KONO! Color 400 Film

Several months ago I stopped by my local camera store, Ball Photo, in Asheville.  I purchased some different color films since they were there on the shelf, and of course, they were something that I’d not tried before.  One of the films was a two-pack of Kono! Color 400, which has been described by the manufacturer as:

“KONO Color 400 Color Negative Film is a modern interpretation of a classic German color negative film and provides excellent tonal range, as well as a wide exposure latitude. This versatile film has a nominal sensitivity of ISO 400/27° and can be developed in any lab using C-41 chemistry.”

I loaded a roll into my Chinon CS-4 and used a Vivitar 35-85/2.8 zoom, which is a rather rare lens these days.  It definitely weighs more than the camera, pictured above with a Yashinon DX 50mm/1.4 lens.  I spent a few hours over in the River Arts District of Asheville, photographing around the French Broad River, back in March.  A week ago I finally got around to developing all my exposed color films in an FPP color chemistry (ECN-2) kit.  So, now it’s time to discuss my results.  I scanned the negatives with my Epson V700 scanner.

The greenish film base looks like Orwo NC500

I-240 bridge

Waiting for the Kudzu to burst forth

railroad trestle over the French Broad

White Duck Taco remains closed since Hurricane Helene

I-240 bridge

any vertical surface seems to attract graffiti

the old Asheville Paper Recycling facility

Now, in the past, I’ve shot a couple of different Kono! labeled films and the current ones in their catalog are certainly interesting, due to their range of color implementations.  This film, however, is awfully similar to the Orwo Wolfen NC 500.  Since it’s stated that the film is made in Germany, I am pretty sure that’s what it is.  The greenish base of the film certainly looks the same. The muted colors are also obvious.  If you were expecting something like Kodacolor 400, this film isn’t it.  Much like Lomochrome Metropolis and NC 500, there is a muted look to most of the colors.  Now that’s not a bad thing.  In our current era of everything being super-saturated, maybe being somewhat muted is a good option.  The film isn’t exactly fine-grained, and that can be a plus with the right subject, but the grain isn’t bad, either.  

I think it’s a film worth trying out if you are looking for something different.  I’ll shoot the second roll this summer, with different colorful subjects and see what I get. I’ll know what to expect though, and that will affect my choice of what I shoot.

Hi-Wire Brewery

Hi-Wire loading dock

Building the covered pickleball courts at Hi-Wire

If you like the muted color palette of this film, then it certainly could be the film for you.

C-4 Yourself...the results are in.

 Results from the Argus C-4

Back in mid-February I wrote a little post on the Argus C-4, and I finally finished the roll of Eastman 5231 that I'd loaded.  It was great to give that camera some use, as I am pretty sure that I haven't used it in almost a decade. Here are a few examples of the scans from the roll.  Overall, I'm pretty happy with the results.  The Eastman 5231 is a great match for this camera.  While it's a cine film, it's pretty much the same as Plus-X.  Developed in D96.

Bill Pivetta outside of our local camera store.

People fishing below the destroyed Craig Lake Dam on the Swannanoa River in East Asheville.
Hurricane Helene's damage is still quite evident. 

Resilience of nature.

I-240 bridge over the French Broad River

Rail trestle over the French Broad river

Good results from one of the best cameras produced by Argus!

First Results from the Chinon CS-4

 As previously posted, this is my second Chinon CS-4.  Of course, there's more to testing it than knowing that the meter and shutter is working properly.  How does the camera feel in the hand when using it? How easy it is to use the stop-down metering button?  Does the film move easily through the camera? That's why film-testing a camera is important.  Too many cameras are sold on eBay that are not film-tested.  Many are sold as-is, or as "un-tested." Granted, there are a lot of sellers out there that don't know a damn thing about photography, let alone how a camera ought to perform.  Leaving all that behind for a moment, let's just see how THIS camera performed.

I started with a roll of Tasma NK-II from the Film Photography Project. The Tasma film is a panchromatic b&w film on a tough polyester base, with an ISO of 100.  I used it because it was a 24-exposure roll, and also because it was one of the rolls that I picked up in November. So, onward.  If I am trying out a camera for the first time, I often go into my Libre Office program and type up a description as shown below:

That gets photographed on the first frame or so of the roll so that I know exactly that information if I end up waiting some time to develop the film.  In this case though, I finished the roll of Feb. 6, and developed it the same day -- which is not usual for me.  I took a short trip to the River Arts District (RAD) of Asheville, which is a great place to test cameras and film.  The RAD is still recovering from the flood/Helene of September, 2024.  Some places have reopened after much restoration/renovation, and other are either erased, or in need of major repairs.  Some of these photos show that.

