I was in my local camera store and recently picked up a roll of Reflx Lab Pro 100 C-41 film. I have previously shot with their 400 ISO C-41 film and it was early days for Reflx Lab at that time. Now, with more experience, and more offerings, Reflx Lab is no longer some unknown little company based in China. It’s obvious that their excellent packaging (love those aluminum canisters) and approach to offering what are normally ECN-2 films with the remjet removed, as well as other the films that they carry are reaching new customers. Finding their films on the shelf at Ball Photo in Asheville was a pleasant surprise, and of course, I had to buy a few. Full disclosure here - after I had purchased the film, about a week later I received a package in the mail from Reflx Lab with 3 rolls of the Pro 100 color film and a new light meter to review. The light meter is still being evaluated, and I will have a review ready in another week or two. So, this review is based on the film that I had already purchased.
What is Reflx Lab Pro 100?
Guess what? It’s Kodak Aerocolor IV C-41 film. Before testing the film, I had seen the images of the Reflx Lab 100 Daylight film, which is the Vision 3 5203 50D film. My first thought was that the packaging had changed, but after development, it was obvious that it was the Aerocolor film because there is no information on the film rebate, and the sprocket holes are typical 35mm still sprocket holes. Side by side, with the Flic Film Elektra 100, it’s obvious that they are the same type of emulsion. Better yet, the Pro 100 is available from my local photo store, and is reasonably priced at $11.99/roll.
Loaded into the Spotmatic SP - and look at that nice little light meter from Reflx Labs |
I shot my first roll of the Pro 100 with my beautiful, black Pentax Spotmatic SP with an uncommon lens - the Vivitar 35-85mm f/2.8 zoom. I chose colorful subjects, and the resulting negatives did not disappoint me. The film was developed at Ball Photo, and I scanned it on my Epson V700 flatbed scanner. Again, the resulting scans are wonderful, with the obvious excellent characteristics of the Aerocolor IV providing vibrant images with low grain and excellent latitude.
What's not to like about the Reflx Lab Pro 100? It's affordable, has excellent color rendition, it's a true C-41 film, and is available in my local store. If you are looking for a good all-purpose medium speed color film, this is it. See my previous post about the Aerocolor IV film for more information on it, and I am glad that Reflx Lab is packaging this excellent color film.
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