Provia 100F on Nikon FA

Back out on the water again testing Provia 100F which typically is recommended for portrait photography. I thought why not see how it looks for urbanscape photography?''

5 key features for this film stock

1. it provides super-fine grain making life a breeze when enlarging prints.

2. You will get highly accurate colour reproduction

3. If you meter correctly you will get very accurate highlight to shadow linearity

4. This could be a good choice for long exposure photography and multiple exposures

5. Want to shoot in low light conditions then you can push process 1/2stop up to 2 stops with a small amount of variation in colour balance and degradation

Key Features

If you like the fine sharpness of digital photography and would like to return to film then this film could be a good choice. Shooting at ISO100 this colour reversal film will give you an extremely high level of sharpness, capturing the details with extreme clarity combined with wonderfully vibrant colours.

Film Speed

If this is your first time shooting slide film, shoot it at box speed whether it's on 35mm, medium format or large format. It’s the only way to truly find out what works best for you in the conditions you are shooting them in. After shooting a roll in different conditions, you can review them after processing to see which images resonate with you best. Now, you want to consider some push processing to see how the results will vary.

Exposure Guide

You should be good to go with the age old recommendation of shooting sunny 16. However bear in mind that these settings are determined for 2 hours after sunrise and 2 hours before sunset! Adjust accordingly using a light meter before and after these times so you can ensure the best results.

As you are watching these wonderful images scrolling, you might want to consider the following added things I have learned from shooting this film.

If you are out shooting casually in these conditions, perhaps on a beach, open water or even snow, anything with large reflective surfaces, then set your aperture to f/16 and you’re good to go. If you are standing in the middle of the street then, f/11 is sufficient, in extremely well lit conditions.

In hazy sunlight consider moving down to f/8 and if there is considerable cloud coverage, then, f5.6. If you’re in the shade or shadows and your camera allows it, then f/4.

Depending on your circumstances and experience with shooting slide films, you may want to adjust up or down ½ a stop during summer or winter.

If you are shooting indoors, perhaps, backlighting a subject then you may need to go up or down 1 stop in your aperture adjustments. Also, if you are shooting in extremely bright or dark conditions then you may want to adjust your lens plus or minus one stop.

All these numbers may sound confusing and complicated. You can save yourself a mind bend by using a dedicated light meter such as the Sekonic L-308X. The amount of times I have mentioned this brand you’d think I’m cutting a cut!

Best Filters

As you can see from my images, some of these have been exposed to extremely bright conditions.

If you are shooting in seaside locations, snowy landscapes in Alaska or distant bright views as you can see from these images, or even closeups or plants or portraits it is advisable to use a UV filter Number 2C.

For bright cloudy conditions, you can use a Wratten No.81A Filter and make an appropriate aperture adjustment plus 1 or 3 stops.

For early morning or twilight portraits use a Number 82A or Number 82C filter and adjust aperture stops again plus 1 or 3 stops.

Shooting with Electronic Flash

I have shot with Provia on Medium Format several times, the results have been very good when exposed correctly. However, I strongly suggest getting lots of practice with studio lights.

The advantage of working in a studio is you have a great degree of control over the lighting, so you don't want to flood your subject with too much or too little. Most modern studio lighting equipment is very very reliable and gives you a very consistent light.

If you are using fluorescent lamps you will have to adjust your exposure by one stop for white, daylight and cool white and 2 and 1/3 of a stop for warm white.

Use a Wratten Filter No.80A along with a 1 2/3 lens stop increase, when using 3200K tungsten lighting.

For household tungsten lighting such as room lamps which are the main source of lighting, you will need to use both a Wratten Filter No.80A and a Wratten filter No.82A, plus an aperture increase of 2 stops.

Storing your film

Serious analog photographers know the value of film and the value of their pockets. You can ofcourse store your film wherever you want but if you’re not sure when you might be using your film or even use it sparingly, then make sure you store it appropriately.

