One Roll Review - Kodak Vision3 50D film

image courtesy of the FPP 

If you have been following the Film Photography Project or Cinestill, you have undoubtedly heard about the Eastman Kodak Vision films. The Vision3  films are ECN-2 process color negative films designed for movie-making.  Each film is designed for a particular need, and there are daylight (D) and tungsten (T) versions to impart the proper color palette and balance for the movie filming.  As they are designed to be used in cine cameras, the film has a remjet layer on the base side, to allow lubrication of the film in the movie cameras.  Remjet is a layer of mostly fine carbon.  ECN-2 process removes the remjet layer in the processing sequence.   There are subtle differences between ECN-2 and C-41 processes, and if you wish to process the Vision films you can do it yourself in a C-41 kit.  What you can’t do is send the film to a lab that does not do ECN-2.  Don’t try and trick your local lab, either. You will be persona non-grata when they realize that your roll of film contaminated their chemistry.  When you develop it yourself the best way to remove the remjet is before the processing steps, not after.  I use water at the same temp as the developer - 39°C.  I dissolve 1 tsp of Sodium bicarbonate in 500ml of water and presoak the film in it -- shaking it vigorously like a cocktail shaker.  Shake for 30 seconds, stopping to burp the gas released from the tank.  Pour out the water - it will be gray with the dislodged carbon from the remjet layer. Refill with water at the same temp and shake vigorously for 10 sec and pour out the water. Repeat until the water looks clear.  Then, continue with the C-41 processing. After the stabilizer step at the end, wipe the base side with a microfiber cloth to remove any remaining remjet.  You can elect to remove the remjet after processing, but you'll end up with more carbon in your chemistry than doing it beforehand.

Who sells it?
Cinestill has already treated their films to remove the remjet before you shoot them.  Of course, that figures into the price of their film.  The Film Photography Project Store  sells the Vision Films just as they are (in 24 exposure rolls), without any remjet removal.  That brings the price down, but you will have to send your film to an ECN-2  lab like Blue Moon Camera or do it yourself.

A while back, I picked up some Vision 50D from the FPP, and finally finished the roll in my Yashica FX-7 Super back in October.

My Results

Kodak’s Vision3 50D film is daylight-balanced for 5500K sunlight.  It’s a rather slow film at ISO 50, but the consequence of that is that it is practically grainless!  It’s a wonderful film that renders colors - especially the greens, in a very true to life manner.   I have used other Vision3 films - 100T, 500T, and 250D.  Of all of these, I like the results from the 50D the best.   There is a Flickr group for the Vision3 films.

If you look carefully at the images below, you can see some lines and markings where I didn't get all of the carbon removed before I scanned the negatives.  That can be remedied by using one the Pec film cleaning pads. Remember to only treat the base side, not the emulsion!

shade, at Knight's Restaurant

morning sun on chairs, Jones Mansion

Mural in Holly, MI

Holly, MI

Holly, MI

Bev, in shade

Adrienne, in shade

sunlit interior, Jones Mansion FPP meetup, August

window light, Holly, MI

Holly, MI

I asked Mike Raso about how the 50D fares in comparison to the other Vision films at the FPP store, and he said that the 50D doesn't get any love, as everyone seems to want the 500T.  Well, I love this film.   The Vision3 50D is a fantastic, nearly grainless color negative film with lovely color rendition. 

ONE ROLL REVIEW - FPP's Emulsion-X film

I had originally meant to put this review up many months ago, but it was delayed by many things.  The reasons will become clear as I progress through the post.  The Film Photography Project's "Emulsion-X" is just as the name describes, an unknown film stock.  Sold as a B&W film rated at ISO 100, it was offered for those of us wanting a challenge.    Back in April, I shot one roll with my Yashica FX-7 Super while on a walk in Ann Arbor's Argo park.   I developed the film in XTOL for 8 minutes at 20°C.  When I looked at the wet film, I wasn't sure if it had even developed, as one side was sort of a gray-green and seemed opaque.  After it had hung and dried, I looked again, and holding it up to the light, I could see faint purplish images, even though it certainly looked opaque unless held up to the light.  What the hell is this film?  It was also very much curled (cupped) from side to side.  There was no way that I was going to be able to scan it, so I cut the negatives into strips and put them into a plastic preserver sheet, and set that aside under some books to flatten them out.

nothing to see here!

oh wait, yes there is.

Well, I forgot all about that sheet of negatives, and just the other day I found them. Now, they seemed flat enough, so I loaded them into the V700 scanner and scanned away.  There was just a tiny bit of cupping, but the film flattened enough for some decent scans, which I did as b&w, at 2400 dpi.  If you looked at the negative strips, they did not look any different than back in April, but sure enough, the negatives scanned fine as b&w.  The film base seems thicker than most films, and sure is not at all like the thin polyester film bases that we see from Svema.  I really am curious.  Is it a color film gone bad?  Maybe I should try a roll in C-41 chemistry, just for the heck of it. 

