Film and Darkroom

141 Stories, Experiments, Workflows, Reviews

Ilford Microphen Film Developer Review
December 18, 2025
Push-processing film increases its grain size and contrast, which can lead to undesirable results, especially if the push is significant. However, Microphen uses technology designed to control both for better results. Ilford Microphen is a black-and-white film developer, made with hydroquinone and phenidone by Harman Technology Ltd., for fine-grained results and controlled contrast.
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Kodak Kodacolor 100 Film Review
A New Kodak Film?
December 8, 2025
Kodak Kodacolor 100 is a medium-contrast, medium-saturation colour-negative film with packaging design reminiscent of the classic 1980s branding. In this review, I’ll briefly discuss the origins of this film and cover the basics, such as colours, grain, and price. I will also give a few tips on scanning, exposure, and daily use.
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Lucky C200 (乐凯) vs. Kodak Gold
Direct & Practical Comparisons With Colour Charts, Exposure Tests, and More
November 18, 2025
Lucky C200 (乐凯 C200, p.: Lè Kǎi) is a new colour-negative film manufactured in China. The technology behind it may or may not be stemming from Kodak’s short-lived collaboration with Lucky in the early 2000s — but as you’ll soon see, it looks very different from anything else on the market today. This article will examine Lucky C200’s colours, grain, contrast, and saturation — as well as physical properties against one of Kodak’s best-known affordable films: Kodak Gold .
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Kodak Kodacolor 100 vs. Pro Image 100
These Films Are Not the Same*
November 3, 2025
Kodak Kodacolor 100 is a brand-new film from Kodak, announced in early October 2025. Kind of. In this article, I explain the importance of this new design and compare Kodacolor to its rumoured twin: Kodak Pro Image 100.
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Kodak ColorPlus vs. Kodacolor 200 vs. Kodak Gold
October 9, 2025
Kodak sells a lot of film. When the world asked them for more medium-speed colour-negative film, they answered with three products: Kodak ColorPlus, Kodak Gold, and now the new Kodacolor 200. But seeing how they are not doing a very good job at explaining the difference (if any) between those three films, I spent several days researching and planning an experiment that compares the colours, grain, and dynamic range under various lighting conditions.
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Making Darkroom Prints at Home With Doka Lab
All-Included for Less Than €40… You Don’t Even Need a Film Camera!
October 7, 2025
The dim red lights, hanging papers, and the rapidly appearing black-and-white images are sensations so unique and memorable that they’ve become synonymous with film photography. Doka Lab aims to make this experience more accessible than ever before.
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New Hand-Rolled Film: Cinema Shorts BW 200 & BW 3200
With a Lab Service Option
September 24, 2025
Cinema Shorts BW 200 and Cinema Shorts BW 3200 are the two new 35mm/36exp. hand-rolled black-and-white film stocks, available in 3-packs with or without lab services.
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Harman Phoenix Reversal Explored
A Follow-Up
September 2, 2025
This article is meant to be an extension of the work done previously by Dmitri (which can be found here). After reading up on his processes, I realized that there may be room for improvement, or at least experimentation. Over the course of five test strips from two rolls from the same batch, I think I’ve found something that works well for both scanning and projection.
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Fujifilm 200 Color Negative vs. Kodak Gold
Which One Is Better? or Is It the Same Thing?
August 19, 2025
Fujifilm 200 is a US-made colour-negative film with Fuji branding sold across many outlets, including my local drugstore. This film is the current successor to the Japanese-made Fujicolor C 200, a medium-speed, affordable colour-negative film. In this article, I’ll compare and review both films.
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KONO Color 200/OptiColour 200/ORWO NC200 Film Review
A New German-Made Colour-Negative Film, Sold in 135, 120, and Bulk
August 19, 2025
KONO Color 200 is a new colour-negative film packaged and sold by a German company, KONO Manufaktur, in 35mm and bulk rolls of 100’ (30.5m). It’s the same as Optik OldSchool OptiColor 200 and ORWO Wolfen NC200. I’ve shot three rolls of it this summer in various settings and have lots to say about the quality of the images, the price, and what this film means for the future of film photography. This review has a higher-than-average number of samples from the rolls, as I was lucky enough to get lots of “keepers.” Or it may have been the result of a massive upgrade in terms of image quality and scannability for InovisCoat GmbH! (I will explain who that is, too.)
