Blog Note: See You in the New Year

The Ag+ Process blog will take a break this season until 2018.  See you then!

Polaroid: The Missing Manual

The Polaroid Originals magazine brings us an interview with the author of the Polaroid:  The Missing Manual.  Rhiannon Adam has extensive experience with creative Polaroid techniques, a large collection of books on the topic of Polaroids, a collection of Polaroid cameras and now a book on the topic that explores techniques with the iconic film.

The interview is interesting just to find out what can be done with a simple Polaroid.  From beginner to enthusiast, this book has something for everyone.

Video: Platinum Printing

Lomography has featured a video on the platinum printing process.  Specifically, the glycerin process for developing platinum prints.  There is nothing like seeing to learning.  While expensive and requiring a negative the size of the print, the look of a platinum print is unparalleled. The platinum prints out directly onto the surface of the paper, so the final print has the look of the paper, unlike a glossy silver gelatin print.

The Unblinking Eye offers a nice article on Pt printing. A less expensive alternative to the Pt print is the Kallitype, Freestyle offers a kit that uses this silver-based process that gives a similar look, though not as permanent. To make the Pt print more stable, often palladium is added, for the Pt/Pd print.

Last Minute Holiday Picks

Before this blog takes a break for the season, here are a few holiday picks from around the web.

Lomography is offering free express shipping on orders of €200/£200/$200 or more.  They also have a deal on 15% off film, use code FILM15.

Kodak has their wares on display, many film photographer goodies there.

Japan Camera Hunter has a few items on sale, including JCH 400 Street Pan.  Some cameras and lots of accessories here, pouches and boxes for holding film, an adapter for 35mm to 120 format, and of course Street Pan.

Polaroid Originals has cameras, film packs, and gift sets at special prices.  There are extras like a photographers bag, instant camera filters and more.

Business Cards on Film

Cinema Printing Company London Ltd is printing business cards of your own design on genuine Kodak movie print film.  Film Strip Creator will print from 4 to up to 12 frames of your design on a strip of 35mm film.  The design is up to you, but you may also add a soundtrack of George Eastman himself, founder of Eastman Kodak, pronouncing that “It’s a great satisfaction to be able to speak to you from the medium of this wonderful invention.”  The only known recording of his voice, made in 1930.  On film, of course.  Credit: George Eastman Museum.

Price, 100 strips from £20.00 ex. VAT.  Ships worldwide.

The Best 35mm Compact Camera

Welcome to December everyone.  Hamish Gill invited Roger Hicks to write about the Best Compact 35mm Camera.  Good luck with that!  The article plumbs the depths of history to find the best compact camera, but can he find one?  Read on to find out.

Polaroid Originals: The Magic of Polaroids

Polaroid Originals produces an online magazine which this month features a piece on the chemistry behind the Polaroid print.  A presentation recorded on SoundCloud features a 15 minute or so in-depth talk by Polaroid Originals Scientist and CTO: Stephen Herchen.  Stephen describes the make up of an integral Polaroid print, the chemistry behind the development process inside the print and the magic pod of chemistry at the bottom border of every Polaroid print.

An integral Polaroid print consists of 12 layers on the lower part of the print, an air gap between that and a transparent sheet of plastic at the top, which in turn has 4 layers coated on the inside of it.  Of the 12 layers, 3 are colour sensitized silver crystal layers, much like any colour film.  Below each silver halide layer are colour dyes.

These dyes use the subtractive colour model to produce the final colours in the print.  When a particular colour of light coming into the camera activates one of the colour sensitive silver crystals, that crystal pins down the dye that is below it.  e.g. If red light from a subject, such as an apple, strikes a red sensitive silver crystal, the cyan dye below is pinned by the development process.  The red light does not activate the green sensitive or blue sensitive silver layers.  So in development, the magenta and yellow dyes are then freed from below the green and blue sensitive layers.  The dyes then combine and diffuse to the top layer to make red in the final print.  (Combining yellow and magenta makes red.)

In fact, there are more than 50 chemical processes involved in the development of a Polaroid.  One of the most important components in the developer pod is an opaque dye that covers the sensitized silver layers as the print is ejected from the camera.  This protects the print from exposure to any further light while one of the most complex man-made chemical processes does it work.  One of the last steps of the carefully timed chemical reactions is to make that opaque layer transparent.  Then, voila, a developed print.

CineStill bwXX

CineStill has re-introduced a limited run of bwXX film in 35mm format.  At time of writing, priced at $9 a roll.  This film is the venerable Kodak Double-XX motion picture film.  This classic film stock has been left relatively unchanged since it's release in 1959 for still and motion picture use.  This ISO 125 film has been spooled onto non-DX coded cartridges.  Development times available from Digital Truth as always.

Ilford Papers

Previously, the Learning Zone for Ilford developers was presented.  It is well worth visiting the Learning Zone to see what may be useful to learn, and we can all learn something new.  Today, the posting on printing papers offered by Ilford are covered.

The posting explains the various types of papers:  RC vs. fibre base, grades, etc.  These things are common to all papers, whether sold by Ilford or not.  It is informative to know as a photographer, even if one does not intend to do printing in the darkroom.

Even a handy spreadsheet chart is provided listing all the papers sold by Ilford and their properties as explained in the article.

Read on!

Bonus, there is an Experts section, with topics such as split grade printing or hand colouring B&W prints.  Worth a look.

Black Friday 2017

Happy Thanksgiving, for those who are celebrating it.  That means Black Friday is not far behind.  Far from the maddening crowds, online offers are available.

Polaroid Originals is offering a 20% discount on all triple film packs, which include some specially made for the occasion.  Also on sale is the Impossible I-1 camera, at an impressive 50% off.  Starting Thursday night.

Japan Camera Hunter has a few items on sale.  KEH Camera is extending its 180-day warranty to a 365-day warranty on lenses and cameras rated from LN to BGN.  Offer ends December 31st, 2017.

Paterson Photographic is offering a free ball head with the purchase of any Benbo monopod from November 24th to 27th.

