Bhavna

I am disappointed by the results I get when using 35mm colour film stock for portraiture.

I am disappointed by the results when using 35mm colour film stock for portraiture. The conventional wisdom around the Interweb is that Kodak Portra 35mm film delivers spectacular skin tones with exceptional colour saturation over a wide range of lighting conditions. However, when photographing darker skin tones, my experience with Kodak Porta 160 and Kodak Portra 400 falls short of my expectations. From what I read, the later update that improved the rendering of dark skin tones from Kodak's colour films wasn't necessarily a consideration for properly photographing darker skin tones but rather the by-product of solving an advertising problem - the proper colour rendering of dark wood and milk chocolate.

While looking at and adjusting the tone curve of scans from the roll of Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow that I exposed in September on the streets of Sandusky, I realised that for 35mm film portraiture. I prefer the results from black-and-white films. I've captured Bhavna's portrait on Ilford HP5 Plus 400, Eastman Kodak Double-X 5222 400 and Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow. The results have been to my liking due to the forgiving exposure latitude of these 35mm film stocks.

Bhavna
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2

Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow

Some frames from a 36 exposure roll of Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow.

Bhavna and I were on a weekend trip up to Oberlin, Ohio, to take Kiran back for her last semester at Oberlin College. It was a long weekend, and Bhavna and I decided to visit the lakeshore town of Sandusky.

After reading Jim Grey’s first impressions of the Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow ISO 400 135 films, I decided to try it myself. I was a backer of the Kickstarter Project, but I had not yet exposed any of the four cartridges of Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow. I loaded one of the 36 exposure cartridges into my Minolta X-700, a camera I rarely use as I tend to favour my XF-11. I shot the entire roll at box speed. The roll was developed at Black Lab Imaging in Flemington, New Jersey and scanned at home on my Epson Perfection V600 using VueScan 9.
Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow is a 400-ISO panchromatic black-and-white film which the creator describes like this:

The film is an existing emulsion made by a company with more than a century’s experience in making film.

While the film is rated at ISO 400, the film can be push processed four stops up to ISO 6400 with appropriate development. Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow is perfect for shooting at box speed in bright or overcast light, but can also be used in much lower light conditions if needed.

The film is fine-grained at box speed but shows more atmospheric grain when push processed, along with more dramatic contrast.

In September, I exposed a roll of Agent Shadow at box speed while walking around the streets of Sandusky with Bhavna. The grain is noticeable, but the photographs have a fascinating vintage look. I can’t wait to try the three remaining rolls.

Name Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow 400
Type Panchromatic Black and White (negative)
Native ISO 400
Format 35mm
Process C-41
Features Kodak T-GRAIN emulsions, Fine Grain, High Sharpness & Edge Detail
Lab Black Lab Imaging
Scanner Epson Perfection V600
Software VueScan 9
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Sandusky, Ohio · Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow · Saturday 3 September 2022 · Minolta X-700 · MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2

8 August 2022 - Harman Reusable Camera

It takes only a split second to ruin a partially complete roll of 35mm film. Lessons learned from using a Harman Reusable Camera with Kentmere Pan 400

The Harman Reusable Camera and Kentmere Pan 400 combination is a reusable plastic 35mm film camera with a built-in flash. The Kentmere and Ilford photography brands are owned by Harman Technology Ltd, a UK-based manufacturer of photographic materials. This introductory photography kit is sold with two Kentmere Pan 400 film cartridges, a battery, and a strap. The Kentmere Pan 400 is a budget B&W film similar to Ilford’s HP5 that has a reputation for delivering excellent results.

The plastic camera had a very flimsy feeling to it, so fragile that the camera comes with a warning that you can easily break it if you force rewind your film. I did not doubt that if I did, it would wreck the camera. This item is not returnable. There is a switch on the front to enable the built-in flash, a switch to open the film door, a push-button film release on the bottom, the film advance, and the shutter release. There are no other controls on the camera.

The lens is 31mm with a fixed aperture of f/10. The camera has a fixed shutter speed of 1120 sec at ISO 200 or ISO 400. The camera’s viewfinder has a field of view of 70%. This means that what you see inside the viewfinder will be about 30% less than what the camera captures, which is quite different. You can see my fingers in some frames.

I dropped the roll into the camera, exposed a few frames, then put the camera down and forgot about it. When I rediscovered the camera a few months later, I could not remember if I had loaded the roll or not. I hesitated by eventually opened the film door.

It takes only a split second to ruin a partially complete roll of 35mm film. I snapped the film door as quickly as possible, but the damage was already done. I completed exposing the remaining frames, but I knew that I had already ruined it. The scans that follow are what I was able to recover.

I won’t use this camera again. This was a lesson in sticking to tools that give me the information I need to succeed in film photography. If you are a photography student looking to dip the "toe" into film photography, I recommend buying an inexpensive used camera and lens kit on eBay. Since it has a fixed aperture and shutter speed, YOU WILL NOT learn the basics of photography from using this camera.

Item Description
lens 1 element
Lens focal length 31mm
Max/Min aperture f/10
Focusing Focus Free, 1m - infinity
Shutter Speed Shutter 1/120s
Film Format 135 Film (24x36mm) ISO 200 or 400
View Finder Field = 70%
Flash Built-in Flash Push Switch - 15s recycle time
Power source 1AAA – Alkaline Battery (included)
Weight 100 grams
Dimensions 114 (W) x 63 (H) x 35 (D) mm
Frame 14 | 7 June, 2022 | Harman Reusable | Harman 31mm f/10
Frame 15 | 7 June, 2022 | Harman Reusable | Harman 31mm f/10
Frame 16 | 7 June, 2022 | Harman Reusable | Harman 31mm f/10
Frame 21 | 7 June, 2022 | Harman Reusable | Harman 31mm f/10
Frame 17 | 7 June, 2022 | Harman Reusable | Harman 31mm f/10
Frame 18 | 7 June, 2022 | Harman Reusable | Harman 31mm f/10
Frame 19 | 7 June, 2022 | Harman Reusable | Harman 31mm f/10
Frame 20 | 7 June, 2022 | Harman Reusable | Harman 31mm f/10
Frame 22 | 7 June, 2022 | Harman Reusable | Harman 31mm f/10
Frame 23 | 7 June, 2022 | Harman Reusable | Harman 31mm f/10
Frame 24 | 7 June, 2022 | Harman Reusable | Harman 31mm f/10
Frame 30 | 7 June, 2022 | Harman Reusable | Harman 31mm f/10
Frame 31 | 7 June, 2022 | Harman Reusable | Harman 31mm f/10
Frame 32 | 7 June, 2022 | Harman Reusable | Harman 31mm f/10
Frame 33 | 7 June, 2022 | Harman Reusable | Harman 31mm f/10
Frame 34 | 7 June, 2022 | Harman Reusable | Harman 31mm f/10
Frame 35 | 7 June, 2022 | Harman Reusable | Harman 31mm f/10
Frame 36 | 7 June, 2022 | Harman Reusable | Harman 31mm f/10
Frame 37 | 7 June, 2022 | Harman Reusable | Harman 31mm f/10