It has almost become strange to get snowfall in the south of England. I remember, when I was very young, when winter days would bring in several days of snowfall. Now, we get a few hours if we are lucky. This winter seems more colder than usual, but this has probably been amplified by the lockdown so when we got a break in the weather, I grabbed the Yashica T5 for a long walk.
It was a bright sunny day and the skies were clear. First time using the Fujicolor ISO 100 film which has been imported to the UK. It had been a while since I had shot some colour film and I really wanted to enjoy the walk while documenting it in a simple way. Enter the Yashica T5 compact camera with its f3.5 Carl Zeiss lens, with ISO 50-3200 range.
I decided to wonder in the direction of the countryside through the urban metropolis. Wandering through back streets and main roads along the way I took the opportunity to capture some new graffiti and the now dilapidated billboards along the way. Sadly, no Banksy style art here but the occasional Covid denials art got captured with the low-lying winter sun.
‘With the introduction of (New Super Uniform Fine Grain) technology, the reproduction range from highlights to shadows has expanded. By matching with the excellent graininess unique to ISO100, it reproduces a natural skin color with good connection. Product application: High-sensitivity fine particles for daylight / general photography. ISO sensitivity: ISO100’
Source: https://www.fujifilm.com/jp/ja/consumer/films/negative-and-reversal
This was an enjoyable film to shoot with. If you want a grainy colour film stock with a slow speed rating, then this is a good shout. If you compare it with Kodak Ektar 100 then it certainly has more grain and more subtle colour renditions.
I shot some images of the sky and there was a strong push towards the blue end of the colour spectrum. The images have an old cinematic feel to them, something from the 70s or 80s! I wonder if I had shot some CineStill 800T or Kodak 500T how similar the images would have been as these tungsten balanced films also produce a blue tinge when shot in daylight.
In comparison when shooting in an area with dry grass the colour came out more orange, perhaps due to the film pushing towards the away from the red end of the spectrum. Ultimately, there is no push to balance out the spectral sensitivity in this film which is one thing to carefully consider before shooting!
Fujicolor 100 is sold as an ‘Industrial’ film, I’m not entirely sure what this means! However, if you are looking for a film that does create a cinematic style look in daylight conditions then you should definitely shoot a roll or more.
The short winter days with their low light and occasional blue skies are enjoyable when they come! I enjoyed the casual nature of shooting with the Yashica and the Fujicolor 100. Next time, I may even take another slow rated ISO 100 film for comparison. I wonder how it may look in an ‘Industrial’ or even a ‘bright light’ setting?