Interested in a pinhole lens for your camera?  There is a Kickstarter for that.  Thingyfy is offering a pinhole camera ``lens' for just $38 plus shipping.  This pinhole lens is different from body cap pinhole lenses.  It actually looks nice, it features a 58mm filter thread and the price is competitive.  Available in 7 different mounts.  The Minolta A, Nikon F and Pentax K mounts would be the relevant options for film cameras.  Also offered is the pinhole lens previously offered by Thingyfy in another Kickstarter.  The project is already funded 7x over, being funded in 2.5 hours.

Disclaimer:  your blogger is invested in the pinhole lens offered by Thingyfy.

Ilford Developers and Chemistry

Ilford is one of the more popular makers of B&W film, papers and chemistry  As such, they have a section called the Learning Zone to explain the variety of products that they purvey.  Back in the Spring, Ilford developers were covered - they have ten film developers alone.

As such, they would like the buying public to know which developer is best for a given situation or desired outcome.  Some developers are intended for hand processing, others for machine processing.  Some are powders, other come as ready to mix liquids.  There is a specialist developer, Phenisol, for X-ray plates, sheet film and their Ortho Plus film.

Read on!

CineStill 120

CineStill has released 120 format negative film in both the 800T and 50D emulsions.  It is available direct from Cinestill and Adorama is also carrying the new format as of writing.

The film can be processed in C-41 or ECN-2 chemistry and pushed up to 3 stops.  It gets rather contrasty at ISO 3200, apparently.  The material should be used within one year of manufacture to preserve latent image latitude and colour fidelity.

List price is $12 a roll.  Other formats sold are the original 35mm still format, 16mm movie format and Super 8 format.

Polaroid Asks Fujifilm to Cease and Desist in Trademark Spat

The Phoblographer reports that the remnants of Polaroid, the company left over after the Impossible Project created Polaroid Originals, is requesting Fujifilm to cease production of Instax Square film. The issue is that the border of the Square format Instax prints violates Polaroid's registered trademarks.

The iconic border, of a squarish rectangle within a larger rectangle with that tab at the bottom, is registered trademark of Polaroid. While usually white in colour, the trademark stipulates that ``color is not claimed as a feature of the mark.''

When the new Instax Square film was introduced in January 2017, Polaroid sent a letter to Fujifilm. Fujifilm went ahead with the product anyway. The similarity of the new format instant film probably looks too much like Polaroid film for their taste. A redesign of the Instax film is probably not possible.

That tab at the bottom of an integral instant film picture contains the developing chemistry for the image. Without it, no image is possible. Does this spell trouble for Instax Square even in the year it is being introduced, or will Polaroid benefit from an agreement with Fujifilm? Could this development potentially orphan the yet to be produced Lomography Instant'Square camera?

Another story to watch in the analogue photography world.

* Disclaimer: This blogger has backed the Lomography Instant'Square project.

IndieGoGo: Silberra Film

While the Reflex-S camera Kickstarter has been a huge success, with over 120% funding with 23 days remaining as of writing, the Silberra film project is progressing more slowly.  Your blogger will be investing in this project within the 11 days remaining for the campaign,  You should too.
The Pan200 seems popular, and word is the ORTA orthochromatic films are near ready for production.
While the risk of losing money on the deal is a possibility, the founders are offering to present Plan B at the end of the campaign and an opportunity to receive a full refund.

If that is not a good deal, then what is?  Crowdfunding is one of the few ways for a small company to raise funds today.  While some have had limited success, such as Film Ferrania, Silberra is producing film now.  Lomography has had campaign after campaign, successful many times over.  Hamish Gill of the 35mmc blog puts it this way in his rant, "If these products succeed, more will follow!"  Putting a few dollars in now, will help you over the long run.

Should projects fail due to neglect by the buying public, there may be nothing left to buy if the big players pull out.  Film is inherently the ideal business product, always turning over product over time.  Small businesses should be able to make a living in analogue photography, while giving photographers what they want.
Should crowdfunding analogue photography fail repeatedly, some conjecture this will kill small business in analogue photography.
Back Silberra. Just one step of many to the future.



Disclaimer: this blogger intends to back the Silberra film project.

Kickstarter: Reflex S Camera

The Reflex S camera has gone public with a now fully funded Kickstarter with 26 days to go as of posting.  The camera is a modular unit with some unique features.  First is the I-Plate interchangeable lens plate.  The camera can take one of any of four lens plates.  The options are:  universal M42 mount, Nikon F, Olympus OM. Canon FD and Pentax PK.  Kickstarter backers can choose any one of these plates, or order more mounting options as extras.  This gives the camera a good selection of glass out of the gate.

Second, the removable back.  Like many medium format cameras, this camera allows you to remove the loaded film in a cassette with dark slide.  This makes it possible to change film in the middle of a roll.  One would need to buy more of the backs to do a swap.

Third, the camera has not only a flash with three power levels built in, but also a continuous light LED lamp, also with three power levels.

And fourth, if the project makes the stretch goal of £150k, an Arduino based Bluetooth LE option will be added to each camera to push camera settings to a phone or tablet (Bluetooth LE is commonly available on recent devices).  This really modernizes the camera, while maintaining the full manual operation.  The electronics simply saves your exposure parameters to your phone, which you can conveniently use later to recall the settings used to take a shot.

One unique aspect of this project is that the plans and CAD diagrams for the parts of the camera will be made available publicly.  This means that parts can be fabricated by anyone with access to a 3D printer or 3D printing service.

As for price, a pledge of £350 or more gets the Early Bird special for one camera body (around $460 at this time).  The price rises £49 once the 250 options for this reward level are taken.  A camera with refurbished prime lens is £439 for the Early Bird backers, also limited to 250 backers.  Beware that the pledge amounts are taken on the close of the campaign, so currency fluctuations may change the effective price of a reward if you are not buying in British Pounds.

There are also a selection of accessories, such as straps and even Silberra film being offered separately and combined with offers.

As with all Kickstarters, once they take your money, a certainty now, the risk is in whether the project can deliver.

