NOTE: I’ll begin this experience report with a brief disclaimer. It’s been less than three years since I returned to shooting 35mm film after switching to digital photography over 20 years ago. I’ve inundated myself with as much film education as possible between web articles and advice from experienced film shooters. But, since my prior experience with film is decades old, this review is from a rather novice point of view.
I saw the email notice from Old School Photo Lab to download my scans of the negatives from my roll of Kodak Vision3 250D 35mm film. I exposed this roll of film in May of this year. We were all vaccinated, so Jeremy and Neha wanted to visit so their baby, Ronith, could meet the rest of his family. It was great to see them. Neha is Bhavna's cousin. We were all still getting used to being with people, so we sat outside and wore masks when we were close to Ronith. The family event allowed me to expose a 24-exposure roll of Vision3 250D Colour Negative Film, which I purchased from the Film Photography Project. FPP sells Vision3 Motion Picture film, which they hand-roll into 35mm canisters.
Baby Ronith and Dad Jeremy | May 2021 | Minolta XD-11 | MD ROKKOR-X 45mm F2 | Kodak Vision3 250D
This is one of the challenges I have with film photography. With digital photography, the image has dense metadata about the photos - camera, lens, ISO, aperture, shutter speed, exposure compensation etc. Unless I take copious notes, most of this information is lost when I expose the film. I may remember that I used my Minolta XD-11. I remember that I used my MD Rokkor-X 45mm f/2 lens. I know that the film I used is ISO 250. Unless I write it all down, I can remember what aperture ad shutter speeds were used.
Some of the images were blurry, but I liked the look of the sharper ones. Perhaps it's how the negatives were scanned, but the photos have a slight reddish hue that I do not see in the examples I found online.
Unfortunately, I can't just send Kodak Vision3 250D to any lab. Like most colour motion picture film stocks, 250D has a protective layer called Remjet, which helps deal with the tremendous heat generated while running through a camera. This Remjet layer must be removed during processing and requires specialist developing equipment unavailable at most film development labs. The film ($10) and the development and scanning ($24-$34) are expensive. I think I'll shoot this film again, but not often.
NOTE: I’ll begin this experience report with a brief disclaimer. It’s been less than three years since I returned to shooting 35mm film after switching to digital photography over 20 years ago. I’ve inundated myself with as much film education as possible between web articles and advice from experienced film shooters. But, since my prior experience with film is decades old, this review is from a rather novice point of view.
I started drinking ales from Flounder Brewing about five years ago. Back then, founder Jeremy Lees and his friends brewed up a batch of beer when they could, sometimes once a month, sometimes more. Whenever they had a batch of beer for sale, they emailed a mailing list with dates and times. One release day was not unusual to see a line of beer geeks, growlers in hand, standing outside their "brewery", a small space inside an industrial building in Hillsborough. Eventually, word spread, the lines got longer, the beer got better and more varied, and the team were able to expand. Flounder Brewing retained its small-town micro-brewery feel, but Jeremey had a vision for growing into a space that reflected the historic farm town character of Hillsborough. This year he had the green light to start renovating a barn on the historic farm property at Clerico Lane.
To continue the sense of the community that Flounder Brewing Co. has created over the year, Jeremy hosted a monthly socially-distanced and fully-masked outdoor beer garden at the new property with stringent rules. Throughout the summer and fall, Bhavna and I attended each of these outdoor beer gardens. We brought portable chairs and tables and found a spot under the trees. It was a joy to be with people (from eight feet away) enjoying the same beer, food and local musician.
On one of these occasions in October, I attached an MD Rokkor-X 45mm F2 lens to my Minolta X-700 and loaded a roll of Kodak Pro Image 100 35mm Colour Negative Film for the first time. I had read that the look of Pro Image was somewhere between Kodak Portra and Kodak Ektachrome E100. It took me a few weeks to expose the entire cartridge. I somehow got 38 exposures from a 36-exposure roll.
These are the best of them. You can tell where I struggled with focusing the lens. Many of the photos are slightly out of focus. I struggled to get proper exposure. I think the results are better than my first try with FPP RetroChrome film, but my technique still needs work. This is the first year I have been using a film camera since 1999.
Kodak Pro Image 100 is a professional-grade colour-negative film designed for 35mm cameras. It is known for its fine grain, vibrant colours, and sharpness, making it a popular choice among professional and amateur photographers. It’s also a lot cheaper than most of Kodak’s other professional 35mm films, such as Kodak Portra.
Kodak Pro Image 100 is relatively light-sensitive, making it suitable for various lighting conditions. Its colour reproduction is well-balanced, with accurate skin tones and a natural colour rendition, making it ideal for portrait photography.
Kodak Pro Image 100 is also known for its wide exposure latitude, meaning that it can handle overexposure and underexposure well, providing more flexibility in challenging lighting situations. Additionally, it has a broad tonal range, which enables it to capture subtle variations in highlights and shadows.
Overall, Kodak Pro Image 100 is a versatile film well-suited for various photographic applications, including portraits, landscapes, and street photography.
Bhavna and I have had dinner at the Brick Farm Tavern each week since just after the "stay in your home order" were lifted, and Governor Murphy permitted outdoor dining. It's us once a week "socially distanced" outing. The tables are spaced 8-10 feet apart. The food at the tavern is delicious farm to table, and we are surprised by something new every week.
I discovered Cousins Maine Lobster Truck too late in the summer to fully take advantage, but now I have developed a weekly habit of dropping in wherever they are for a lobster roll or lobster grilled cheese sandwich.
NOTE: I'll begin this experience report with a brief disclaimer. It's been less than three years since I returned to shooting 35mm film after switching to digital photography over 20 years ago. I've inundated myself with as much film education as possible between web articles and advice from experienced film shooters. But, since my prior experience with film is decades old, this review is from a rather novice point of view.
Kiran, Bhavna and I walked in the Gulick Farm Preserve a few weeks ago. I brought my Fuji X-T2 and XF27mmF2.8 lens, my Minolta X-700, MD Rokkor-X 50mm f/1.7 lens, and a fresh 35 exposure catridge of Kodak Portra 400. Kodak Portra 400 is a fine-grain high-speed colour-negative film. I had never used Kodak Portra 400 before, but based on my experience with a roll of Kodak Portra 160 at Avalon Beach, I expected good results.
The Gulick Farm Preserve walk was shorter than expected, so we dropped in at Barbara Smoyer Park. The light here was much brighter as we didn't have the forest to provide shade. The Kodak Portra 400 and the Minolta X-700 performed well.
Barbara Smoyer Park | Minolta X-700 | Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm f/1.7 | Kodak Portra 400 Colour FilmBarbara Smoyer Park | Minolta X-700 | Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm f/1.7 | Kodak Portra 400 Colour Film
Later that week, Bhavna and I were at Brick Fram Tavern for our regular weekly "dinner and chat". At this time of the year, the sun sets sooner. I was interested to see how the Kodak Portra 400 would perform in changing lighting conditions as the sun went down.
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