If you are going to be using it for up to 3 years then stick it in the fridge out of an abundance of precaution. Anything beyond that stores below 0C or 32F, i.e. in a freezer. If taking film out of a fridge, leave it in room temperature conditions for at least 2 hours before shooting with it. Obviously use your usual good sense when defrosting film from a freezer!

Multiple exposures

Great news for those of you doing long and multiple exposures. You don't need to exposure correct or colour balance within 1/4000 to 128 seconds shutter speed ranges. However beyond this you will need to expose correctly and colour balance as required.

Processing Film

You will need to use E6 chemicals when processing this film. If you enjoy experimenting then you can also cross-process colour negative films with E6 which will give you a colour positive image but likely with an orange base.

Retouching/editing your film

This is really down to you as an individual. However you may want to consider doing this if the highlights are too bright or you would like to lift a little bit more out of the shadows. Typically with film, it is very difficult to pull information out of the shadows so just be aware of this when metering for your subject or landscape.

Why Printing is your work is important

Regardless of what is happening around us, we are living in unique times. A time when we have access to our photos at any point on our phones! Yet, how many of us have our images where we can see them in our daily lives or even to feel in our hands. Take the time to pick out your best images and perhaps make an album or even a book out of them. They’ll bring you joy in a very different and tangible way.

Final reflections

Provia 100F is certainly one of my favourite slide film stocks. One of the main reasons why I love this film so much is because you can see the results of your work right there in front of you. Unlike film negatives you can relive those moments without having to scan your work [that is if you don't want to].

Photographers often associate this film stock with fashion or portraiture work but there’s absolutely no reason why you should use this film for other work from product to natural landscapes. In fact, I think with large positives available in medium format you could take some wonderful landscape images.

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Acing Blur Right In Film Photography

When Oskar Barnack publicly introduced his first Leica camera, in 1925, at the Leipzig Springfair in Germany, it was the culmination of many years of refinement since he joined Lietz in 1911.

Barnack was a design engineer by profession and was originally working on a movie camera when ran into a problem. Emulsion speeds of films were unreliable and accurate metering was all but impossible. Barnack took it upon himself to build a small device intended to test small batches of movie film.

The film complete with its iconic sprocket holes, formed the beating heart around which Barnack designed the system which revolutionised photography - it is without a doubt that he was the creator of miniature 35mm was known for decades. 

These sets of images were taken on a Yashica Mat 124G with a roll of the wonderful Kodak Tri-X 400. I know you’re probably hopping out of your seat at the minute thinking well why did you start off by talking about the 35mm camera! Well its kind of ironic that Barnack’s system was developed out of cinematography and just shows how this innovation has moved and developed over time! 

I digress, this picture was taken in Central London, using a shutter speed of ten seconds. The film has recorded the motion of the skaters jumping over obstacles conveniently placed for them to practice their skills and tricks. The skaters blurred, of course, producing a soft and gentle abstract pattern which contrasts greatly with the crisp detail of the obstacles, and which suggests the neverending and timeless flow of movement. 

It is not an effect that could have been produced by using a high shutter speed to freeze the skaters: in any case. In any case, if you did what to do that you would have had to use flash in these extremely low light conditions. With the obstacles crisp there would have been a powerful focus of attention on the foreground and background and consequently all character and depth in the image would have been lost.  

In this picture there's a strong feeling of the passage of time. Blur is very powerful - especially when designed into an image or photograph. When it happens such as through camera shake it is nothing more than an obvious mistake or lack of knowledge. Therefore for blur to work effectively it has to be planned. And you can make effective use of it by showing it in the main subject or in supporting elements of the picture - such as the background - and for a variety of reasons. 

Some fun ways to explore a purposeful blur might be trying to shoot cars or motorbikes on the move. Or perhaps even at home with your children, nephews or nieces while they are running circuits around you in their ever boundless energy. Can someone please tell me how I can get that back again! Blur can very much enhance your photography but has to be used appropriately for every subject to maximise its effect.