Polaroid Magazine

PolaroidOriginals has a feature magazine with great interviews with photographers, such as David Lynch or Oliver Blohms and even some off-beat interviews, such as with Blondie.  Yes, she is still touring 40 years on, and even has a new album, `Pollinator'. 

A good read.

This will be the last of instant film articles this week!

Fujifilm Instax Wide Monochrome Confirmed

Just a short note that The Phoblographer has confirmed Instax Wide Monochrome.  Best Buy in the USA is carrying the product for $18 per pack of 10 shots.  Emulsive was not kidding.

Future Film, Past Film

Well, the major blogs are covering developments in the film world so fast, it is hard to keep up.  They are working full time on it, though.  Here are three stories making the rounds:

Petapixel amongst others are reporting on the collaboration of Kono! and Dubbel to bring us Dubbel films.  These are creative films made from repackaged Kodak film with special effects added, such as sunstruck or moonstruck effects.

On a sadder note, was Japan Camera Hunter's eagle eye finding a dull page on Fujifilm's site announcing the end of several films over the next year.  Petapixel has a link to the original story at JCH, worth a look, and a clear summary of the films to cease production.  On the bright side, we still have Adox, Bergger, Ferrania, Foma, Ilford, Kentmere,  Kodak and more left to source from for B&W, at least.

On the films being introduced side of the equation, a Russian group is looking to introduce Silberra B&W film.  The IndieGoGo campaign seeks $115,000 with a flexible goal.  This means that the project will be funded even if the goal is not met.  The plan is to produce both orthochromatic (blue sensitive) and panchromatic (all colour sensitive) B&W films, offered at ISO 25, 50 and 80 for ortho films and ISO 50, 100 and 160 speeds for pan films.  The Pan offerings will include a limited ISO 200 version.  Ortho films were the original B&W films, quickly superceded by pan films.  It would be interesting to shoot such a film, with the white skies typical of such emulsions.

Blog note:  film speeds edited for accuracy, 2017-10-31

Even More Instant Film News

As if this blog did not already have enough coverage of instant film, our friends over at The Phoblographer have a guide to the current instant film options available.

Next up, Fujifilm announced a new product using their new square format Instax film, the SP-3 SQ printer.  This device connects to your phone, tablet or Fujifilm digital camera wirelessly and prints 62mm by 62mm instant photos.  The resolution is nearly 320dpi according to specs, so plenty of detail in each print.  The phone or tablet app includes a minimal editor so that one can touch up an image before printing it.  This device bests the SP-2 printer, which only used Instax mini film.  The Phoblographer has a review of the SP-3 SQ already.  This is great news for those invested in the expensive SQ10 camera or the Lomo'Instant Square, since it offers more chances for the square format Instax to be a success.

Not only that, but Emulsive reports that Instax Wide Monochrome is real, nudge nudge wink. Not sure if this is a poke at those who would love to see this product or not.   None of the major retailers offer this alleged product at this time.

There is a tonne of news otherwise in the film world, from Silberra to Fujifilm's announcement of cuts to film production. More as the week progresses.

Reflex S Camera

The Reflex S Camera is the first newly designed manual SLR film camera in over 25 years.  There have been new electronic SLR film cameras since, but not manual cameras.  The project claims that the camera they will be producing will have updated technology.  Information is scarce, however if one signs up for their newsletter, you may receive more information and the announcement of their Kickstarter campaign.

The Kickstarter campaign will be announced to those who have subscribed to the newsletter before the public announcement along with community early bird offers.  The date for the Kickstarter is set for November 7th.

The project is developed by the team behind If You Leave.  If You Leave is a bit mysterious, but a search on Kickstarter turns up an IYL project.  That project in turn has a link to Tumblr.

No information is currently available on the lens mount system or the source for parts, such as the mirror or shutter, in case one wants to do repairs.

Followup on Instant Photography

To follow up on last week's instant film article, some further research turns up these tidbits:

• Fujifilm is releasing Black Instax (Facebook link).  The mini Instax film with a black border.  Looks great on an pumpkin orange background.  Available at B&H, Amazon and more for under $10 a pack.
• Also seen online is the Instax Mini Holiday Film bundle with 3 packs which have 10 different holiday themed borders.  No word from Fuji on this, but it is out there.
• Instax film is widely available if one looks:  big box electronics stores, big box office supplies stores, pharmacies, your local photo store if you are lucky enough to have one and more.  Of course, there is always online!  Just google for it.  Ken Rockwell recommends these online stores.
• Dan Bullman demos the Impossible I-1 camera on a portrait shoot.  Both colour and B&W I-type film are shown and he gives a peak at some of the features available with a smart phone.  This camera is still available as of writing on Amazon and B&H, but not seen on the Polaroid Originals USA site.  Maybe it is just me, but only the OneStep2 is displayed there.
• Unboxing of the Lomography Lomo'Instant Automat camera.  This camera comes with a box load of accessories and takes Instax Mini film.
• Review of the Mint Camera InstantFlex TL70.  Pricey, but most flexible in terms of creative control.  It does have its disadvantages, though.  Be sure to check the unboxing, see the links in the Youtube description.
• Keep exploring Youtube if you want to know more, it is out there!

Links: Instant Film Photography Today

Along with the resurgence of film is the resurgence in instant film.  Are the two tied together?  Or is it something else?  Whatever the reason, there are now more choices in instant film  and instant film cameras today than five years ago.  With the entrance of Fujifilm Instax and the revival of Polaroid Originals, came new instant film cameras and new instant film formats.

The Phoblographer featured a piece on the eight reasons photographers should shoot instant film.  To summarize, you should, it will teach you things as a photographer, and its cool.  Check it out.  Embedded in the article is the video of the author of these eight reasons, New York City-based photographer Josh Katz, listing these items with his take on why each is important to you.  Like all Youtube videos there is the rabbit hole at the end where Youtube lists possible videos of interest.

