’s scanner — in addition to all the challenges of enlarging such a small format, including grain. This, however, never bothered Lomography or many of the format’s fans. After all, photography isn’t all about sharp lenses and fine grain.
New What The Film?! “🎁 Bonus” game level is up! Colour film levels coming soon.
What The Film?! is a game for film photographers. You progress by correctly guessing film names for the community-submitted samples. Extra points for guessing correctly in a shorter time span.
Hundreds of people played this game. It was featured on PetaPixel and 35mmc.
The new level will let you level up on the scoreboard of the top 100 players. And if you’re one of the people who submitted new images, you have the advantage!
P.S.: The team (Yvonne, Darren) and I are beginning our work on the colour film version of the game. I’ll let you know once the submissions open; we’ll focus on colour negative (C-41) film.
Today, Ricoh Imaging (a brand that owns Pentax) has announced that its brand-new half-frame film camera will have its lens design based on the Pentax Espio Mini cameras: youtube.com/watch?v=xqRQTO…
This new camera (more about it here: analog.cafe/r/film-photogr…) will look and work differently from Espio Mini as it’ll have a manual film crank and no autofocus (instead, relying on the zone focusing system, which I explain here: analog.cafe/r/how-to-zone-…).
CONFIRMED: Film Ferrania releases P33: an ISO 160 black and white film.
“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.”
SPOILER: Film Ferrania is teasing something new, however, they have not yet made their English announcement. This post shares info from their domestic release in Italy.
***
Film Ferrania is about to release P33.
It will be a black and white film in ISO 160, according to Punto Foto, an Italian (Milan) photography store.
Here’s machine-translated (iOS) announcement from the Punto Foto website:
“There is no 30 without 33: The new Ferrania P33 in 135/36 format are on the way. This first production does not have the DX code, so you must manually set the sensitivity to ISO 160. As soon as we have the confirmation of the arrival of the films we will insert them on our website www.puntofoto.eu and you can book them. We do not receive any in large quantities, but they will soon also be available at Rollei-Ferrania Film Point.”
A poorly scanned negative won’t look good, even if the photo is good.
On Analog.Cafe film and lens reviews appear within the context of some of the highest-resolution images on the web. I’ve invested time and money to ensure that each article reveals the finest detail from any camera/emulsion combination. This includes clearly visible film grain on 35mm film scans.
I believe this additional image data can tell a better photo story, whether by describing the resolving power of a particular film or lens or by painting fine detail in a photo essay.
As of this writing, Analog.Cafe delivers 1,268px-wide photos on all large screens in various compressions, which is better than most blogs and social networks.
The GOLD members get the best experience: up to 3,000px-wide images on larger screens! Portrait-oriented edge-to-edge photos are larger than 4K in resolution or 20MP — the highest resolution of most modern film scanners. Smaller/mobile screens will also have improved resolution, which is perfect for zooming in.
I hope the recent website changes will improve everyone’s experience with the new encoding and image sizing algorithms. Let me know what you think!
Kodak has just announced a price drop of up to 30% OFF, depending on the retailer and the region.
Kodak sneaked the news for a brief second along with the slides for the competition celebration 70 years of Tri-X emulsion: instagram.com/reel/C2vYz7M…
The news follow my semiannual industry survey that showed an 8% price hike for an average roll of 35mm film across various shops in the past year: analog.cafe/r/science-back… that report revealed a 6% drop in price for Tri-X as compared to summer 2023.
If lucky, you may find Tri-X at 40% OFF compared to what you’d be paying last year.
The price reduction at your shop may not be instant. It may take weeks and it’s unclear how long this reduction will last. But I would expend to spend less on this iconic emulsion in 2024: analog.cafe/r/kodak-tri-x-…
A good way to check if you’re getting Tri-X at a discount by comparing your price to the market average using this tool (a discounted price should be lower than the average): analog.cafe/app/film-price…
Adox Color Mission Helios colour negative film sample photos and approximate release date announced?
I saw the new Electachrome video today (youtube.com/watch?v=aK0hlf…), where Molly shared an exciting update about the new colour film from the German film manufacturer.
Molly discovered that the German-language Adox website (adox.de/Photo/elementor-13…) has an announcement about the new film “coming next season” (whatever that means). The announcement is nowhere to be seen on the English-language homepage.
The sample images look orangy; the website explains that this is a simple three-layer emulsion, suggesting it’s an experiment in progress.
This film would be a follow-up to the ‘22 Adox Color Mission launch. That was the remainder of the stock that Adox bought from another (defunct) manufacturer along with some technical documentation and possibly tools. The ‘22 Color Mission is beautiful: grainy and colourful. analog.cafe/r/adox-color-m…
The Helios version appears to be Adox’ first step towards recreating the ‘22 Color Mission. And they seem to be a long way from that, given the colour shifts and usable sensitivity of ISO 1.5.
Google Translate from adox.de: “This is more practical than you might think now. During the day in the sun and with a reasonably fast lens, you take photos handheld.”
I did some research on this and you are correct. I’ve updated the article.
FYI2: there are some emulsions that are shiny on both sides. And I’ve found very little difference in scan quality between the orientation of film in your scanner: analog.cafe/r/film-scannin…
montecristo.ns Mar 13, ‘24
elkarrde Mar 13, ‘24
Dmitri Mar 13, ‘24, edited on Apr 27, ‘24
Dmitri Mar 11, ‘24, edited on Mar 13, ‘24
Dmitri Mar 10, ‘24
Dmitri Mar 7, ‘24, edited on Mar 14, ‘24
Dmitri Mar 7, ‘24, edited on Mar 7, ‘24
Dmitri Mar 7, ‘24, edited on Apr 27, ‘24
Dmitri Mar 2, ‘24, edited on Mar 7, ‘24
Dmitri Mar 1, ‘24, edited on Apr 27, ‘24
Dmitri Feb 24, ‘24
pyfra Feb 24, ‘24
Dmitri Feb 24, ‘24
Carlos Eduardo de A… Feb 24, ‘24
Dmitri Feb 22, ‘24, edited on Mar 13, ‘24
Dmitri Feb 19, ‘24
Dmitri Feb 3, ‘24, edited on Mar 13, ‘24
Dmitri Jan 30, ‘24, edited on Mar 13, ‘24
Dmitri Jan 29, ‘24, edited on Apr 27, ‘24
Dmitri Jan 22, ‘24