The human eye is not like the eye of a camera lens. When you are watching a fast object moving your eyes are able to focus on the object and blur away the less important information in the background. Unfortunately, the camera lens if used with a fast shutter speed will most likely capture everything in sharp and vivid detail. 

The problem with this is that your image will look dead static. Consequently it won't look natural to the subconscious mind and your rational mind will most likely dismiss the image. You can get around this issue by using a technique known as 'panning'. 

As soon as a moving subject such as a motorbike or car - is clearly framed in the viewfinder you must swing the camera to follow the subject, and press the shutter while still moving. As a result the photo will show the subject against a background which blurs in horizontal lines - and the effect is a very convincing impression of motion in the image. Don't forget, for panning to be successful, you must keep the subject in the same spot in the viewfinder during the move, and to fire the camera shutter smoothly, carrying on swinging till the shot is well and truly finished. 

If you dont pan correctly or at all the background will come out sharp and the subject you wanted in focus blurred. The motorbike, car or your nephew running will attract far less attention. Ultimately, photography is another means of communication between you and the viewer. 

The use of blur in photography not only shows motion but through it the passage of time. As any object that is moving is still taking time to move. As a result you can see the difference between each second in time which goes against the grain of Henri-Cariters Bresson’s instruction to find one split second in which to take the shot. 

Cartier Bresson's 'decisive moment' refers more to the arrangement of his subject than to the timing. Time and its passing can be suggested in one shot -  such as these skaters- but there's no need to stop at one. Perhaps shooting with a 35mm camera you will be able to capture a set of images which makes this a more practical way of shooting blurred images.

You can grab a copy of my Photography Book here!

Yashica Mat 124G Walk In Knightsbridge With Kodak TriX

A long wintery walk in Central London with my Yashica Mat 124G. The film roll options were between Kodak TriX, TMY and Ilford XP2 (C41 BW). Twelve shots to play with so I went with the Kodak TriX hoping to capture a grainy central London landscape.  

The Yashica Mat 124G comes with a light meter onboard which is incredibly useful. The ease of using it in comparison with using a phone meter or handheld dedicated meter such as a Sekonic is undeniable. 

First shot walk past the Victoria and Albert Museum. Walking along further a car had bumped in to the back of another car which was blocking a Deliveroo delivery man from getting to his destination. A little quicker reaction would have made a great street snap but by the time I had set it up the car had been moved along. Turning back to capture this road with some leading tree lines looked a good alternative close option! 

A little bit surprised to find tropical looking trees in this part of town. Street photography is showing how things can change so quickly in the scene you might be walking in. Take this third shot for example. Framed up the shot only to have a lorry come and park right in front. Exercising a little patience (you can hear the lorry in the video!) and changing my line a little to capture this shot. 

Earlier on I had noticed this classic MG parked up and knew I would come back and take a snap of that. Back on to Kensington High Street walking along and a snap of Harrods. A lot of construction work is going on in the area. Perhaps an opportunity while crowd footfall remained low and slow!  A chair shot to reflect that fact on the ground. 

A little further along I tried a moving walking shot of two pedestrians walking along to see what I was able to capture. Not too surprised by the resulting outcome! 

Crossing the road over into Hyde Park and saw a little waterfall which looked picturesque before finishing up around the lake area. Was a little tempted by the ice cream and pizza place but erred on the side of health! 

Pentax Me Super First Walk In Notting Hill With Kodak Portra 800

My first walk with the Pentax ended up in a complete disaster. I had put a roll of Kentmere 400 through to test how it would fare. Having thought that the roll had run though the camera fine, I sent it off for development. Only after having the film developed it was brought to my attention that nothing was actually shot on it.

So what was wrong with the Pentax ME Super (or K1000)? Well, it turns out that even though I had seen the film catch and reel on to the camera, when closed, it was not moving to the next frame. This required the roll mechanism to be replaced entirely, which took a few weeks to get done.