Here are a few of those videos that might be worth watching, for when you pick out your new to you Polaroid or Instax camera:

• Instax Wide Shootout!  This 20+ minute video covers the two leading Instax Wide format cameras in great detail with comparison shots from each camera.  Summary:  Lomo Wide for creativity and features, Fuji Wide for ready out of the box and gets the job done.  Worth the time.
• Polaroid 600 vs. Fuji Wide 300.  This video covers in depth pros and cons of Polaroid vs. Instax in under 8 minutes.
• How To: Getting Started with 8x10 Instant Film  An overview of Large Format instant film.  The core of which is the Polaroid 8x10 film processor, without which one has no final image.  Polaroid Originals (formerly Impossible) makes colour 8x10 instant film.
• Fuji Instax Mini: Mini 8 vs. the new Mini 9  The Mini 8 is no longer made.  This 8 minute video gives an overview of the new Instax Mini 9 format camera.
• The Ultimate Fuji Instax Camera Comparison 2017  The Ultimate comparison of the Fuji Instax lineup.  Just over 21 minutes.
• 12 Mistakes to Avoid with Instant Photography  Lauren and Rob list the pitfalls of instant photography and how to avoid them in ten-ish minutes.  Instant film is $1 a frame and up, mistakes can be costly!
• Polaroid Originals  The modern Polaroid fim maker.  Maker of the I-Type and OneStep2, and also sells vintage, restored Polaroid cameras, such as the Type 600, Spectra and SX-70.

Kickstarter: K-Pan: the 3D Printed Panaromic Camera

With explosive Kickstarter projects like the Lomo'Instant Square camera, it might seem that successful film camera campaigns are the norm.  Unfortunately, the K-Pan 3D printed camera is short of its £40,000 goal with less than a week to go.  At just over halfway, anyone who wants to see the gorgeous 6x14 panaromic chromes that can come out of this camera should visit the site.  Even if just to see the photos.  Bidding means you will either get the camera if the goal is met or your money back if it does not.  So no risk if you want such a beast.

Campaign ends October 24th.

Review: FomaPan Classic 100

Your blogger in chief picked up a roll of Foma B&W film, FomaPan 100 Classic.  This film cost less than $5 a 36 exposure roll in 35mm format and is DX coded.  A sample photo (below) taken from the roll was shot with a Deep Yellow Y15 filter in the afternoon.

The film lays flat with very little curl, making it easy to scan.  Being a traditional emulsion, there is some grain, though not much.  Tonality is good, and there is some latitude available when shooting in shadow.  The image shown could be adjusted to obtain just a bit more detail in the near shadow area.  Something in the workflow is doing autolevels, but it seems to work fairly well for the most part.  Image is unretouched but for autolevels, cropping scanner edges away and sharpening.

Copyright 2017 Ag+ Process.  Captured in Program Mode @ 24mm, Y15 filter

Sale: Lomography 15% Film Discount

Until October 17th, Lomography is offering 15% off film with the coupon code CHEER15 .  Find 35mm, 120 and even subminiature 110 format drop in cassettes of a wide variety of Lomo film.

From Lomo Purple and Redscale flim, to colour negative and slide film and even B&W.  Lomo also offers Super8 and 16mm motion picture film in the colour twisting Lomo Purple emulsion.

Just enter the coupon code (CHEER15) at checkout to claim your discount.

Offer ends October 17th!

Film is Not Dead: Interview with Kodak Alaris

Our friends at the Film is Not Dead blog posted an informative interview with Lars Fiedler of Kodak Alaris.  Delving into the supply issues of Portra negative film and the announcement of the return of Ektachrome, Charlie susses out that the market for silver halide is showing positive numbers and is a market worthwhile for Kodak Alaris to expand into.

The company is teaming up with Eastman Kodak Company to introduce Ektachrome on 35mm still format and 8mm movie format, Alaris producing the former and Kodak the latter.  EKC is backed by orders from the major movie studios, so has the wherewithal to re-introduce the emulsion.  Of prospects at Kodak Alaris, Lars puts it simply, ``we have no plans to reduce our portfolio!''

Bravo.  The choice in film is at new heights again.

JCH: Dan K on the Top 10 Manual Film SLRs

Japan Camera Hunter reminded us of a featured article by one Dan K. from nearly half a decade ago.  A top ranking page even today, this Top 10 List of Manual 35mm Film SLRs is worth a read.  The list comments on each camera, labelling one as ``agricultural'' and another as ``by far the most expensive camera mentioned in this review.''  No, that latter camera was not a Leica, either.  The comments are insightful and worth perusing.

So, while we take in this holiday weekend, lets give thanks for all the great hardware and glass that is available to us today.  There are plenty of places to pick up a film camera or lens:  KEH, B&H Used, eBay, Japan Camera Hunter or even ask Bellamy to find one.

JCH: The Plethora of 35mm Film Available Today

Japan Camera Hunter (JCH) recently posted a guest article, Why Film is Booming Today, by Stephen Dowling of Kosmo Photo fame.  In the article, Stephen estimated that that there are 75 different film emulsions available to the modern 35mm analogue photographer.   He lists them exhaustively, with reviews and links, in his blog entry, These are are the 35mm Films You Can Buy Today.

The article is broken down into three sub-parts, listing films from Adox to Fomapan, Fuji to JCH Street Pan and Kentmere to Rollei.

JCH released Street Pan 400 only 18 months ago, but is already busy announcing a new project, a compact 35mm camera.   What better way to use up all that film than putting it into a new camera!  Kosmo Photo estimates delivery sometime in 2018.  Some sources say that Bellamy, founder of JCH, rejects Kickstarter, so we shall see how it works out.

This past September has been jam-packed with analogue film news, from the widely report announcement of the return of Ektachrome by Kodak to the mysterious announcement of the first film SLR in 22 years, named Reflex-S.

