Tag: Experience Report

Sharing my impressions of products, food, restaurants, books, software, services, etc.

New Classic EZ400 35mm Black and White Film

Released in 2021 by the New Classic Film project, EZ400 is a panchromatic black and white negative 35mm film that delivers what some describe as "retro yet sharp images".

Released in 2021 by the New Classic Film project, EZ400 is a panchromatic black and white negative 35mm film that delivers what some describe as "retro yet sharp images".

When you rate it at box speed, EZ400 will give you contrast images with plenty of detail in the highlights and lightly subdued shadows. Suitable for all light conditions, EZ400 is versatile and capable.

There was a certain amount of buzz when the EZ 400 film stock was released. I fell for the hype, managing to order a few rolls at Meseroll, a bicycle shop. That seems weird to me. Meseroll was selling EZ400 in a pack of five 36 exposure rolls. I have exposed just this one roll so far.

Each 35mm film cassette is packaged in a durable recycled kraft paper container. I don’t know why kraft is spelt with a "k", but I think it's cool. The EZ400 containers are recyclable. The film cassettes have no DX coding, and this is a non-issue on cameras such as my Minolta XD-11 and X-700, where I can set the ISO manually, but it will be an issue for cameras that depend on DX coding.

I exposed the first roll at box speed at Palmer Square and around my neighbourhood. I sent the cassette off for Boutique Film Lab to develop. Here are some frames scanned with an Epson V600 with my scanning workflow. All film frames were exposed at box speed. The results are okay, nothing spectacular. But EZ 400 is low-price and an excellent alternative black and white film to put in my Minolta. I have four more rolls of EZ400. Maybe it will grow on me.

Name New Classic Film EZ400 400
Type Black and White (negative)
Native ISO 400
Format 35mm
Process Black and White
Lab Boutique Film Labs
Scanner Epson Perfection V600
Software SilverFast 9 SE and Negative Lab Pro
13 February, 2022 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
13 February, 2022 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
13 February, 2022 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
13 February, 2022 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
13 February, 2022 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
13 February, 2022 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
Belle Mara
13 February, 2022 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
Revival Barber Shop
13 February, 2022 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2
The Falafel House
13 February, 2022 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2

Winter Morning Walk in Frenchtown

Last year, after reading Tobias Mann's review of Kodak Portra 800, I bought a roll to expose it as soon as possible. But I set aside the roll in a cool box and forgot about it until December. I had promised Bhavna a trip into Frenchtown to see how the shopkeepers and restauranteurs had decorated the downtown area. The sky was overcast, creating an excellent opportunity to expose a few frames of Kodak Professional Portra 800.

Kodak Professional Portra 800 is a high-speed daylight-balanced colour-negative film optimised for challenging lighting conditions. It has a nominal sensitivity of ISO 800 and a notable underexposure latitude for effectively pushing to ISO 1600 with maintained quality and extended highlight and shadow detail. As we walked around Frenchtown, I exposed the roll at boxpseed in a wide variety of natural lighting conditions, including broad daylight, open shade, and of course, window light. Although I have several Minolta flash units, I did not expose any frames under artificial light.

The film was developed at Boutique Film Lab and scanned using my Silver Fast 9 and Epson Perfection V600. I used Negative Lab Pro to convert the scans. No corrections to exposure, colour temperature and composition were made.

Kodak Professional Portra 800 35mm film delivers all the advantages of a high-speed film, finer grain, higher sharpness, and more natural skin tones and colour reproduction. Portra 800 film - for perfectly stunning results with less-than-perfect light. The negatives have some warm tones, and while the grain is noticeable, I think it’s still very pleasant looking.

Name Kodak Portra 800
Type Colour (negative)
Native ISO 800
Format 35mm
Process C-41
Features Kodak T-GRAIN emulsions, Fine Grain, High Sharpness & Edge Detail
Lab Boutique Film Labs
Scanner Epson Perfection V600
Software SilverFast 9 SE + Negative Lab Pro
19 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
19 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
19 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
19 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
19 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
19 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
19 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
19 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
19 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
19 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
19 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
19 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
19 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
19 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
19 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
19 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
19 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7
19 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7

Film Photography Project RetroChrome 400 Color Slide Film - Expired

I think I have wasted enough money on expired 35mm films.

I think I have wasted enough money on expired 35mm films. The recent experience exposing an expired roll of Kodak GT 800-4 35mm film was disappointing. My [first time exposing a 35mm roll of Film Photography Project (FPP) RetroChrome 400] Color Slide Film was a couple of years ago using an Asahi Spotmaic II. At the time, I was relearning film photography, and I blamed myself and my camera for the crappy result. This time I know that the problem is not me. The problem is not my camera. It’s the film.

Ok, I admit that the decision to use this film is mine and that I did not carefully read the literature on the Film Photography Project website.

RetroChrome is government surplus High Speed Eastman Ektachrome color positive film/daylight balanced.

The film is cold-stored 2004 expired. The film performs excellent at its intended box speed of 400 iso which leads us to believe that this film has been stored in the “deep freeze” for the past decade.

Argh!!!!

I like the look of Kodak Ektachrome E100G, a roll of which I exposed for the first time a few years ago. I think I underexposed that first roll, but the results were still quite good. Ektachrome E100 is a color reversal camera film known for its beautiful color. Like most slide films, it has a super fine grain, rich saturated colour, and is excellent for daylight exposures.

On the other hand, the grainy, washed-out colours of FPP RetroChrome 400 with grey shadows devoid of detail was disappointing. I shot this film at box speed in bright daylight on a winter afternoon, but the frames appear as if they are underexposed. Had I known this, I would have maybe exposed set my XD-11 to expose at ISO 300 or 200.

It is not at all what I had expected. Furthermore, FPP RetroChrome 400 is expensive, almost as expensive as Ektachrome. I can understand that some people may like the look of FPP RetroChrome 400. I don’t know why?

I have made a decision. I will carefully read the notes for any 35mm film I purchase going forward. I will not buy any more expired 35mm films. I like predictable results.

Name FPP RetroChrome 400.
Type Colour (reversal)
Native ISO 400
Format 35mm
Process E-6
Lab Boutique Film Labs
Scanner Epson Perfection V600
Software SilverFast 9 SE
12 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7 | FPP RetroChrome 400
12 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7 | FPP RetroChrome 400
12 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7 | FPP RetroChrome 400
12 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7 | FPP RetroChrome 400
12 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7 | FPP RetroChrome 400
12 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7 | FPP RetroChrome 400
12 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7 | FPP RetroChrome 400
12 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7 | FPP RetroChrome 400
12 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7 | FPP RetroChrome 400
12 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7 | FPP RetroChrome 400
12 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7 | FPP RetroChrome 400
12 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7 | FPP RetroChrome 400
12 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7 | FPP RetroChrome 400
12 December, 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 50mm F1.7 | FPP RetroChrome 400