With a tinge of excitement and trepidation I took my camera out for a walk in Notting Hill one cold Spring day with two of my favourite photographers, Lucas & Molly. This time feeling more confident, I put in a roll of Kodak Portra 800 due to the continuing murky English weather conditions.

The camera is so light and small its a delight to carry with you. Almost feels like nothing which makes me wonder if it was the materials they used to make it or did they leave something out. Compared to similar cameras it’s certainly one of the lightest and smallest I have held. I suppose any Leica would be a clear challenger.

I do like the catch mechanism in the Pentax Super ME but it can be a little fiddly if you haven’t shot with it before. I need to work on my technique a little more and with a little more practice I should be able to load the camera with one hand soon. Not sure if that is at all a possibility with Medium Format cameras!!

The location couldn’t be more perfect. The pastel colours of the homes intermixed with cobbled roads and old school telephone boxes. There’s certainly plenty here for someone trying to capture colour and environment of a place.

As we walked along Portobello Road I found myself learning something new each time I took a snap with the camera. What I particularly enjoyed was a three light indicator which pops up with you slightly depress the trigger. It forewarns you whether the image will/will not come out due to the f-stop on the camera against the ISO of the film. Extremely handy and so helpful in its absolute simplicity. This reason alone could be a reason for why someone could consider getting one of these cameras.

Given the lack of light, I think Kodak Portra 800 performs really well here and certainly has given me some optimism in using this film more often around London now using not only this camera but another analogue cameras too. I am curious however to find out how an equivalent 35mm lens would fare.

One thing to note is if you are wearing gloves to not let your fingers get too close to the lens. This can be quite tricky due to the size of the camera but certainly one thing to watch!

Overall, its a fabulously compact piece of kit. If you’re on a budget and an enthusiastically want to explore analog photography more than look no further than the Pentax Super ME (K1000). Only those who own really understand its sheer beauty!

Finally, a special thanks to Lucas & Molly for the great conversation, company and being so generous with their support as always! You can follow them on Instagram here:

@analogsquare

@eclectachrome

Yashica Mat 124G & Fuji 160 Walk In The Park

Word has it that Nietzsche used to walk up to 8 hours a day with a paper and pen. Where do you think all the notebooks went? We can sort of hazard a guess to what he may have been ruminating about…When’s the last time you got up for a spontaneous walk in the park?

When word had got to me about the Fuji Pro 400H being discontinued I was quite upset however alas Analogue Wonderland came to the rescue with a new batch of Fuji NS 160. With little hesitation I order my first few rolls and waited for the right time to explore this new film!

My first thoughts were; a) how different this film stock would be compared to the Fuji Pro 400H? and b) how it would compare to Kodak Portra 160? But that aside I decided to go for a first walk with this as is see what it could do!

The sun was so strong and bright as I walked in to the park with my Yashica Mat 124G and my roll of 120film. I sat down opposite the cafe area and started loading up the roll with the sun warming my back. I didn’t have to work too hard for the first shot as this man came and sat down opposite me. I popped opened the viewfinder and framed up the first snap.

The great thing about my Yashica is it’s onboard lightmeter. Simply dial in your ISO and the light meter correctly adjusts for the conditions. Now, this may not always be the case for old film photography equipment but with good care, or perhaps a service you can recondition these wonderful cameras and get going on your analog photography journey!

The thing about Fuji Pro 400H is its ability to really make colours come out strong in every frame. Choosing a good location therefore is super important so that you can maximise the real estate on each picture you take. Of course, I didn’t know how the Fuji NS 160 would compare but I hazard a guess that the colour rendition would be up there.

Bearing in mind the film stock I would strongly recommend shooting with it where you have strong colours available. Perhaps you may be using this film for shooting portraits, in which case it will be perform exceptionally well with people of different tonalities. (I have yet to try it with Fuji NS 160 but looking forward to an opportunity as and when it may arise!)

