FPP X-Ray 120 film

While there are a lot of exotic emulsions that are available for 35mm, there are significantly fewer options for 120 film.  So, imagine my surprise when I saw a 120 film that’s NOT available in 35mm.  The Film Photography Project has recently released FPP X-RAY 120 film that is a 100 ISO high-contrast orthochromatic film that can be developed in typical black and white chemicals.  

I really didn’t know what to think when I first realized that it was called an X-ray film, as I am used to seeing films sold as sheet film - and with the other oddball things like some x-ray films being coated on both sides, and of very low ISO ratings.  This IS NOT one of those films.  For one, it’s on a PET base, and has a recommended ISO of 100, though I have seen where it could be rated up to 400 with decent results.  Second, like other X-ray films, it’s orthochromatic, and is insensitive to red light, so you could develop it under a red safelight.   It has no anti-halation layer, so it’s best to load the film in subdued light, or you might get light piping.

Zeiss Ikon Box Tengor

I’m game for oddball films, and I had no preconceived notions about this film.  I loaded one roll into a Zeiss Ikon Box Tengor 56 box camera, and the other roll into my Yashicamat 124.  The choice to use it in the box camera was a spur of the moment thing, when I was out having a beer or two with my friend Bill Pivetta.  Maybe a bad idea, but as you’ll see, maybe not.

The Yashicamat is a camera that would be a good test for this film, since I have excellent control over my exposures.  I rated the film at ISO 100, and used the TLR’s built-in meter.  I shot most of that roll at an Asheville camera group meetup on April 16, and that was a better test of this film.

I developed both rolls in D-96 for 6.5 minutes at 20°C, and probably 6 minutes would have been just fine, as well.  I was just aiming for what I thought might be a good well-developed negative, given that the instructions read 6 min in D-76.

Results

Zeiss Ikon Box Tengor

Beach Volleyball at the Highland Brewery meadow 

Great mural in West Asheville, featuring Dolly and RuPaul

The results from the Box Tengor were actually pretty good, though some of the shots were overexposed.  There’s also a bit of "blooming"in some of those images, because of the uncoated lens, as well as the overexposure.  I picked two of the best 6x9 cm negatives.

Yashicamat 124

That's Reuben's Yashicamat 124.

Thanks for posing, Emily!

 Luckily, Emily stopped by at our meeting, and while she’s a photographer, she is also an  art model, so she posed for a few shots at the Wedge Brewery, and I was able to test the remainder of the roll of the X-ray film under somewhat cloudy bright conditions.  

Over near Craggy Gardens off the Blue Ridge Parkway

The results from the Yashicamat were very good, and it’s obvious that the film is very fine-grained, with great tonal range -- and orthochromatic, as reds are very dark.  The detail was excellent. I need to buy some more rolls of this film and really test it with different lighting situations and subjects.

Overall, I think this a film with the potential to create some very interesting images.  I love the packaging from the FPP (which of course has nothing to do with selecting this film!), and the film has edge markings for frame numbers.  The backing paper has very easily seen black markings on a white background, so for those of you that use a red window to line up your exposures, it will be easy to line up to the proper spot for each exposure.  I think this might be a fun film to use in a Holga on a sunny day.  For the Box Tengor, the shutter speed is about 1/30 sec, which in full sun, even at f/16, would be overexposed by two stops.  You can’t use a red filter, because it’s an ortho film.  A neutral density gel would possibly work well with a simple box camera in full sun. 

One Roll Review - FPP's Sun Color C-41 film

One Under the Sun

Leave it to Mike Raso of the Film Photography Project to come up with yet another interesting low-ISO film.  Not Yeti, but a C-41 color film called Sun Color.  When I was in Cleveland, Ohio for our FPP recording sessions, Mike handed me a couple of rolls to try out.  It's not my first rodeo with super slow films, as you well know by now.  However, a C-41 film with an ISO of 1 isn't something that comes along every day.  In keeping with its name, I chose a super sunny day here in North Carolina to give my first roll a test.  I loaded the Sun Color into my Nikon FM2N, and went for a stroll through part of the Asheville River Arts District, which I have found to be an excellent spot to shoot test rolls - especially color film.