Teardown of the Miniolta 40-80mm f/2.8 Gearbox Zoom

One of the weirdest lenses made, the Minolta 40-80mm f/.8 Zoom used a gearbox-like arrangement on the side of the lens for zooming and focussing. This is pretty much the only lens that used this arrangement.  LensRentals.com did a tear down of this fascinating Rokkor MC lens.  After opening up the lens and looking at how the lens focussed and zoomed, in their own words, "This is an intense little mechanical computer."
The report comes complete with an optical testing section, which provides a set of nice results for a 40-odd year old lens.  While wide open at 40mm to stopped down to f/5.6 at 80mm, the testers pretty impressed.
Minolta was pretty innovative it its heyday, and this is just one example of that.

Kickstarter: Lomo'Instant Square Wraps Up

The Lomo'Instant Square Camera Kickstarter is wrapping up within hours.  The campaign includes a number of goodies as add-on extras.  A set of colour gels will be included as a stretch goal.  One of the more useful add-ons is the Instax Mini back, that allows the camera to accept the smaller format instant film.  This somewhat future-proofs the camera should Fujifilm discontinue the Square format film for any reason.
The Fujifilm SQ10 digital camera was introduced earlier this year and offers the capability of in-camera printing onto the new square format Instax film.  The SQ10 has a few editing controls, such as brightness and some filters, similar to Instagram, such as sepia tone.
In contrast, Lomography is introducing their square camera as the first analogue square format Instax camera.
Also in the analog field, are the Polaroid Originals (formerly Impossible) cameras, including the recently released OneStep2, an updated version of the 1977 classic that takes Type 600 and I-type Polaroid film.
So, whatever you choose, there is a lot of choice out there, so start shooting instant film.  You will like it!

Disclaimer:  This blogger has backed the Lomo'Instant Square camera.

xkcd: Technology Moves On

As some may know, xkcd is a web comic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.  More to the point, it is sometimes a pithy commentary on the present.  Click, then hold your mouse over the image for more:

xckd on Obsolete Technology

#FilmIsNotDead

Hello, Polaroid Originals, Goodbye IMꟼOSSIBLE

With a public announcement on September 12th, The IMꟼOSSIBLE Project wraps up and Polaroid Originals is announced, along with a new Polaroid camera, the OneStep2. Back in May, the CEO of IMꟼOSSIBLE, Oskar Smolokowski, arranged for the purchase of the remaining parts of the Polaroid business by TIP. Once merged, all of the TIP film and camera business will continue under the Polaroid Originals brand name. A quick perusal of your favourite online photo store will now turn up Polaroid Originals instant film.
The familiar films from IMꟼOSSIBLE, the new i-Type, SX-70, 600 Type, Spectra and 8x10 instant films will all be available under the new name. Also introduced is the new OneStep2 camera, based on the original OneStep camera of 1977 with a few improvements, such as an aspherical lens. The new camera takes either i-Type or 600 Type film, has an internal rechargeable battery (unlike the Kickstarter Lomo'Instant Square Disclaimer: your editor is backing this Kickstarter), and maintains the ease of use of the original camera all for the low price of $99. Really, instant film is this easy to get into.  It is always a conversation starter and people love to pass around the photos, as your editor can attest. Polaroid Originals film is available readily online already, and for the retail slowpokes, the remaining Impossible film can still be used.
The launch of the Polaroid Originals brand comes with a new generation of colour film, sharper and brighter than the Impossible film that came before it. And with development time down to 10-15 minutes, it’s a big step forward for their instant colour chemistry. That is still not all that is new....
They have also unveiled a new magazine, Polaroid Originals Magazine, that covers instant film photographers and photography. Check it out!
Note that while the re-branding is going on, customer details, such as past purchases, new purchases from Polaroid Originals, email notifications and social media contacts are being merged, so that past customers of TIP should have a seamless transition to the new name.
This announcement is fantastic to hear given that this is the 80th anniversary of Edwin Land's Polaroid dream - to give a child a photo she can share in minutes. The choices today in instant film are greater than ever before. Good luck, to the new Polaroid!

Kickstarter: The Lomo'Instant Square Camera

Yet another Kickstarter for film photography? Yes, it is for the Lomo'Instant Square. A folding camera that shoots Fuji's new square format Instax instant film. Fuji introduced the iconic format film earlier this year along with a camera to expose it. The Fuji camera is really a digital camera that can print on Instax square film. The Fuji edition camera allows changing the brightness of the image and applying various filters before optionally printing the shot.

Before anything else, there is one thing to know about the Lomo'Instant at time of printing this article, and that is the Kickstarter offer has a special 35% discount available for backers in the first 24 hours of the offer. If you can get your pledge in before 0959 UTC (5:59am EDT), August 30th, you can choose one of the Early Bird discounted rewards that includes the phrase "Save 35%...". And yes, the Kickstarter is fully funded as of writing.

The Lomography offer includes a camera with a glass lens for sharp pictures, a folding design with a bellows, full flash control, a IR remote shutter control, automatic exposure, shutter times from 1/250 to 30 seconds and an optional portrait lens with a range of 0.5m to 0.8m (about 20" to 31") and many other goodies.

Lomography bills itself as the Lomographic Society International, "a globally-active organization dedicated to experimental, creative and analogue photography." They have had 7 Kickstarters to date. As with any Kickstarter, there is risk and product may not be delivered. That said, they offer delivery to just about anywhere in the world, with multiple delivery hubs, so that there will be no customs fees for the lucky backers in areas covered by a hub.

Disclosure: your blogger is a backer of this project at time of writing. Nothing like an offer with a deadline to loosen up the wallet - a well-known marketing tool.

Sample Graph of Reciprocity Failure for Ilford Films

As previously posted on Ag+ Process, the paper on reciprocity failure for Ilford films contains formulas for computing exposure times for long exposures. The longer the exposure, the less likely a given film will perform according to its box speed. For those with a hand calculator or calculator on a phone that has a y^x key, the computation is easy and just requires looking up a constant.

However, for those who prefer graphs, Ag+ Process has prepared a sample graph from the Ilford data for the first 30 seconds of measured (e.g. with a light meter) exposure time. It is possible to see that for a graph with longer times, reading the computed (Tc) times for shorter exposures becomes harder. Other factors can come into play as well for longer exposures.