The blue, green and brown settled well for the second image with the dog walker in the middle of the frame. The line of trees disappears in to the distance drawing you in to the image. Late mornings are great time to explore, there are not too many people about but just enough to create some interesting compositions! It would be interesting to see how the film would fare in late summer afternoon settings too!

I waited for the morning walkers to cut across the deep green grass and large blue sky before taking the third image. This was more a ‘scientific’ shot, getting an image with large swathes of two colours and how they would perform.

As I was walking along, so many opportunities to take candid street style shots appeared. I initially framed this image to take of the person sitting on the bench as they walked in front on me with their yellow jacket. However the the shadow created by the light hitting the tree felt like the tributaries of a river on the floor and I just couldn’t resist but take that image.

Crossing over back in to the other side of the park over the railway line I saw the light falling down and thought this could make a rustic image. I think someone framed within it would look even better but probably would need a reflector or secondary light for the subject.

Loved this disused train station, got me working thinking about how train stations were used when they first came in to existence. No platforms, I wonder how safe it was just to board straight from the rail itself?

Overall, really pleased with how these images came out. I definitely I am looking forward to exploring this film stock more in different conditions. Certainly would be good to see how it fares under different light conditions, landscapes and portraits too!

Fuji GSWiii & Fuji Pro400H At Home

Common photographic thinking tells us that we should use the right camera for the right job. So what do you do when you are bored out your mind and are in the middle of a pandemic?

It is a question that many of us have thought about in the wake of being limited by geography. The pandemic has hit us all in very different ways, generally for photographers specialising in the landscape or portrait photography beyond their immediate realm or home.

In a moment of absolute genius or sheer desperation, I thought why not experiment using the Texas Leica, officially known as the Fuji GSWiii to shoot some flowers indoors. For the measure, throw in some recently discontinued Fuji Pro400H. What could possibly go wrong?

It is impossible to know how the images would eventually come out and that’s the beauty of medium format film photography in itself. There’s no cheeky look at the view screen, no immediate feedback, so you can carry on in your own merry way. Having said that, there are many ways to mitigate any disastrous consequences; using a light meter and carefully composing the shot are just to name a few.

Eight minutes and eight frames later the shoot was done. So fast, you exclaim! No, alas the development would take many more weeks before I finally got to see the beautiful 6x9 negatives in their full glory.

In my excitement to get going, I initially put the roll on the wrong spool before realising the errors of my ways. On a side note, the little spool release buttons are great. Makes the whole job of putting the 120 rolls in a breeze.

The first shot, out of focus and misaligned. I immediately realised my mistake and measured the distance between the subject and the camera, changed the settings on the lens, reframed and shot again.

A little better for the second shot although the flowers laying across the table have been cut off. The viewfinder in the Fuji GSWiii is helpful but in my short time of using it can be a bit off. Always frame your image and then take a step back just to make sure your getting everything you want inside the frame.

The tulips came out quite well, the colours in particular came out strong. I was pleased with the next few shots. Although the idea of shooting the flowers from below the table and mirror, is something I probably will not be doing again any time soon.

The very last image was taken on a larger table and is my favourite image out of this set. The colours are all well balanced and the framing is just right for me.

What did you think of the selfie?

CineStill 800T Pushed On Yashica Mat 124G

The cold, wet and windy conditions continue to brace these shores. What’s better than sitting indoors for long periods of time? Go a cold wintry walk!

I’m loving the square format and the size of the negatives on the Yashica Mat 124G and had been itching to try some CineStill 800T on it for some time. I decided to go for a long walk and hunt for subjects to shoot in low light. After donning many, many layers and a beenie (not much natural insulation on top at the minute) I headed out in to the urban jungle.

Fortunate enough, I have shot with both the camera and film separately so this would be a good test of how far I could push the CineStill on this camera. What kind of images could I get?