I should point out that with an ISO of 1, my camera's meter system does not allow me to go below 12.  Since the FM2N is completely manual, I chose to use Sunny-16 with my Sun Color.  To break that down to shoot handheld, remember that  Sunny-16 is the ISO = shutter speed at f/16 in full sun, which means that if I shot Sunny 1 at f/16, I'd need a 1-second exposure.  Well, that's not going to work handheld, is it?  So, using my fingers to count, 1 sec @ f/16, equals f/2.8 @1/30 sec. - 5 stops opened from f/16.  Assuming that since it's a C-41 film, it should have some latitude, I can just walk around shooting at 1/30 at f/2.8-f/4 in full sun and get reasonable  results.  I could also use my iPhone light meter app, but I went with my Sunny-16 mojo and shot the roll handheld as I walked around.  

Here's the great reason to use an ultra-low ISO film -- you can shoot wide open if you want to, in full sun, and reap the benefit of shallow depth of field - especially for close objects and portraits.  I didn't do any portraits that day, but maybe with my second roll, I will.

I developed the Sun Color in my FPP C-41 kit - the original two-step kit, and was pleased to see the film looked quite good as I hung it up to dry.  It's a special-purpose cine film, since it has the slightly rounded sprocket holes characteristic of cine 35mm film.  Not being an ECN-2 film, it can be developed at a lab without any problems.  

The yellow walls - beige-ish.

Supposed to be the colors of Ukraine

My results

As you can see in the photos, colors are muted in the color chart, and while green and red red show, yellow seems to come out as white or very, very pale yellow, as seen with the photo of the blue and yellow shipping containers. Yet, the traffic sign neon yellow show up!  Blues are more cyan, and orange is muddy, but still, the colors are somewhat unpredictable, which means more fun. I rank this film in the same league as some of the Lomo experimental films - it's going to surprise you and still delight you with the results.  

These mailboxes are bright orange and yellow.

Overall, I am really pleased with the results from this unique film.   Don't be afraid of shooting with low-ISO films - they offer a different set of challenges, to be sure.  Whether you shoot color or black and white, low-ISO films can really change your game when it comes to street photography.  Going handheld isn't a problem on a sunny day, and I do recommend a tripod for overcast and certainly evening shots.  I don't know how this film would do for city lights at night, but it's gong to be long exposures, for sure!  I suggest you start out with Sun Color on a sunny day, and see where it takes you.

One Roll Review - Silberra S25 b&w film

This post has been a while in the making.  I originally received a roll of the S25 back in January 2021, for my donation to the Indiegogo campaign by Silberra in 2017.  I shot that that roll in October 2021, while in Arizona. However, instead of having the FM3A in A mode, I had accidentally set the shutter speed dial to 1/4000 sec, and for some idiotic reason, I was not paying attention to what the camera was doing/showing and was snapping away until I realized my folly.  That has to be the most bone-headed thing I have done in my years of photography.  Needless to say, there was not much in the way of recoverable images on that roll.  In November of that year, I found that Blue Moon Camera had a supply of the Silberra films, so I ordered a roll of the S25, 50 b&w films, and 50 ISO color film (which I have yet to shoot).   A few weeks ago, I finished up the S25 roll in Cleveland while there for the FPP recording sessions, as well as the Beers and Camera meetup.  

What is Silberra S25?

 Silberra, a Russian company based in St. Petersburg (I can only assume they are still in business, but with the war on Ukraine I doubt they are getting purchases from the US), came onto the scene in 2017, and launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise money for their production of b&w films.  Their website silberra.com is still active, so I assume that they are still selling their products.  

Silberra S25 film is a slow, ISO 25 black and white film with high resolution, super low grain, medium contrast, and extended red sensitivity.  The beauty of an ISO 25 film is that you can shoot with it in daylight with wide apertures to achieve that beautiful separation of foreground from the background.  My favorite low-speed panchromatic film was Kodak’s Panatomic-X, which I usually shot at ISO 25.  Agfa’s APX 25 was another classic slow film, and more about that later.  Just about the finest-grained (as in no grain) was Kodak’s Technical Pan film, which at ISO 25, also has an extended red sensitivity.  I still have a lot of Tech Pan, but the problem with that film is that it requires a special low-contrast developer to achieve the proper gray middle tones.  With APX 25 (and it’s successor, Rollei RPX 25), as swell as the Silberra S25, D-76 can be used for the developer.  That’s an important aspect for most users - easily obtained developers.