To use the graph, find the curve for your film (they are colour coded and all but two films are labelled), then find the time along the horizontal axis (labelled Tm) from your exposure meter. Trace up vertically to the point on the curve for your film exactly above that time, then trace horizontally to the vertical axis (Tc). That is the time for the corrected exposure.

Here is the graph, click for full size:

Random News From August 2017

Film Ferrania

Film Ferrania has announced final shipping fo P30, their first attempt at commercial silver halide film. The black and white film inspired by Ferrania B&W movie film is high in silver content and gives a rich tonality. They plan to start selling P30 in their shop soon. With much more work to do at the factory, hopefully they can get to producing E6 colour slide film eventually.

Intrepid Camera 8x10 Kickstarter

Inptrepid Cameras has declared that their first 8x10 camera has just been assembled. At a svelte 295x295x75mm and 2.15kg, the camera is even lighter and smaller than announced on Kickstarter.

Kodak teams with Girl Skateboards

Kodak has teamed up with Girl Skateboards to produce skateboard decks and clothing with classic film branding from Kodak. “Girl videos have always been partially shot on film. The 20 plus years of our archived photos are all shot on film,” said Sam Smyth, Girl Skateboards. Check it out, lots of great shots featuring these boards and clothing.

Ilford Publishes Reciprocity Failure Table

Ilford published a document on reciprocity failure for Ilford films. The short, one page document gives instructions for calculating exposure times where the metered exposure is over one second. With a scientific handheld calculator, calculator app on your computer (in scientific mode) or a calculator app on your phone (when held horizontally), the y^x key can be used with the time factor in the document to calculate a compensated time. Due to contrast in the scene, development time may need to be reduced (pulled) due to different light levels present. Other factors may come into play affecting the exposure, so some experimentation may still be needed.
To see how Ilford's table works, consider Ilford Delta 3200 in a scene which requires 8 seconds of exposure time. The compensation factor at time of writing for this film is 1.33. So, on the calculator enter 8 (the time), press y^x, then enter 1.33 (the factor for Delta 32000) and finally press =. The result in this case is 15.889 seconds. Round this to 16 seconds and use for the exposure time.
Substitute the time from your exposure meter and the appropriate factor for the film you are using for your situation.

Minolta Maxxum Film Cameras and Lenses

One j.d. katz created a timeline of Minolta A-mount film cameras, from the original Maxxum 7000 produced in 1985 through to the Maxxum 50 and 70 produced up to 2006. The same A-mount is used on modern Sony Alpha series dSLRs. An adapter, the LA-EA4 may be used to adapt A-mount lenses to Sony's mirrorless cameras, which use the E-mount.

The Maxxum 7 and Maxxum 9 were flagship cameras in the Minolta stable. The Maxxum 7 had the most features of any of the series, and all features were accessible by dials or a single button push. The back on the camera has an LCD panel that displays exposure information. The display will rotate 90 degrees with the orientation of the camera, keeping the text horizontal.

The Maxxum line of cameras were marketed as Dynax cameras in Europe and as Alphas in Asia. The modern Sony Alpha name is inherited from Minolta; Sony acquired Minolta in mid-2006. Originally, the Maxxum mark had a crossed-XX much like Exxon's logo. Exxon won in a lawsuit against Minolta, so Minolta had to stop using the crossed-XX mark. Lenses so marked are rare and desired by collectors. There is no difference in quality between a given lens with the crossed-XX the equivalent one without.

Another eBay writer has a short article on Minolta lens bargains. These are overperforming lenses for the price. The list also includes some of the top performing lenses, with top prices to match, such as the Minolta 35mm f/1.4, a $1400 lens in its day. Recommended, of course, is the 50mm f/1.4, which still goes for a pretty penny today.

Wikipedia has much information on the A-mount system and this humble blog has more resources for the A-mount enthusiast.

One Year With Film Only: Stats from Film Dating App

Vincent Moschetti from One Year With Film Only reports the choices from his Film Dating app, a web tool to find the film with the that you like. Since there is no one best film, as in anything, the tool helps the beginner find the film that they are most likely to like. So, the purpose of the Film Dating service is to help the new film photographer to find the film with the look that particular shooter finds most pleasing.

Vincent breaks down the top results from visitors to his app, and lists the top 10 films selected as results. Keep in mind that such a survey does not resemble the market for films, nor does it represent any statistically relevant result. It is just for fun, and represents the choices of people who visited his blog. That said, surprisingly, Kodak film dominated the top three positions, with the number one selected look being a B&W film. Lomography films make a notable appearance, showing that they have a look that people are seeking out. See the results and his video blog where he explains the results.

We will leave you with some film related links from recent Phoblographer postings, a blog well worth following:

* Vintage Camera Review: Minolta Maxxum 7
* List of Every Polaroid Camera Ever Made
* Review: Kodak TMax 400 in 35mm and 120
* New Rollei Vario Chrome Versatile Slide Film
* Cinestill 50D Finally in 120 Film Format
* Film Review: Lomography Color Negative 100 120 and 35mm Formats
* Review: Ilford XP2 Super Single Use Camera
* Noobie Guide to Choosing a Medium Format Film Camera
* Six Film Emulsions to Travel With on Your Next Trip

Kodak Kodachrome Magazine

Kodak is introducing a new, limited edition magazine dedicated to the arts, film and analogue culture. Called Kodachrome, the magazine is 76 pages of illuminating features, photography and illustration. Issue 01 is selling for $20 and is available only in the U.S.A.

May was certainly a busy month in analogue photography, we'll be caught up soon!

Kickstarter: Intrepid Camera 8x10

Intrepid Camera have done it again, another blockbuster Kickstarter campaign. This time, they are introducing a compact, folding 8x10 camera. Using a Sinar front lens board and providing two different film holders (available as rewards with the camera), an 8x10 back and a 4x5 adapter back, both with ground glass included. It is also possible to combine their 4x5 camera with the 8x10 camera reward for two cameras for one price.