Anyhow, the film still is mysterious.  The scans came out far better than I had hoped, and while the film is odd (okay, it's just plain weird), I managed to get something from it.  That is the fun is trying something out of the ordinary.   Yes, it is grainy, but there has to be someone out there thinking "this film is for me!"  I would not use it for anything important, but for an interesting "look," it has its appeal.  At ISO 100, you won't need a tripod  for typical daylight shooting.  Here are some selections from that roll of film.

Overall, not too shabby for an unknown film with a mystery past!  

ONE ROLL REVIEW - Lomochrome Purple XR 100-400

Earlier this year, I was able to purchase a roll of LomoChrome Purple from the Film Photography Project store. For those that are not familiar with this film, it's a C-41 color film that is rated at 100-400 ISO, with the results looking much like a color infrared film.  However, it's not an IR film, but an emulsion that is definitely quite unusual and enables some creative imagery.

Lomography 's LomoChrome Purple XR 100-400 comes in 35mm cassettes and 120 rolls - when it is available.  Like some other Lomography films, it sells out quickly when it is announced. My previous review of LomoChrome Turquoise was based on the only roll I was able to obtain, and that was such an interesting film to experiment with that I wish I'd had a few more. After shooting the one roll of LomoChrome Purple, I wish I had purchased 10 rolls.  This is definitely a fun film to shoot with.  Greens turn to purples and red, blue skies go cyan, and other predictable color shifts and contrast changes occur depending on what ISO you shoot with. Since it is not an IR film, you do not need any filters to get the IR-like effects.

I loaded my Yashica FX-7 Super with a roll while on a trip to Oregon, back in late May.  I set my ISO at 200, figuring it was the best choice, based on the reading I had done.  I shot about half of the roll at the Portland Japanese Garden, and the other half while visiting the famous Multnomah Falls, not that far from Portland. I really did not know what my results would be like, and the exposed film sat in my darkroom for a few months until I got around to doing a bunch of C-41 processing.

After developing, I saw that the film does not have the typical orange base color of a typical C-41 film.  The negatives looked odd, as they should, since this film has strange, but predictable color shifts.   I scanned them with my Epson V700 scanner, and here are some examples from the roll of film:

Obviously, this film isn't for everyone.  Some will deride it because "things don't look that way."  I find it to a lot of fun to shoot with, giving a pleasing and less intense result than from color IR.  The problem is that the film usually is not on the shelves very long, and sells out within a short time.   I should have bought a few more rolls at the outset, and I hope that Lomography runs another batch soon.  The beauty of this and similar films is that it's all done in the camera, not via digital trickery.  In fact, I am not sure one could do this easily in a digital camera.  With the LomoChrome purple -- just point and shoot!

Readying for Portland

I am looking forward to going to Portland, Oregon for a week.  The Pacific NW is one area of the USA that I have not yet visited, and I have been doing my research for the trip.  While Portland is known for the rain, the weather outlook is mostly sunny all week, which has its merits, for sure.  Of course, I am packing my Tamrac camera backpack (I purchased it at Central camera in Chicago about 16 years ago) with gear for the trip.  I am bringing my Nikon N80 because it's a lot lighter than my F100. Lenses -- 50mm Nikkor, 20mm Nikkor, and 24-120 Nikkor.  The 20mm lens is fantastic, and of course, the 24-120mm is a very good all-around travel lens.  It has served me well over the years.
I may also pack my Tamron 90mm macro lens, depending on how well it all fits.   I debated on also bringing a manual Nikon FE or FG, and decided instead to bring the Yashica FX-7 Super because it's light, works great, and is a pretty nice walk-about camera with good glass.  Having used it a lot over the past month, I am pleased with how it handles and just feels right. It's most likely to be used walking around the city, and filled with b&w film.  We'll be renting a car, so of course the Oregon coast is a sure trip, as well as the Columbia River gorge, etc.

I'll be packing my new Manfrotto "BeFree" travel tripod in my checked bag, and after having tried it out a few times locally, I know it will be an excellent camera support.  I am also bringing a Holga, Lomo Sprocket Rocket, and the venerable Olympus Trip 35.  All are cameras that I know will give me something different.

As far as film goes, 10 rolls of Fuji Provia 100,  lots of Kodak TMax 400, Ilford HP-5+, and some C-41 and specialty films such as FPP Infrachrome and Mr. Brown.  I know I'll be seeing lots of waterfalls, and Mr. Brown will be just the thing for those long exposures.