The first thing to note with the Yashica Mat 124G is that it has an internal light meter which can deal with up to 400 ISO. Now this creates an immediate challenge on how to shoot with film beyond 400ISO. There’s no reason to panic though- simply push the film +1 stop in development and you’ll be all set with correctly exposed images. For ISO 3200 films such as Ilford Delta 3200 or Kodak P3200 just push the film +3 stops in development if shooting with this camera.

Mathematics aside, let’s dive in to the first shot. This newsagent seemed like a good port of entry. The light falling out from the shop has a nice blu-ish tinge to it and the halation of the LED lights have come out well too. In retrospect, I think this image would be better if, I just moved to the left a little more to capture the customer at the till so as to capture the sense of the place more. In post I raised the highlights a little bit, its a subtle change but I like that additional edit.

Walking along the road a little further down, I saw this Chicken & Chips shop with a large front glass with lots of light falling outside. The framing wasn’t too challenging and Lady Luck arrived as a customer walked right up to the till as I was readying to take the shot. There was a small bench to the right which in the original image is not very noticeable however in the second image with the edit you can make more of it. I wanted to highlight the texture in the foreground to give a little more sense of depth and scale in the image. However the edit has made the light a little flatter which may or may not be of be of taste. Overall, both the images work really well. This is certainly one of my favourite shots from this set.

Shooting petrol/ gas stations is a right of passage with any film photographer and I wasn’t going to pass up on the opportunity to do so. I do find it a little ironic shooting the petrol station but at the time of writing this perhaps we are reaching the end of the fossil fuel age? (I hope!) The image has been well rendered with some resemblance of the foreground too. Ideally more street lighting would have definitely added more depth to the image.

I think if I am going to shoot petrol stations again, I probably will use my Fuji GSWiii 6x9 on a tripod at night. The main reason is the landscape format would allow far more detail of the station to come out and it would probably be a more imposing image. Perhaps what is lost most in this square 6x6 format is the dead space above and below the station.

That is main reason why I probably subconsciously walked across the other side of the road to get a closer perspective which would fill the frame more.I decided to leave off the far left edge of the station banner to create this sense never ending length further. I brought the highlights down in the edited image to bring a bit more emphasis on the forecourt. Overall, pleased with both images.

I carried on hunting for a new subject, however there really wasn’t much available to shoot and the lighting with in most part very poor. As I framed up this local newsagent I had envisaged seeing a much brighter foreground areas with the light spilling out from the shop. However, this was not to be. So I compensated for it by bringing up the highlights and finer details are more present in the edit. It was far more in tune with what I had in mind when I originally took the shot.

One of the biggest learnings from this evening walk was the limit to which CineStill 800T will work in extremely low light conditions. The motor shop sign in this image didn’t come out but is a good example of when not to shoot with this film (unless you have a tripod and do a long exposure!). The more ambient light available on the street the better your CineStill film will fare get you the image you are looking for.

Green washing forecourt came out well as there was a little bit more light available in frame. Perhaps taking the image from the side where the purple colours are popping would test the film more.

Have you used one of these self collecting boxes?

The last image comes out well and a realistic capture of this cinematic film. However from the outside, there is not much information. As a result, I increased the highlights a little bit more in the edit which brings out the street corner better. Overall, would have been better to have kept the green tinge from within the shop.

Overall, CineStill 800T performs well in well light low light conditions the best. If you are looking to push the film a bit further you are more likely to get more context in the foreground in very low light conditions but will probably have to compensate by using a tripod and accept the grain and muddiness of the image may increase. Happy Creating!

Apocalyptic London with CineStill 800T on Nikon FA

We all love the cinema; the films, the emotion, the story. Trying to recreate that cinematic feel has been made easier by the crowd funded CineStill brand which removes the remjet layer from the original Kodak films for the film photography enthusiast to have fun with! 

I am a big fan of futuristic type films such as Blade Runner but what drew me in more was the rendition of colours and light. I always wondered how the filmmakers were able to achieve such depth and unbeknownst to me it was this special cinematic film that was being used. 