The camera weighs under 5lbs and comes with your choice of black, red, green or blue bellows. The basic camera alone starts at £480 (approx $620 in the US) plus shipping worldwide, the early bird reward of £425 is no longer available. The 8x10 film holder is being offered for just £45 more with a slight discount for buying two together, and the 4x5 adapter back is £80, again with slight discounts if purchased together with the 8x10 boards. The 4x5 adapter back will work with 4x5 film and Graflok accessories.

The camera has three front movements and rack and pinion focusing. The back also tilts in one axis. When thinking of film for this camera, keep in mind Impossible's 8x10 instant film. You will need a Polaroid processor to handle instant film. Apart from a range of B&W films and wet process (the back is sealed with wax), positive papers (such as RA4 process papers) can be used.

There is no lens included, but Sinar lens boards (140mm square) may be used. Intrepid plans to offer their own Sinar compatible boards to make finding one easier. Adapters to Linhof/Technika boards are planned. Used lenses can be sought out on eBay, KEH, Catlabs and elsewhere. Keep in mind that 325mm or so is considered the normal length for 8x10. This page offers a list of lenses and compatible shutters.

Less than three weeks remain, though the campaign is fully funded multiple times over, with more than 300 backers.

LomoChrome Purple Film

Lomography has launched their new and improved Lomochrome Purple film in 35mm. Amongst other specialty films, this color shifting film changes blue to green, green to purple and yellow to pink. Check out the other Lomo films and the KONO! Reanimated emulsions for more creative, even bizarre perceptions of the world

Challenge your creative vision!

Kickstarter: Lomography Neptune Convertible Lens

Lomography is introducing another insanely successful Kickstarter, the Neptune convertible art lens system. The basis for this lens is a common base attached to the camera, then a series of front elements that attach to the base on the camera. This gives the photographer a set of lenses that are much smaller in size, since half the lens is already attached to the camera.

At this point, the Kickstarter includes 4 lens options: 3.5/35mm, 2.8/50mm, 4.0/80mm and now a 3.8/15mm. There are two aperture options, a standard continuously adjustable aperture, and a series of aperture plates to add shapes to bokeh. The lens system supports full frame, so works with many film camera bodies. Compatible lens systems are Canon EF Mount, Nikon F Mount and Pentax K Mount. Check the Kickstarter page for more details.

Billed as a prime lens system with superb optical quality, the campaign offers a deep discount on the retail price. Less than two days remain on the Kickstarter offer, which is fully funded five times over.

Today is World Pinhole Day 2017!

Today is the day to eschew glass and make exposures onto film or paper from a pinhole. Make your own camera, adapt a camera you already have (make a pinhole in a spare body cap of an interchangeable lens camera) or buy a pinhole camera from a shop.

Today is the day to make those exposures, then process them. If you wish you may upload selected images to the World Pinhole Day Gallery. Submission closing date is May 31, 2017.

Visit the Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day site for more information.

Film Ferrania ships film!

Finally, Film Ferrania is shipping the latest batch of P30 B&W film. Since April 7th, apparently. However, there have been some delays due to quality control. Once all the pre-orders are filled, then the shop will be opened to sell P30 film on an on-going basis, no pre-order required.

That is all for now.

Around the Web Wrap-up for the Week

Plenty of news out there in film land. Film Ferrania is working on their first batch of P30 B&W film for sale to the public. Still no further news as of writing on the status that, their web page just says the pre-order sold out. Hopefully, we will see something soon.

The Phoblographer continues great coverage of silver halide related topics. A quick article on shooting with expired film, a piece on the troubles at Kodak, and an article with videos featuring Nick Exposed on buying used film cameras. Nick points out that celluloid-based photography is getting popular again, and with the lack of new film cameras, prices are going up, but there are still deals to be had.

Chris Gampart at the Phoblographer is going to do a series on every emulsion in 35mm or 120 that he can get his hands on. The first of the series tests Lomography XPro slide 200 film in 35mm format. This film is called XPro for cross-processing, a film for experimenting. This series should be exciting to see, as it is hard to economically test every film made (there are so many of them now!), since most of us do not have easy access to many of the brands out there. B&H levels the playing field for most of the world, but shipping and handling costs money, too.

Not to dwell on just one website, #BelieveInFilm has some great articles on the Leica Sofort, a wrap-up of five must-see film photography tweets, including the release of Cinestill 800T in 120 format, and yet another analog photography Kickstarter, the Optiko photobook. #BelieveInFilm also has a nice piece on shooting expired Instax film. Great site, a must see.

Finally, Nick mentioned in one of his videos, Mathieu Stern, with his collection of lenses, some adapted to modern cameras and some made from scratch, is well worth a visit. See Mathieu's YouTube channel, below.

Mathieu Stern's YouTube Channel

Phoblographer: The End for Pop Photo?

The Phoblographer is reporting that the end for Popular Photographer and American Photographer magazines is nigh. These major photography magazines, held by the publisher, Bonnier, were the cornerstone of photography publishing back in the day. Today, the claim is that the March/April edition will be their last.

The popphoto.com site as of writing still accepts subscriptions and is publishing new web articles, such as this one on the COOPH rope strap for Leica cameras.

Keep an eye on this unfolding story.

New: Lomography Color Negative Film F²/400

Lomography does it again, coming out with something new for film photographers. Revived from a jumbo roll of Italian film stock stored in the Czech Republic for 7 years, Lomography Color Negative Film F²/400 is available for a limited time. Due to the size of the jumbo roll, only a limited amount of film is available. Price for a ten pack is around US$50. Supplies are going fast!

Lomography gushes that the film has "a wonderfully unique aesthetic with traces of the distinctive X-Pro look. What’s more, it produces beautiful blue tones in certain shooting conditions, making it perfect for experimenting!" At this price, well worth experimenting with and getting a unique look.

The past year has been great for film aficionados, with the new Ferrania P30 Alpha, Japan Camera Hunter Street Pan 400, and more.

Around the web, see also Vincent Moschetti's review on Petapixel of Kodak Ektar 100 for landscape photography. Vincent has some nice pics of Ireland on this film.