Other items - lens cleaning cloth, cable release (which the N80 accepts), quick-release plates, notebooks, some short pieces of gaffer tape, various filters, including a graduated ND filter, and business cards all go into the pack.  An empty collapsed small camera bag will go into my checked luggage for when I am just doing things in the city and don't need to carry the backpack.

I thought about just bringing my Nikon D300 and a few lenses, but the APS-C sensor won't give me the benefit  of the 20mm f/2.8 Nikkor.  Just in case, I am bringing a Nikon Coolpix S600 which fits into a pocket. While my iPhone SE does a pretty good job with snaps, the little digicam has a better range of focal lengths.

Onward!

Yashica Fun - The FX-7 Super

It has been a while since I have shot with a Yashica SLR.   My experience with them to this point, was with the older M-42 screw-mount cameras, most notably the TL Electro X.

I recently came into possession of a very nice and refurbished Yashica FX-7 Super.  I certainly wasn't looking to expand into the realm of Contax/Yashica mount cameras (C/Y), but this one looked so beautiful that I had to have it for a while and try it out.  After doing some online research, I discovered that the FX series of cameras were made by Chinon (who also made the Canon T-60, Nikon FM-10, and numerous other low-end 35mm SLRs).  This is after Kyocera took on the Yashica brand.  I used to own a (Kyocera) Contax G1 rangefinder, and while it had many attributes that I liked, it was slow with the AF, and the top LCD was exhibiting bleeding. However, the Zeiss Planar 45mm T* lens was excellent. 

With Kyocera taking on the Contax marque, they of course, released some very fine 35mm SLRs under the Contax name, all with lovely Zeiss T* lenses.  Meanwhile, the Yashica bodies, aimed for a lower price point, came with Yashica-branded lenses. Mine has Yashica ML 50mm f/2.  The beauty is that the two brands shared the same C/Y mount, meaning that a lightweight, inexpensive body could have a fine Planar T* lens on it. That is certainly one attraction for the FX bodies.

My FX-7 Super has been recovered in dark blue leatherette by a previous owner, and new foam seals installed.  The camera is in excellent condition.  As a small SLR, it has the following features:

• Shutter speeds - B, 1 - 1/1000 sec.
• Flash Sync Speed - 1/125th sec
• Top deck shutter release with threads for remote
• Self-timer [10 sec]
• Hot shoe with extra control contact
• molded hand grip on right side
• +/- LEDs for exposure indication in viewfinder
• manual exposure mode only
• viewfinder with center focus spot - split-mage microprism
• requires 2 LR-44 cells for meter only
• half-press of shutter release activates meter
• Through-the-lens, full-aperture center weighted light metering with SPD cell
• ISO range of 12-1600 set on shutter speed dial
• 52mm filter thread on the lens with this body.
• tripod socket centered on the bottom

This is a fairly basic set of features, but in practical use, it's all you really need to take photos.  The camera body has no sharp edges, and it is nice to hold.  Its fairly quiet copal square vertical metal shutter sounds "snappy". The camera weighs just over a pound, and it really is a joy to use. 

There are lots of sites with information on the FX-3 and FX-7 series, and I am not going to repeat it all here.  One feature they all share is the discussion on the disintegration of the leatherette.  If you have one, you would be wise to recover it, and I have to say that the navy blue on mine is gorgeous.

Shooting experience

This is an all-manual SLR camera that is compact, precise in operation, and everything is located just right.  It makes a Pentax K1000 seem like a cloddish camera.  I have been carrying it around with me for a few weeks now, and it's definitely going places.  The 50mm f/2 lens is just fine, and maybe in the future I will acquire a Zeiss T* 50mm lens for it.  For now though, it's all I need. 

Photos

Here are a smattering of b&w images taken in NJ and MI, and I have to say that the camera works great.   I can recommend this camera to anyone looking for a manual SLR that is lightweight and of relatively recent manufacture (mid-1980s).   While the Yashica C/Y mount may not have as many lenses and accessories as the Nikon/Canon/Pentax/Olympus systems, you will find the lenses that you need for most types of shooting.  Aside from the Yashica and Contax brands, there are lenses from Tamron (Adaptall-2), Soligor, Sigma, and others that have the C/Y mount.

Mat, hotel room, expired Plus-X

Mike's hula girl, expired Plus-X

hydrant, expired Plus-X

Mike Raso, expired Plus-X

 shadows on steps, Tasma NK-2

Ann Arbor Subraru, Tasma NK-2

Argo trestle, Tasma NK-2

somewhere in Ohio on I80, in the rain, Tasma NK-2