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

2017...The Film Strikes Back

With the recent, head-spinning announcement by Kodak to produce Ektachrome this year, I was not prepared for the release of a new (actually, old) monochrome film from Film Ferrania.  The sample images I have seen that were shot with it are really luscious, with a pleasing richness that you'll never get from a digital.  The 80 ISO is a nice speed, as not all of us want 400 ISO films for everything.


Then, Bergger anounced that they will be releasing a 400 ISO b&w film, Pancro 400, which will be available in 35mm, 120, and 4x5! I am less familiar with Bergger, but I did know of their paper.  I wondered if the Bergger film the same as  the JCH Street Pan, which has had very good reviews, but the JCH film was made by Agfa.  I confess that I have not yet purchased any myself.

So, with these announcements, is 2017 the year when film strikes back?  It is no secret that more people have come BACK to using film, for a multitude of reasons, but I believe the most obvious reason is that film is a creative medium.  In terms of market, digital has a large hold over traditional film. However, film remains strong among those that appreciate the art of photography, the sheer joy of the process, and being in control of your image.  Not to mention, that in a world where just about everyone takes photos, film remains a tangible, physical reality that transcends time and digital resources.  I got thinking about this when I scanned in some slides from the late 1970s that I had taken with my Exa 1a SLR.  Mind you, I was using slide film, sunny-16, and never had a meter of any sort. Yet, I have some pretty decent shots from then. I didn't need any software to view them in their plastic sleeves within the binder to appreciate them.  Scanning went well, and also allowed me to do a bit of color correction. Yet, the originals are safely tucked away.

South Beech Street, Syracuse, NY Feb. 1978.

Dave Rosher with his Spotmatic, summer, 1977.

Adrienne, fall of 1978.

 I am not here to bash the digital realm -- it is a necessity of every-day communication, consumption, and path of ideas.  Without the internet and the invention of the magic of HTTP and its subsequent eruption of the web as we now know it, we would be back to using something like CompUServe (for those of you who do not know of a world without internet -- we got along just fine.)  We are a visual culture, and photography is an extension of that.  We can still use film and share online, share via printed works, share via exhibitions, and yes, share via Instagram if we so choose.

I think it would also behoove the primary SLR manufacturers to rethink their marketing strategy.  While sales of DSLRs have dropped due to the smaller size and capabilities of the mirrorless cameras, smartphones have decimated point and shoot sales.  If Nikon, Canon, and Pentax were to release at least a decent 35mm SLR again, it would be a great thing.  All Nikon has to do is manufacture the F100 again-- certainly the best AF SLR that wasn't an F5 or F6.  Canon could produce an EOS film camera (not the plastic Rebels, please), and Pentax ought to have a K1000 made once again.  Do you know how many people think the K1000 is the best student camera ever?  It amazes me.  Yes, there are a lot of used film cameras available, but having a new model would certainly not be a bad thing.

 Look at what people will pay for a cheap plastic Lomography camera.  If Joe Blow spends $500 on a 120 Lomo LC-W, he'll spend $1200 for a new Nikon film camera.

So, maybe it's time to have people petition the camera makers for new film cameras.  I don't know what more digital can offer anyone that it doesn't already.  Meanwhile, we have some new films to try out!

Edit: After writing this post, I found this post by Zorki Photo, which is a very good article.