Monochrome Mania #4 Available!

 

While Spring is making itself quite apparent here in North Carolina, the latest issue of Monochrome Mania is fresh from the printers, and it's about...Winter.  Yes, you read that right. The title is A Cold Reckoning - The Nature of Winter.  This issue explores the abstract images found in ice, winter weather, and the forms that result from repeated freezing and thawing, along with some tips about cold weather photography.  The origins for this issue go back a decade, when I had a photo exhibit at Matthaei Botanical gardens in Ann Arbor, MI. It was titled "Phase Change" and the images were of various facets of the phases of water from liquid to solid and back again along Fleming Creek and the Huron River.  Many of those images appear in the zine, along with others taken after that show.  This issue departs from what I had previously done in the sense that I don't tell you about the cameras and films that I used, because I want the reader to enjoy the images for what they are.  Included are some quotes and poetry as well as information at the end about photographing in cold weather.  My friend Susan Patrice suggested some better fonts, and they have made a difference in the presentation.  Everyone that's seen the pre-press copy has really liked this issue, and I hope that you'll be tempted to purchase it and enjoy it, too.

Monochrome Mania # 4 is once again  36 pages plus covers, and priced at $12 within the USA.  For readers in Canada, It's $15, and overseas, $18. All prices include shipping. 

You can purchase it at this link: https://bityl.co/5uis

You can also link to the store via this QR code:

Revisiting Themes

 Right now, I am in the midst of doing more scanning and editing of images that I made over a decade ago.  As I have said before, it's an ongoing project.  However, I have been working specifically to find appropriate images for my next issue of Monochrome Mania No. 4, which will deal with winter photography.  In 2011, I had a pretty good show at Matthaei Botanical gardens with my "Phase Change" exhibit.  

I had a pretty good selection of prints in 16x20 frames.  I didn't sell a single one.  That's not unusual for such shows that are in an atypical gallery space.  I still have a couple of them adorning my walls here in NC, as they are evidence of a winter that we don't typically see here.  Finding the old negatives was easy once I realized that I had put them in a binder devoted just to winter ice and snow images.  Scanning them in now and making adjustments brings back some memories, and also some observations:

• Kodak's Technical Pan film is perfect for this subject
• Photography on overcast days was the best, as the highlights didn't get blown out.
• I used manual cameras, such as the Nikon FM2A, F2S, and Canon FTb QL, and A1.  In doing so, I compensated the exposure by watching where the needle or LED was in overexposing.  

Water and ice are fascinating subjects, and I think this next issue of Monochrome Mania will be worthy of the effort that I put in a decade ago.  I hope to have it ready by March.

Some Iced Coffee... my last rolls of Mr. Brown

A few years ago, I did a one-roll review of the Mr. Brown film from the Film Photography Project Store.  Over the past month, I have managed to shoot my last two rolls.  The first roll was shot at ISO 6, and developed in my caffenol recipe for 15 minutes at 20°C.  It was quickly apparent to me that the negatives were overdeveloped, as they were quite dense.  Well, one fix for that was to try the second, and last roll at a higher ISO and cut a smidge off the development time in caffenol.  Since Mr. Brown is now out of stock, you may wonder why I am publishing this now.  Well, I imagine that there are some users that have yet to shoot all that they purchased and have some rolls left.  Also, film photography is also about experimenting and sharing results, so here we go.

First of all, here is the Caffenol recipe that I use:

450 ml water
27 grams Sodium Carbonate
8 grams Ascorbic Acid
20 grams Instant coffee
5 grams Iodized salt

Mix in 30°C water and let cool to 20°C before using.  Development times can be from 10-15 minutes, depending on film, so experiment to see what works for you.

Roll 1: Mr. Brown at ISO 6, shot with Nikon N80, 15 min development time. The negatives were very dense, so I had to adjust the curves in the scans to get a normal-looking image: 

You can tell that the highlights are blown out.  So, after that, I decided that in Caffenol, Mr. Brown could be rated at ISO 12-25, perhaps even higher. 