It was an absolutely delight when I heard that this film was available to shoot with and after making several calls to photography specialists around the UK, I landed my first few rolls that had literally just arrived at the wonderful Analogue Wonderland (www.analoguewonderland.co.uk) Their friendly service dispatched the films that very day and I was so excited start shooting with this film as soon as possible! 

I decided to find an evening to shoot this roll in Central London, where I could find bright lights in to the late evening. For this walk, I took my Bronica Zenza ETRS medium format camera. Fifteen shots of high density cinematic film were about to be shot! 

Wandering the streets, I took my time framing each shot, trying to capture scenes which afforded plenty of night light. This being a test roll, I wanted to see how these images would fair under relatively bright night conditions. 

It wasn’t until many weeks later that I would find out from my developer that there was something seriously wrong with the images. Ricardo had seemed really worried when I initially spoke with him about the issue but he had taken the time to research the issue and postulated that the Remjet layer had not been fully removed properly. As such, when developed, it created this large orange haze across the whole image. Later, Magda emailed me some links to forums where this was being discussed in much detail. Turns out there was a whole batch of this film which CineStill was now recalling.  I called up, Analogue Wonderland and as usual they took care of everything with ease. 

Perhaps surprisingly, I am quite pleased with how the images have come out. The tungsten lighting has been amplified in deeper red/orange colours and in contrast with the black in the images, it gives a really apocalyptic feel to the set. Brighter white lights gave a bright yellow feel (the Waffle Cones image!) and it would have been interesting to see how other similar scenes may have come out too! My favourite image is right at the end of the selection, walking towards the West End theatres. The large lit billboards, street lamps and taxi headlights with the red sky and floor give a real feel the pandemic times we are all going through today. 

What is the Remjet layer? 

This is a black layer made from a coating of black particles that is found on motion picture Cine film.  

What is its purpose?

The Remjet layer protects the film from static and halation of lights and is most commonly used on Kodak films. 

What needs to be done in development?

The black layer must be carefully removed during the development process. If it is not properly removed it can lead to the images coming out with a dull orange complexion as you can see from the video. 

How can I save time and money in development of motion picture film?

The easy answer is to use CineStill 800T. Their film removes the Remjet layer for you so you can process it with ease in C41 chemistry. 

However, there are some downsides to pre-removal of the Remjet layer. It will lead to your images coming out with halation of any lights in low light conditions. If a subject and location is chosen appropriately the images have a great potential to the viewers delight! 

Another advantage of using CineStill 800T is you can use develop this film from the comfort of your own home using C41 chemistry, or simply take it to your local developer! 

No thank you, I want to use the original motion picture film! Where can I get that?

You can get Kodak Vision 3 200T and 500T Colour Negative Film from specialist film stockists. A simple search online will point you to a wide range of stockists closest to you. 

Pushing Fuji XTRA 400 3 stops on Nikon FA

Nikon FA with a roll of Fuji XTRA 400 had been sat waiting to be shot... but by the time I got to checking it again it had expired. Now more than ever was a good time to experiment with some 400 ISO film. 

Over a few weeks I carried my Nikon FA and looked for opportunities in the evening to shoot a few shots until done. 

If you are pushing film to the max and shooting at night, you should expect there to be a muddy brown tinge to the images. 

In a nutshell, I found that in very low light conditions a muddy brown look gets more amplified. It is possible to reduce this in post after if required but depending on what your aiming for you might just keep it. 

The last image of the petrol station was one of my favourite shots from the roll. With a bit more experimentation using brightly lit areas it would be fun to see how else other 400 ISO film would fare! 

Overall, it certainly worth playing with in different conditions but remember to end all good shoots with a good a place to eat! 