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Comparing Two Newest Colour Films: Phoenix vs. NC200
The Only Non-Kodak Colour-Negative Films Made Today
August 19, 2025
There are only two colour-negative film lines in production today, other than those manufactured by Kodak. They are both made in Europe as the first completely new C-41-based emulsions since the mid-2000s. In this article, I will compare them side-by-side to see which of these formulas is closer to replacing Kodak’s legacy of innovation and excellence in colour photochemistry.
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Rollei RPX 25 Film Review
Very Sharp, Very Fine, Excellent With Vintage Glass
August 6, 2025
Rollei RPX 25 is a silver-rich, sharp, fine-grained panchromatic black-and-white film. In this review, I’ll share all I’ve learned about RPX 25 over the six years I’ve used it and why I think it may look so good with old lenses like the Voigtlander Ultron 2.0 or Zeiss Tessar 2.8.
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How to Fake CineStill 800T
Testing the “CineStill Is Just Kodak Vision 3 Film Without Remjet” Myth
July 28, 2025
In the wake of Kodak’s major change to their film chemistry and a year after the 800T branding controversy, we tested the internet myth of how CineStill films are made (we made our own and compared it to the branded stock). The results were entirely unexpected. We ran our tests twice!
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Polaroid 600 in SX-70 NO Filter, NO Mods, NO Flash?
A Review of the 2024 ‘Big’ Improvements in the Polaroid B&W 600 Chemistry
July 8, 2025
After several rounds of controlled and field tests, and a short conversation with Polaroid, I’m finally ready to share my independent experiment-based findings: Does the new B&W 600 film work with unmodified Polaroid SX-70 cameras?
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Kodak Tri-X 400 Film Review
Instant Classic Kodak Grain & Contrast
July 3, 2025
Tri-X is one of Kodak’s best-recognized films that has been around for over 85 years. In this review, I’ll introduce you to the history that lends significance to this film as well as the technical aspects, like the grain structure and dynamic range, that make it an excellent choice for home and lab scanning. I will also briefly compare Kodak Tri-X to the other long-standing ISO 400 black-and-white photographer favourite, Ilford HP5+ and explain the difference between Tri-X and T-Max.
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Welcome to Karmir Film Lab in Yerevan!
A Creative Stronghold for Film Photographers in the Caucasus
June 4, 2025
An article about a film lab and a creative hub in Yerevan.
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Where to Develop, Scan, and Print Film in Bangkok
May 12, 2025
Finding the film you want in Bangkok can be a huge challenge, and if you want your transparencies or negatives scanned on something higher-end than a Noritsu or Fuji Frontier, most people will tell you it’s impossible. (Fortunately, they’re wrong!) This article covers a wide range of services: film labs for E-6, ECN-2, B&W, and C41 processing, as well as places to buy film and get film scanned.
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Kodak Vision 3 500T 5219/7219 Film Review
Shot as Stills and Developed in C-41
May 5, 2025
Though it has been designed for movies, this film sees strong popularity amongst still photographers for its tungsten-balanced colour palette, fine grain, high ISO, wide dynamic range, and great response to cross-processing. In this review, I’ll cover all the technical properties and creative possibilities of using the Kodak Vision 3 500T, compare it to CineStill 800T, and explain Kodak’s recent crackdown on the sales of this film to individual photographers.
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Where to Develop, Scan, and Print Film in Bali
May 2, 2025
Bali has quite a few film labs with a large variety of services offered by each. Here’s a non-exhaustive summary of the options, locations, prices, and notes of the labs we tried.
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“Bluescaling” Lomochrome Turquoise
Going Beyond Redscaling for the Rare, Unseen Colours on Film
April 23, 2025
Lomochrome Turquoise is a false-colour negative film designed by Lomography to render freaky orange, cobalt, and marine palettes. Out of the box, this emulsion is already incredibly unique, but it can be pushed even further for a rare and wild look.
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