Roll 2.  Shot in my Nikon F2S, 105mm Nikkor, I rated the film at ISO 25.  Quite different subject, with the high contrast ice and dark water, but I also figured that I would develop it for 1 minute less in the caffenol, for 14 minutes.  I still had to do some adjustments in the scans, but still very good for this type of subject, which is about as contrasty as I could get. These are all along Mill Creek in Dexter, MI.

Overall, very good.  So, this tells me that Mr. Brown is certainly a film worth trying in Caffenol, with the added benefit of being able to shoot at a higher ISO than 6!   Of course, you may want to also try this recipe with other low-ISO films to see what you get.  I'd be happy to hear about your results.

ONE-ROLL REVIEW - Kosmo Foto Mono

One of the recent developments in the film world has been the sale of  "boutique" films, such as the JCH Pan.  Another brand, Kosmo Foto, has released a B&W film called Kosmo Foto Mono, an ISO 100 film.  I recently received a roll of this film, and had the opportunity to try it out.  First of all, you should know that only a few factories are actually producing film, and some of them have been very happy to repackage film for sale under a different name.  Lomography doesn't make their own film, but rebrands film made by Kodak, Fuji, etc.  In the case of Kosmo Foto, it's the Foma company in the Czech republic.  The film is Fomapan 100, and in the case of Kosmo Foto, it is the coolest film box I have seen. 

I shot the roll of film in my Nikon N2020 (see previous review of the camera) while on a trip in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in late March. I processed it at home in XTOL (straight) for 6 minutes. 

I don't recall previously shooting any Fomapan 100 (unless it was an Arista brand), but I am pleased with the results that I got. Nice tones, good shadow detail, and the highlights are good.  I was also pleased to see that the film lies PERFECTLY FLAT in the scanner holder. No curling or cupping.  Right away, I am a fan.

I will post a few photos below to show my results.  Crisp is how I would describe the images. All were scanned on my Epson V700 scanner.

At this point, you may wonder why I just didn't order Fomapan 100 and shoot it. I like the idea of these branded films -- whether it's Japan Camera Hunter Street Pan, Kosmo Foto Mono, or Lomography's Lady Grey, etc.  It gets people buying the film, and more film sales keep the plants churning out product.  More product, more choices, more film. Sure, you can just go buy the Fomapan 100 for less than $5/36 exp. roll from Freestyle and get the same results as buying the Kosmo Foto Mono.  However, by purchasing the Kosmo Foto film, you are helping out an enthusiast, too.  The point is, Stephen Dowling, the Kosmo Foto man himself, really likes the Fomapan 100 emulsion -- so much so, that is why he went to all the trouble to create the packaging and rebranding.  There will be lots of people that never would have tried the Fomapan 100, but are willing to buy into the buzz about the Kosmo Foto film.  It's all good. 

Other reviews of the Kosmo Foto Mono
Down the Road by Jim Grey
Emulsive Review
Classic Camera Revival

Ferrania's P30 Film - A One Roll Review

I love shooting b&w film.  There are so many choices out there, and the various emulsions, whether old or new are worth exploring if you want to try them (and today, Kodak Alaris announced Tmax P3200 will be reintroduced!).

I was one of the early Film Ferrania Kickstarter backers, and while I do hope they are able to bring their color E-6 film into production, I am far more likely to be shooting b&w film. Last year, Ferrania brought back an old emulsion, which they called P30 Alpha, and touted it as a traditional b&w film with high silver content, with an ISO of 80.  I didn't get any of the earlier rolls, but what I did see online piqued my curiosity.  So this year, when they let backers know that the P30 film was available for $5/roll, I jumped and purchased five, which arrived quite quickly.  Even with the $8 shipping, I think it is a bargain for five 36-exposure rolls.

I brought one roll in my bag when I went to Toronto a few weeks ago, and shot it with my Minolta XG-M, one of my favorite and most reliable Minolta SLRs.  Most of it was shot while I was in the Distillery District with Bill Smith and Nancy Bueler -- my Toronto photo friends that took their time to show me around town. 

