This is the second roll I got from the Silberra Crowdfunding campaign. The first was Silberra PAN200. After developing I found some strange yellow streaks on the film, but they don’t show up that much on black/white film. Film base is very very thin.
Leipzig, Germany – May 2018
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panchromatic negative black/white film, ISO 200, fine grain, wide tonal range, very sharp
In 2018 I supported a crowdfunding campaign to help establish another film manufacturer. Based in Saint-Petersburg, Silberra produces film stock, photo paper and chemicals. There were different levels of rewards, I chose to get two Iso 200 films.
With a bit of delay they finally arrived in summer and I was quite curious how they would turn out. During development I noticed that the film base is very thin. There were also some yellow marks on the film, which were not on another roll developed at the same time. Strange… but it didn’t really show up in black/white.
If there wasn’t import tax or more importantly high shipping costs I’d gladly order more of this film, but as it stands, I’ll leave it at having tested it.
Leipzig, Germany – May 2018
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panchromatic black/white film, ISO 200, fine grain, wide tonal range, quite sharp, moderate contrast
Olympus XA2 (Olympus 35mm / f3.5 lens) + Silberra PAN200
Developed in Ilford ID-11 (1+1) at Mühlstraße 14 community lab
Scanned with Epson V550
Post-processing in Adobe Lightroom
Only recently I started shooting a single kind of film stock over a longer period of time. I think it really helps to focus more on the actual picture-taking and less on the technical side. Also there’s some sort of consistency.
It’s a bigger investment up front when buying a 10-pack of film instead of individual rolls, but usually you get a (very small) discount. So for much of the summer I had my two cameras (SLR with 50mm lens and compact rangefinder with 35mm lens) loaded with Delta 400.
Leipzig, Erfurt, Usedom (Germany) / May – September 2018
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35mm black/white t-grain film, ISO 400, 36 exposures
Nikon F80 + Nikkor 50mm 1.8D
Olympus XA2 (Olympus 35mm / f3.5 lens)
Developed in Ilford ID-11 / Ilfotec DD-X at Mühlstraße 14 community lab
Scanned with Epson V550
Post-processing in Adobe Lightroom
Rollei Vario Chrome (35mm, 36 exposures, ISO 200–400)
Last year (or the year before?) I bought a 5-pack of this slide film. Only through testing by other people it was revealed to be old expired film stock. So it’s nice packaging, but you’ll get mixed results.
I think I’ll try to sell the other 4 rolls I have left. The colors are quite moody and can be nice, but I’m kinda over the expired look.
Edit: After a couple of days I’m not so sure anymore. I start to like the colors. Maybe I *will* use the rest myself.
Leipzig, Germany – November 2018
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35mm slide film (36 exp.), originally ISO 400, but long since expired
Praktica LTL2 + Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 2,8 / 50mm + Rollei Vario Chrome Film bought for way too much at can’t remember Developed and scanned by NimmFilm Postprocessing in Adobe Lightroom
During my search for a cheap color film for everyday shooting (no special projects) I stumbled upon this film stock. The price is quite low (2,50 EUR per roll) and a quick look around on the internet showed okay-ish color rendering. I wanted to test it first, before ordering in bulk, so I added a roll to my last c-41 chemistry order.
The images were taken during the middle and end of January. I’m not quite sure about the sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker yellow tint. Guess that’s the drawback you have to accept when using cheaper material? Or its the lens? Questions… questions.
Leipzig-Reudnitz, Germany – Jan 2017
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35mm, color negativ film, ISO 200, 36 exposures.
Praktica LTL2 + Pentacon auto 1.8/50 + Kodak ColorPlus 200
Film bought for 2,50 EUR via Macodirect.
Developed with Rollei C-41 Kit by myself.
Scanned with Epson Perfection V550.
Before I got this roll as a gift, it was stored – probably for several years – in the attic, where I also develop my black and white film. It gets quite hot in the summer, not the best kind of long term storage conditions for film. On top of that, the film stock was discontinued at least 12+ years ago. So naturally quality has suffered.
Kodak T-Max T400 CN is the predecessor of Kodak BW400CN (Roll #45) (also discontinued, but only in 2014) and is developed in color chemicals (C-41). I used these kinds of black & white stock (like Ilford XP2 Super 400) a lot when I was younger. You got b/w photos, but the development was cheaper, than regular b/w films at the drugstore. It was sad to see them go. Luckily I can now develop color and b/w films myself – a lot cheaper than sending it to a lab.
