KONO! Delight Art Film Review

Kono! Delight Art Film in 120 (from Kono)

KONO Manufaktur is a Germany-based company that reimagines current film stocks - or "upgrades" them according to their literature.  Typically, they have sold various 35mm color emulsions that are tinted in some way by pre-flashing them to create different color streaks and wash effects.  They call this "reanimated film".  The various 35mm color emulsions are certainly attractive for people wanting to try something a bit more esoteric. Each of the brands - Monsoon, Moonstruck, Sunstroke, Galaxy, Mirage, and Candy evoke different moods with the color palettes and effects that Kono has implemented with their "reanimation."  However, the Delight Art film is something a bit different, and is sold in 35mm and 120 rolls.

Earlier this year, I was given a roll of the Kono! Delight Art film in 120, and I finally had the chance to use it somewhere special when I was visiting Tucson, Arizona in October.  I really didn't know what to expect, but upon opening the package I could see that it was Kodak Ektar 100 with a Kono sticker on it.  I loaded my Yashicamat 124 with the roll and shot it.  I sent it to The Darkroom to be developed, and a within a week, I had my film back.  After scanning the negatives on my Epson V700 scanner, I was able to really see how the film differed from standard Ektar 100.  The images look like a warming filter was placed over the lens, as the effect tamed the bluish tendencies of Ektar 100, and colors were more yellow and warmer.  That's not a bad thing, given where and what I was shooting. However, given that the cost of a roll of the Kono Delight Art film in 120 is $25.00 and the cost of a roll of Ektar 100 is 9.70 (in a 5-roll pack), I think that if you just attach an 81A warming filter over the lens, or an 85B for a more pronounced effect, you'll get similar results and save yourself some money.

The altered colors of the Kono films are not for everyone and every situation.  Some people like the effects and others see them as gimmicky.  They do offer something different to try out, and go for it if you are so inclined.  However, the Delight Art film is priced such that you may as well experiment with color filters on regular Ektar (or any other color film) and se where that takes you.

Here are a few images from the roll that I shot in Tucson.  The effect was a good choice for the scenes there.

There's a lot of stucco/adobe in the SW, and you can find
a pleasing composition in just a doorway.

I love the way this cactus becomes the focal point

The yellow tint is more obvious with a white object

In plain Ektar, this sky would be really blue.

definitely warm

The Blue Waters of Port Huron

Almost a month ago I went on a road trip to Port Huron, MI and Sarnia, Ontario with my buddies John Baird and Marc Akemann. I finally have scanned in the second roll of Ektar 100 shot with my Minolta X700 from that day. Early April isn't the most summery weather, and it had cooled down from the record-setting March warmth of a few weeks earlier. However, it was a beautiful cloudless sky and just warm enough to not feel cold. We traipsed around the downtown a bit, and hit some of the areas along the St. Clair River. If you don't know much about Michigan, you should at least know that aside from the southern border of the lower peninsula and the south-western border of the Upper Peninsula, it is a state defined by the Great Lakes. Port Huron sits at the bottom of Lake Huron, and the St. Clair River flows S into Lake Erie. Across the water to the east is Canada. Fishing and boating are big along this corridor, and it was apparent in Port Huron. Of course, the St. Clair River is also a commercial waterway, with Great Lakes freighters coming through, and industrial areas along the shorelines of both countries near the urban centers. Like many small cities, Port Huron is not the place it was a century ago, but it seems to have held its own pretty well, and the downtown is a mix of old and new, with only a few empty storefronts. We had lunch at the Cavis Grill (really, it is more of a diner), and enjoyed our meal there.

Enough of reading. Here are some images from the morning there. All were shot with my Minolta X700 and a 24-70 lens or the 135mm lens on Kodak Ektar 100, which is a superb color print film that reminds me a great deal of Ektachrome.

Looking over towards Sarnia, Ontario. The St. Clair River really was a opalesque turquiose blue.

Waterfront property is waterfront property. You don't need a mansion to feel rich when you have a place on the waterfront.

Ring-billed gulls are ubiquitous in the Great Lakes. Yet, I love watching them and their adroit flying skills. The ones that hang around the Bridge to Bay Trail (see following images) are probably quite vigilant in watching what the people fishing are doing. There are a series of sculptures along this sidewalk, and each one had a couple of attending gulls.

There were a number of people fishing along the river, and each person had multiple rigs set up on jigs to hold them on the railing. I am not familiar with fishing laws, but I know that when I did fish, I thought one was limited to no more than two rods in the water at the same time. I asked the guys what they caught, and said they got all kinds of fish there. I didn't see any activity while we were there, but fishing is like the ultimate test of patience in my book.

No bites yet.

This guy was actually casting.

There are lots of channels and docks around Port Huron, and it is obviously a busier place in the summer months.

Well, that's it for this photo essay. It's always a different feeling when shooting film instead of digital. One is more economical with the shots, for one, and two, I think I generally put more care into the composition. Three, every film has a different characteristic, and that's what makes using it so much fun. Try some Ektar 100.

Kodak's Ektar 100 Film

For those people caliming that the "sky is falling" when it comes to the film industry, I'd like to point out that Kodak has introduced a new color (C-41) film.  Yes, Kodak -- the same company that seems to be bipolar at times - are they a digital or a film company?  They are a photographic company (which is what they need to stress), and it's nice to see them come out with a new film.  Kodak claims that it's the finest-grained color print film, very saturated, easily scanned, and sharp .  It's taken a while to get some -- it was introduced at Photokina in Europe, and has only very recently been available in the US.    I have been looking forward to trying some out, and I ordered 4 rolls from B&H (see link at bottom of the blog page).  I shot one roll last weekend  when I was on a trip to Grand Rapids with four other Crappy Camera Club members to see the Richard Avedon exhibit at the Grand Rapids Art Museum.  I used my Nikon N80 and a 24-120 Nikkor AF-D lens.

Impressions -- First of all, Ektar 100 is a very fine-grained film that is purported to replace the UC-100 film (Ultra Color).  The ISO is 100, but I have seen online posts that indicate one might want to overexpose slightly (set meter to ISO 80).  Second, the film looks a lot more like results from Ektachrome .  Very sharp, contrasty, and saturated.   I took my roll to Ritz Camera yesterday for develop only and scan to CD.   After I opened up the images in Paint Shop Pro (the latest version is Ultimate X2), they seemed to be too contrasty, so I adjusted the curves, and after that, they all looked quite nice.  So, that may be just a matter of the Ritz scanner not yet being calibrated for this film.  However, the color saturation reminds me somewhat of results I have gotten from a LOMO camera.  Not necessarily a bad thing, IMHO.    The photos looked fine.  In fact, they really did remind me of slides that I have shot in the past.  Kodak acknowledges (on their web site) that Ektar 100 may replace E-6 films for users that like the look, but can only get C-41 processing where they live.  

The film is also designed to be easier to scan, but I haven't tried scanning it myself as yet.  When I get some time this weekend, I may do that.   Overall, I like the film so far -- it's really so superior to the C-41 films that I typically shoot (Kodak Gold and Fuji Superia), that I may decide it's worth the extra cost for a "pro" C-41 film.    Right now I have another roll in my Olympus RC camera, with the ISO set at 80.  I look forward to seeing more results!

Links to Ektar Information:

• Kodak's Q&A 
• Kodak's Ektar 100 page
• Discussion on Photo.net
• Also available at Freestyle!

I'm encouraged that Kodak is producing new films and improving the technology.  Someone there knows that film still has a future.