After I returned home, it was the first roll I developed, as I was curious to see if the hype about this film was valid.  I shot the film at ISO 80, and developed it in D-76 straight, for 7 minutes, as directed in the instructions.  As soon as I took the film off the reel and hung it to dry, I was pleased with what I was seeing.   It had been a snowy overcast day, and there was a lot of contrast in the scenes.  I scanned in the negatives on my Epson V700 scanner at 2400 dpi, and my initial response is WOW! I think this film has great tonal response, great mid-tones, very fine grain, and I am very pleased with the results.  I have yet to make traditional prints from the negatives, but the scans needed very little tweaking.   The film lies flat in the negative holder without any cupping like we see in Kodak's Tri-X. 

Here are some sample images from the roll.  I was not disappointed in any of them.  I am blown away when I look at the detail in the first image.  The Ferrania P30 film is a keeper, and I hope that they keep producing it. 

Some winter scenery on Kodak 2238 film.

a roll of 2238 from the
Ultrafine Online site.

If you have been following this blog for awhile, you'll know that I am always eager to try out some odd b&w films.  A few months ago, I purchased some Kodak 2238 Panchromatic Separation Film from Ultrafine Online.  It has been touted as a "poor man's TechPan!" and after seeing results from my first roll of this film, I am inclined to agree.  The typical use of this film is to make archival black and white positive separations from color movie film negatives. It can also be used to make special effects, panchromatic masters from b&w negatives, and other movie-industry applications. It's on a polyester ESTAR base like Techpan, and has a blue-antihalation dye that comes out in developing.

I loaded up a Nikon F2 with a plain prism, and headed out into the 10 degree F weather at Matthaei Botanical Gardens.  The film is rated from ISO 6 to 50, depending on the use, I suppose, and I followed Ultrafine's suggestion of ISO 25.  Unlike TechPan, this film can be developed as a panchromatic pictorial film in D-76 (1:1 for 10 minutes), which greatly facilitates its use, and not having to use my dwindling supply of Technidol. Photographer's Formulary sells the TD-3 low contrast developer for films like Techpan that would otherwise result in high-contrast negatives using typical developers.   

Winter warrior.

Shooting in winter in northern climates has its share of obstacles - cold temperatures mean low battery life when outside, and I picked the meterless plain prism F2 because it works flawlessly without a battery, and the ergonomics with gloves on make it easy to use. I had an external meter, but generally went sunny-16 for most of my shots.  In full sun, that would be f/16 and 1/30 sec, or f/11 at 1/60, or f/8 at 1/125.  F8 at 1/125 seemed to work pretty well when it was sunny.

I developed the film as I described above, in D76.  Some of the frames were underexposed, and I think that was when I forgot to adjust my aperture when the sun went behind the clouds. For the images that I estimated properly, the negatives looked good.   At ISO 25, I would recommend a tripod for most subjects, but my results were pretty good.
Okay, so if this film is like TechPan, how does the grain stack up?  It is extremely fine-grained, and almost as good as TechPan. I would say that the negatives do remind me of that film, and I will have to experiment with it some more to get an idea of how versatile it is.  Some portraits are in order, as well as some non-snowy scenes.  The film comes in 100 foot rolls as well as 36 exp. cassettes, so for $50, one could do quite a bit of testing with the bulk roll.  It may be advisable to bracket to see how the film performs for your particular use. The nice thing is that it is also easy and economical to develop!

Here are a few images from that roll that I shot earlier this week. 

One of the fun aspects of film shooting is the appreciation for different films and the qualities that each film stock has.  Shooting something new (to me) means that the results may not always be what I expected.  In the case of the Kodak 2238, I think the shots where I exposed correctly have good range and bode well for further testing.  The film is a tad curly drying, but flattened out fine in the scanner film holder. 

I suggest that you give this interesting film a try. There are plenty of examples of it on Flickr.