This mural is on the now closed French Broad Outfitters in Riverside Drive.

Alien landers or fermentation tanks? On Foundy Street.

This area was well-known for the street art. Most of it disappeared after Helene. Some is new.

Part of the building below.

I do not think this one will be rebuilt.

That Dell went to hell.

There will be more piles of bricks

Bad views from the inside and out.

Nature finds a way.  I've always been interested in nature reclaiming our abandoned places.

What is now a field used to be a series of low buildings used to store recycled materials. That place used to look like this image below, taken a few years before Helene.

2022, Nikon F4, Eastman 2374 film

Present day, waiting for reconstruction

Whodat?  

Using the Chinon CS-4 is a breeze.  The stop-down metering is not a problem, as it works much like a Pentax Spotmatic, except there are red/green LEDs that show up in your peripheral vision as you look through the view finder.  Pretty much like a +/- in the viewfinder.  The Tasma NK-2 was developed in HC-110B for 10 minutes, and it is a really sharp film with good tonality.    A successful outing, and just as I was pretty much done, a squall line came in and it started to rain.  

This camera is a keeper in my M42 arsenal, and I look forward to  using it more.  

Kodak's Signet 50 - 1950s retro

 

The OG Signet - Signet 35

Kodak's line of Signet-branded cameras began in 1951 with the introduction of the Signet 35, which replaced the ugly as hell Kodak 35 camera.  The Signet 35 was a stylish camera, with a nice 44mm f/3.5 Ektanar lens ins a Synchro 300 shutter. Compared to the Argus C3, the Signet 35 was far superior in aesthetics, size, and ease of use.  The only drawback of the Signet 35 was the tiny viewfinder.  It was a true rangefinder focus camera, and its compactness was its strength.  However, over time many examples of the Signet 35 have sticky shutters.  As do many lens-shutter cameras from over 60 years ago!

The follow-up camera, the Signet 40 (https://randomphoto.blogspot.com/2022/12/kodaks-signet-40-camera.html) appeared in 1956, with a more Art Moderne style, an Ektanon 44mm f/3.5 lens and a maximum shutter speed of 1/400 sec.  I think it's one of Kodak's most beautiful 35mm cameras.  The rangefinder patch is easy to see, and the camera is a real joy to use.

The Signet 50

The Signet 30 and Signet 50, introduced in 1957, feature a bottom-mounted film advance lever (single-stroke), A Kodak 44mm f/2.8 Ektanar lens, a bright-frame viewfinder, and alas, no rangefinder.  Quite different in appearance from the earlier models, they have that late 1950s "modern" design.  The body is largely Bakelite with aluminum fittings.  Both cameras use Exposure Values to set the shutter speeds/apertures. The Signet 30 lacks any meter, but the Signet 50 does have a Selenium meter.  The biggest change may be that the shutter is internally cocked (only when film is loaded) when you advance the film.  Earlier models required a separate operation to cock the shutter on the outside of the lens mount, just as the Kodak Pony models, which were the "low end" of Kodak's 35mm cameras line.

The Signet 50 is an attractive camera, and has a very nice, sharp lens.  After you press the shutter, a little "WIND" reminder pops up in the viewfinder.  The Selenium meter in my example reacts to light, but its not at all accurate.  Typically, one would set the EV number to what the needle points to on the meter that;s viewed on the top deck of the camera.  While I'm not a fan of the EV system, it's genius lies in the fact that once you select an EV, it locks in the combination of shutter speeds of apertures that give the same EV. So, say the EV is 14, which could be 1/250 sec at f/8 or 1/125 at f/11, or 1/60 at f/16, or 1/30 at f/22.  Hasselblad used this EV system on some of their lenses, and Kodak used it on some Retina models, too.  If your handheld meter has an EV reading, that's also helpful to use with this camera.  Of course, you can set the EV on the lens barrel to anything you want, but those speeds and apertures are locked into that EV number.  To an experienced photographer, it's a pain in the butt.