I shot my latest roll of S25 with my Minolta Maxxum 7000 - which I use with an M-42 adapter to take advantage of those delightful Super -Takumar lenses from Pentax.  I call it my Spotmatic with a motorized film advance.  Used in Aperture-Priority mode, it becomes a great camera for M-42 lenses (in manual aperture, not auto aperture).  I developed the film in D76 1:1 for 6.5 minutes, water stop, and normal fixing.  One thing I should note about the film - it was sold in one of those plastic reloadable cassettes, which is the first time I have seen that from a vendor. There were no edge markings on the film.

Results - Here are some images from the roll of Silberra S25. All were scanned on my Epson V700, with minor adjustments in Corel Paint Shop Pro.

I am quite pleased with the results.  When there is a great deal of contrast in a scene, the shadows are quite dense, and for some, that can be a bonus.  When there is less contrast, the film seems to have great latitude, and very pleasing tonality.  The film base is polyester, and there are no edge markings.  It’s said that the film is one of the Agfa Aviphot surveillance films, which it certainly may be.  It is also quite similar to the Rollei RPX-25, which has similar characteristics.  I reviewed the RPX 25 in February, 2020.  

Anyhow, I enjoy shooting low-iso films, such as this.  I get results that are different from the typical ISO 100 and 400 films that I normally shoot with.  Since these are panchromatic films, they can be used with yellow or red filters to achieve more dramatic results, and since I have shot the last of my Silberra b&w film, I have ordered some RPX 25 to test further.  To me, that’s the beauty of film - different emulsions can give so very different results using the same camera and lens.

One Roll Review - Ferrania Orto 50

 

Before modern-day panchromatic b&w film emulsions appeared, film was orthochromatic - sensitive to the blue part of the spectrum, but insensitive to red.    Wet-plate photographers still deal with this, and their images have a special look that while retro, are modern.    Likewise, modern orthochromatic emulsions - and there are a few - are geared towards a special use as in 35mm cine applications, or like the ortho emulsions from Ilford, Rollei, and now Ferrania - offer a special look that panchromatic films cannot.     

Ferrania has been producing their P30 panchromatic film since late 2017, which was a bit of a surprise for the backers hoping for an E-6 film. However, as in my 2018 review of the P30, I liked the black and white film, which said to be an old-school emulsion with rich blacks and wonderful tonality.  The film certainly gained a fan.    Moving to 2023, Ferrania has just announced their Orto 50 orthochromatic black and white film.    I was given a test roll by the Film Photography Project  to see how this film looks.   

From Ferrania’s web site, here is their description of Orto 50: "In the earliest days of silent cinema, film stock was blue-sensitive or orthochromatic. Hollywood relied on cosmetics as a "corrective" for on-screen actors. One hundred years later, the very "flaws" that plagued our predecessors are now the creative features that distinguish orthochromatic films today." This is a true statement - orthochromatic films are definitely for those that want a unique look to their images, as reds turn into dark tones in this film. I don’t usually shoot people in my photography, but if you do, ortho films give an old-time look to portraits. In addition, these low-iso ortho films are fine-grained and great for architecture and many landscapes.    In urban settings, they give a contrasty old-school look to images, and that’s why I love to shoot with them.

Ferrania recommends that you shoot this film at box speed, ISO 50. That holds true for other Ortho films, such as Ilford Ortho Plus (ISO 80), and Rollei Ortho 25.  Shoot at box speed!

I loaded the film into my Pentax Spotmatic SP II with a 55mm f/1.8 Super-Takumar lens, and headed out on a walk along Haywood Road in West Asheville.    It’s a great place to test any film, with colorful murals, store fronts, bars, and many signs.  It was a good test for this film on a wonderfully sunny day.

I developed the film in FPP D-96 for 8 minutes, as recommended by Ferrania. I used constant agitation for the first minute, and then agitated for 15 seconds, stopped for 15 seconds, and repeated that until the 8 minutes was up.    Water stop, and 8 minutes in fixer.   As soon as I hung the film to dry, I knew that I’d be happy with my results.

red is very black with this film, as it is insensitive to it.

Lots of blue tones here, so they are lighter