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I like to think I have an open mind when it comes to different film stocks, but it’s easier to write that than to practice it. Thankfully thanks to these reviews I’ve found that I have come to like several stocks that I once derided. It would be in that category I will place Kentmere 100. Kentmere, once an independent company saw purchase in 2007 by Harman, and today is manufactured by our friends at Ilford. My first couple experiences were fairly terrible, especially the first and second rolls, but in those cases, I’ll chalk it up to the camera and my own mistake inRead More →

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The North American film photography community can probably thank Mike Bitaxi for the introduction of Polypan F. And to make things more interesting, the film is not intended for pictorial work. Instead, Polypan F is a motion picture copy film. As such the film is a blue-sensitive orthochromatic film, but looking at it, you can hardly tell. But if there is one thing the film is known for it’s the GLOW, thanks to the lack of an anti-halation layer on the film. Sadly the film was discontinued, but there’s still plenty of bulk rolls floating around. Undoubtedly worthwhile trying if you come across it. IRead More →

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Svema, or by its proper name, Свема is a film stock that is relatively unknown here in North America unless you are of course fans of the Film Photography Podcast. The name comes from the combination of two Russian words, Светочувствительные Материалы, translated means Photosensitive Materials. While Svema collapsed when the Soviet Union died in the 1990s, another Eastern European film manufacture, Astrum, continues the legacy of Svema using some of the old machinery in a new factory in Shostka, Ukraine. If I had limited experience with the 100-speed version of the film, I have even less with Foto 400. The only time I’ve shotRead More →

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Svema, or by its proper name, Свема, is a film stock that is relatively unknown here in North America. But if you’re a fan of the Film Photography Podcast you will have heard of Svema. It would be Svema Foto 200 that first burst onto the FPP scene, and quickly became a favourite film of Leslie Lazenby. The name comes from the combination of two Russian words, Светочувствительные Материалы, translated means Photosensitive Materials. While Svema collapsed when the Soviet Union died in the 1990s, another Eastern European film manufacture, Astrum, continues the legacy of Svema using some of the old machinery in a new factoryRead More →

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In the category of gone too soon is New55 and their amazing film stock, Atomic-X. Now, this isn’t the first time I’ve spoken on Atomic-X when they first started releasing just their negative material for their revival attempt at the iconic Polaroid Type 55, I grabbed a box of one-shot envelopes to try out. The Atomic-X negative was in reality based around their goal of a Postive/Negative material, however, when I tried the New55 PN I got no usable results, the envelopes fell apart on me or the chemicals failed to spread it just became a disaster. But when they offered up 25-sheet boxes ofRead More →

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Before Plus-X there was Verichrome Pan. The two films have rather similar looks, but if there was a film that defined the look of the mid-century, that is the 1940s through 1950s of the 20th-Century that film is Verichrome Pan. Despite its age and the mid-speed nature of it, the film today remains surprisingly stable, having shot some that had expiry dates of the late 1960s. Designed as a general purpose film for the average consumer who at the time of its release in 1956 had nothing more than a box camera the film had a wide exposure latitude to overcome the disadvantages a boxRead More →

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Back in the early days when I was just starting to explore the wonderful world of films outside of Fuji, Kodak, and Ilford I hopped on the Freestyle website and discovered two brands of film I had never heard of before and landed myself a variety of Efke and Adox films. Today I’m going with one of my favourite of these ‘classic’ emulsions, and that is Adox CHS 100. Like Efke, CHS films are silver rich, grainy and lands you a mid-century classic look. Sadly, the original CHS 100 ended when Fotoimipex closed down shop in 2012. Adox, however, bounced back and still produce onRead More →

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The rain was not supposed to be in the forecast I thought as I flipped on my wipers. The sun had yet to rise as I drove south towards the GO station. I made a mental note to check the weather when I got to the station, hoping that it would end before the meetup was set to start. Or at least die out enough to actually get out and do a walk. It rained the last time I went to the islands for Toronto Film Shooters Meetup, it was less pleasant the last time as it was in the Summer. The rain was aRead More →

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You might call Delta 3200 the fast film that survived. When Kodak discontinued P3200, Delta 3200 survived. And even Ilford had one thing that Kodak did not, the 3200 speed film in medium format. However in this case I wanted to shoot all the review rolls in 35mm, for a future head-to-head post. However, at the time I could could get two rolls in 35mm and had to take the third in 120. I have to say, having shoot the stock before I am far happier now with the results than I was then. While not a fan of films faster than 400, I foundRead More →

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It is only fitting to round out the first 100 reviews with the final single digit film camera from Nikon, the mighty F6. The F6 is the last film camera to be produced by Nikon. And while the Nikon FM10 is still produced, it is in fact, made by Cosina rather than Nikon itself. It is also worth a note that this particular F6 is the final one to be sold by Nikon Canada. While the F6 was produced in the age when most professional photographers were shooting digital regularly, the F6 turned into a camera more aimed at the advanced amateur who wanted thatRead More →