Expired Film on Yashica Mat 124G

Whatever you may have heard, shooting film is generally quite an expensive venture. So why not try and find a way to make it just a little more affordable than usual? With that in mind, I went off searching for expired film. I had for a while wanted to shoot on Velvia Fujichrome 50 but I hadn’t really set an intention of specifically looking for this film when I went about researching. After googling expired film online and then venturing through eBay, I looked through quite a lot of different rolls available online. At the time, I knew I wanted to shoot Medium Format so at least that narrowed the search down to 120 film roll.

eBay became the main source of expired film researching. In a way, it is pretty lazy but made logical sense with the ease of the search process. Anyway, I narrowed the search focus to £10 and this helped to filter the results. Lots of different rolls available from Black and White to Colour Reversal films. Film stocks which were recently expired were generally the most expensive. As a rule of thumb, as the age of film increases the cost of film decreases. However, the bidding process online I feel adds an inflated price to the film stock which is based more on desire than in actual practical value of what is being bid for.

Velvia Fujichrome 50 is a well-respected and well sought after film. If you’re serious about your photography at some point you have purchased this film for your own use. After much research about this film stock on online forums and discussions with fellow film photographers I was quite excited when I first came across this batch of expired roll from 1998/99. The images showed generally well looked after boxes of the film and whilst I didn’t know how well they had been stored (Refrigerated film is the most sought after!) it fit my price point for £10 so I threw it in the virtual basket and parted ways with some sterling electronically.

I wanted to explore something away from the city so chose a seascape location that I had never been to before. Eastbourne looked like a good shout and had some variety which would fit in nicely with some film photography. Every journey is made more enjoyable with some company, so Lucas joined along for the drive down. I packed up my cameras and asked Lucas to bring along his Yashica Mat 124G which he had been raving about for a while now. He had been given this camera from a friend of his he found it lying around and thought Lucas would probably make better use of it. I figured why not? Just see what happens with the Velvia?

Traffic was quite heavy on the way in and admittedly I had not really planned out a route to a specific point. A bit of fly-driving led us to some fortuitous free parking near the beach. The weather however was holding up and plenty of good light with some cloud. We headed out and dumped our gear on to the beach. After scoping out the options we metered up and then Lucas pulled out the Yashica Mat 124G. The wind was picking up so with his back to it, he briskly loaded up the film in the cold breeze.

The Yashica had been through a lot. It reminded me of when I took my Nikon for a service a few years back and the delight to which the shop keeper had for seeing such a worn camera. The camera’s scratches are just a testament to the quality of the product but also that it was used for a purpose. It wasn’t just a keepsake. I dialled in the ISO settings and adjusted the shutter speed in line with the on-board light meter - it was working just about right when matched with my handheld light meter.

The TLR format gives you a totally unique experience. Adjusting to the waist level finder is fun along with everything flipped the other way! At first you have to adjust and get used to the setup. It can be quite easy for you to walk around with the camera like a duck with its head stuck in the sand - but with a view! Be careful, if it’s your first time walking around with one, you can easily lose awareness of what is around you.

Seeing things from a new perspective got me moving and interacting with my surroundings in different ways. It almost feels like you are more connected to your frame and along with the limit of 12 shots on the roll you take much longer and think more carefully about the shot you are about to take. If you don’t own a TLR but would like to get an idea of partially what it’s like you could hold your phone or SLR at waist level and click away (mind you that would not be the same experience in many ways!).

Given the age of the Yashica, I wasn’t surprised to find there were some issues with shutter. A few times I was left thinking whether the shutter was still stuck inside and whether I had overexposed the shot or not? Other times it worked just fine. Seeing that I have some spare roll, I’ll need to give those a whirl to see if my hypothesis is correct! That’s for another time, however. I didn’t venture too far with the camera; time was limited as it was late afternoon. I focused on getting some street style snaps of people walking by and then took a few of the buildings along the walkway before turning back towards the ocean to finish off the roll.

All in all, it was a fun experience, I’m quite pleased with the outcome, even though it was just 3 shots. The shots themselves had lost their colour rendition but a little tweak in Adobe Lightroom into Black and White really made the images grainy and textured. The images communicated of a time gone by and I really loved what I got!