Discarded christmas trees, mud, rain – welcome to January in Germany. The photos after that were made during the “HGB Rundgang” exhibition (yearly tour of the Academy of Visual Arts student work), also showing some of my work.
Leipzig, Germany – Jan + Feb 2017
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35mm, “color negative” b/w film, ISO 400, 36 exposures. B/W film, that’s processed in C-41 (color) chemicals. Expired at least 10+ years ago, discontinued in 2003–04.
Nikon F80 + Nikkor AF 50mm/1.8D + Kodak T-Max T400 CN
Film sponsored by Jens.
Developed with Rollei C-41 Kit by myself.
Scanned with Epson Perfection V550.
Fujicolor Super HR 100 (120 Medium Format), expired 09/1991
Developing color negative film yourself has advantages and disadvantages. You pay less (12 rolls for 30 EUR = 2,50 EUR per roll), but have to wait until you have those 12 rolls shot. Otherwise you develop some rolls, don’t shoot anything for the rest of the month and then have to pour away the chemicals, because they expired. You are flexible (develop anytime you want – even Saturday at night), but still have to wait until those 12 rolls are done.
I shot this on my way to the lab, because I had only 11 rolls and needed another medium format one. It expired in 1991 and I wasn’t sure I’d get anything good. Exposing at ISO 25 worked like a charm. Some frames didn’t turn out that great, but that’s also the case with normal “fresh” rolls.
Being a strange old film I never heard of, I took some more photos than usual. Could be interesting for some people.
Leipzig-Reudnitz, Germany / Feb 2017
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Medium Format (120), color negative, ISO 100, 12 exposures (6×6).
Expired in 09/1991, exposed as ISO 25.
Yashica Mat 124G (Yashinon 80mm f3.5).
Developed with Rollei C-41 Kit by myself.
Scanned with Epson Perfection V550.
After taking over the family photo albums and scanning dozens of negatives, one film stock really stood out for me: old ORWO color film. I liked the somewhat muted realistic colors a lot. And so began a long hunt on eBay.
After several months I finally got my hands on 5 rolls of CNS 100. They expired in the early 2000s – not that bad. As a precaution I exposed the film as ISO 50 (instead of 100) and developed it normally. And wow, I love love love the colors. Now I have to get more rolls.
Oh and please ignore the weird texture on some / most (okay all) of the photos, I still have to work a lot on my rinsing / drying skills. #finishednotperfect
Leipzig + Bockwitz, Germany / Sept + Aug 2016
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35mm, color negative film, ISO 100 (exposed at 50), 36 exposures.
Praktica LTL 2 + Helios-44-2 f2/58mm + ORWO CNS 100 (expired ~2001)
Film bought for ?!? (can’t remember) via eBay.
Developed with Rollei C-41 Kit by myself.
Scanned with Epson Perfection V550.
During a district expedition this summer I visited Atelier Beissert. After our talk about art, photography and black tea, I discovered some old film cameras tucked away in a cabinet. Showing some (okay… a lot) of interest, Peter offered me two of them to try/buy. One was an EXA 1a equipped with a Carl Zeiss Jena f2,8/50mm lens.
Nearly 1 million EXA cameras were build between 1949 – 1990 in Dresden, Germany. They are fully mechanical, have no light meter and are build like a tank. Good for taking photos or hammering nails. Most of them (1a is one of them) use the “Exakta” mount.
Shooting experience
It took some time to shoot a full roll of film on *another* camera – I might have a collecting problem. Being able to use a waist level viewfinder gives you a whole new perspective and shooting experience. I really liked it. What I didn’t like was the max shutter time of 1/175 sec.
Now that the film is developed and scanned I have to say, damn that’s a good lens. Sadly the frame counter was physically broken off, so I had no idea how many images were left. In the end I didn’t buy the camera because of that, but I guess now I have to look for a better preserved one, or at least for a M42 mount version of that lens.
Black and white photography for the financially challenged
On a side note I think I settled on an ISO400 b/w film for “normal” day to day shooting: Rollei RPX 400. If you order 10 at a time over at Macodirect you pay 3,75 EUR per roll. I also looked into bulk loading film, but decided against it for the time being. I’d have to shoot a whole lot more, before the savings on film exceed the investment of a bulk film loader. But I’ll keep that option in mind.
The Sun Itself Shall Draw My Pictures 