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.