The Signet 30 and 50 models feature a slot on the back for Kodak's Exposure Cards. These are small laminated cards that feature EV numbers for a particular Kodak film with the light conditions shown.  They were also used on the Pony IV camera. 

In use, the Signet 50 is quite easy to work with, especially if the light isn't changing much in the course of using it. The viewfinder is big and a pleasure to use. I loaded the camera with a roll of Rollei Retro 80s, and shot with it one afternoon in September in the River Arts District of Asheville - my testing ground for cameras.  The zone focus on the Signet 50 is easy to work with, and if the Selenium meter were working, it would be sensitive from ASA 10-400.  Given that the maximum shutter speed is 1/250 sec, that's a decent range of sensitivity.  There is a cold shoe on the top of the camera, so you could use a small modern light meter there.   

I should add that there is a Series V filter ring on the front

Note, and this bears repeating, if you find one of these cameras, you need to have film in it to test the shutter! You can find the manual online at the usual place - https://www.butkus.org/chinon/ and don't forget to pay Mike for his valuable service.

Results

The Rollei Retro 80s is a contrasty film, and I was very happy with the results from the Signet 50.  The negatives were scanned on my Epson V700.

My favorite street art in the RAD.

If you find a nice working example of a Signet 30 or 50, it would certainly be worthwhile to buy it. Load it with a roll of Kodak Gold 200 and see what that 1950s technology does for you.

Candido 200 = Kodak Vision 200T

 Well, it's my first post for 2025, and it's about film - imagine that!  In the fall I picked up a roll of Candido 200 C-41 film from my local camera store, Ball Photo.  I hadn't read anything about it previously, and finally gave it a try in mid-November.  Before I delve into what I shot, and my comments about the film, let's see who "Candido" is.

Candido is a Portugal-based seller of  repackaged  ECN-2 films.  Their aim is to offer lower-cost color negative film, which is a noble thing, but perhaps the cost is only lower in Portugal.  They have attractive, simple designs for their packaging, and offer three films - 200, 400, and 800 ISO.  All are Kodak Vision 3 films with the remjet removed, ala Cinestill.  I've see older Reddit posts about the Candido 200 in 24 exp. cassettes, which may have kept the cost per roll down, but by the time you add in processing, it's actually more expensive per frame.  The packaging states that it's "designed in London, packaged in China."  Film is of course, from the USA.  So, I'm not sure how the Portugal/London/China/USA thing came about, but I do know that some Chinese companies have figured out how to remove the remjet from the ECN-2 films, and perhaps that's the crucial part of all of this.  

If you have been using Cinestill -branded color  films, you have been using ECN-2 films that are typically rated at a 2/3 stop higher than the native ISO of the particular Vision 3 film with remjet.  Now, I don't agree that removing the remjet makes the film more sensitive - that's Cinestill's claim, for what it's worth.

The Candido 200 color film is Eastman 5213 -Vision 3 200T ECN-2 film with the remjet removed.  Now, it's strange that they don't suggest a warming filter with this film, since it needs one for the proper color balance.  However, I just shot it as if it were a normal color fil, like most of the people would  that buy this film. Note that it is in a metal cassette, which is nice to see.

I loaded my Nikon N80 with the roll of Candido 200, and shot the entire roll while on an afternoon meetup with the Asheville Camera Club in downtown Asheville on November 17.  I eventually dropped it off at Ball Photo in Asheville to get it developed.  Here is the sheet of negatives:

Here are some examples from the roll... no adjustments or corrections.

The images look pretty good, and I did not see residual remjet spots in the scans, which is a good thing.  If you are selling this as a C-41 film, then that has to be done well.  The Vision 3 200T film is one that I have shot quite a bit of, and it's fine-grained.  Colors look good, and I can make them warmer post-scan, if necessary.  You can see halation in the images with bright lights. 

I paid more for this roll of film than I have for Ektar 100, so for me, it's not really a cheaper alternative to say, Gold 200 or Fuji 200, which are good every-day films. Is this film worth it?  I suppose it depends on where you live, and what access you have to color film stocks.  As a re-packaged film, there are other brands out there for less money, so do your research.  

Anyhow, 2025 is here, so get out there and shoot some film.