Kickstarter: LAB-BOX

Yet another Kickstarter! There seems to be no shortage of projects to support film photographers. The newest is a lab in a box, the LAB-BOX. A modular, daylight-loading tank for processing 35mm or 120 format film. One tank can be used for either format thanks to a slide on adapter, one for each format.

Started in Rome, Italy by ars-imago international, the project hopes to release the LAB-BOX to the world by September, 2017. The company consists of two stores, one near the Vatican in Rome and one in Switzerland, serving film photographers.

Basic cost for one film loading module and the tank is now €79 for the Early Bird reward with one tank of your choice. The campaign is in fact fully funded at over €160,000 of the €70,000 goal. Rewards are going quickly, but the campaign is not over until March 28, 2017.

The unit seems simple to operate and can be used without a darkroom. The film adapter is first attached to the tank, then the film placed into the adapter and the cover placed on the assembly. All in subdued room lighting, not a darkroom. The film is then loaded onto the reel in the tank and processing chemistry is poured in over the top cover. The tank is drained through the front edge of the top, the corner of the tank itself forming a small spout to cleanly pour out.

The tank is ideal to use with a Monobath developer, a single step developer that includes the fixer. With a monobath, B&W film can be developed less than 10 minutes at room temperature. For those who wish, one of the rewards includes the tank, B&W film (your choice of format) and a monobath developer marketed by the company. Another alternative, is a caffenol developer packaged with the tank.

As with any Kickstarter, the more complexity the greater the risk.

Kickstarter: Phoblographer Analogue Zine

Our friends at Phoblographer are Kickstarting an Analogue Photography Magazine. The Phoblographer himself says that his blog covers more film photography than any other major blog, and if you check out the past couple of weeks' worth of links, you would have to agree.

The goal is to get a rougly 100 page, soft cover zine on matt paper featuring silver halide photography with four featured artists. His reasoning is that film photography looks best on paper, so he wants to bring that to fruition. This is not his first foray into zine-land, the premium Phoblographer offering is La Noir Image, an online e-zine that features B&W film photography. At $15 a year, the e-zine is not too expensive, but gets them experience publishing beyond the blog format. Certainly, it is tough to keep publishing regularly day, but these guys have pulled it off so far.

Funding for the project is due February 22, so support his campaign soon if you would like to see a magazine about film photography!

Check out these recent links to Phoblographer articles on film photography:
* Dedicated film camera repairman
* Make a film negative from Fujifilm FP-100C pack film
* Quick comparison of Tri-X to JCH Street Pan 400
* Introducing Bergger Pancro 400 B&W film
* Kodak explains why underexposed film gets a green tint
* Four modern analog film photographers to inspire
* Change.org petition to bring back Kodak Infrared Ektachrome
* Japan Camera Hunter to bring Street Pan 400 to 120 format
* She Shoots Film, a magazine on women photographers
* Adox announces construction of a new factory for film production
* Story of a video ad shot with a Nikon F5 film camera, 36 shots at a time
* Ilford animation on how a film SLR works
* Building a 4x5 film camera

Whew! Those are just the analogue photography links! Support your community, vote with your dollars!

Film Ferrania: Release of P30 ALPHA

The Film Ferrania website is slow responding at time of writing. The news though, is that the project has followed the wishes of many who commented on the update in December, Firsts!, where it was revealed that test rolls of a B&W emulsion were made. The test runs were for evaluation of the film producing machinery and to test their emulsion formulas.

The scan of the film shown in that update brought many to ask for access to that film. And so P30 was launched, a classic emulsion with a lineage dating back to a 1960s emulsion made by Ferrania of the same name, with a cinema pedigree, ultrafine grain, and very high silver content. The project hopes that with this ALPHA introduction of the film, much like an alpha release of software, will allow feedback from photographers and rapid improvements to the film and the process of making the film.

While the initial roll of film showed various defects, it is hoped that when the film is released in mid-Februrary, that most of the defects seen (such as bubbles formed on the emulsion during coating, scratches, dust, etc) will be greatly reduced or eliminated.

The film is ISO 80 will be available by mid-month in 35mm format.

Kickstarter: See, Think, Do cards

Eddie Soloway is holding a Kickstarter to print his See, Think, Do cards. Each card has a photo on one side and an inspirational idea on the other for landscape photographers. Like a walkabout in your pocket, the cards can help push one to make that magical shot. Eddie has been teaching a landscape photography for 20 years in a workshop called "A Natural Eye", and for over half a dozen years he led National Geographic seminars on "The Art of Nature Photography." He had designed the cards for a workshop, and had demand for even more once he handed them out. The cards on Kickstarter flow out of these first set of cards.

The Kickstarter is fully funded, and will end on January 31, 2017. Like all Kickstarters, there is risk, so buyer beware.

Project Apollo Images

The Project Apollo Archive contains thousands of shots made on specially modified Hasselblads. On the Apollo 11 mission a Reseau plate was installed between the film magazine and the camera, giving the precision cross-hairs seen in the photos. The NASA history site describes the following films used on the missions:

"Each film magazine would typically yield 160 color and 200 black and white pictures on special film. Kodak was asked by NASA to develop thin new films with special emulsions. On Apollo 8, three magazines were loaded with 70 mm wide, perforated Kodak Panatomic-X fine-grained, 80 ASA, b/w film, two with Kodak Ektachrome SO-168, one with Kodak Ektachrome SO-121, and one with super light-sensitive Kodak 2485, 16,000 ASA film. There were 1100 color, black and white, and filtered photographs returned from the Apollo 8 mission." -- NASA

The project started in 2009, on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo missions. The film had been stored for 40 years in freezers at zero Fahrenheit (-18 Celsius). After carefully bringing the film to room temperature, a Leica scanner was used to obtain 5 micron level of detail (around 5,080 ppi).

Browsing the photos on Flickr are much lower resolution, but the high resolution scans are available for downloading or sharing. LIke almost all works by the US Federal government, as enshrined in the Constitution, the photos are public domain.

A nice shot of home from the lunar base:

#BIFscale17

Believe in Film, the film photography news blog, is celebrating Redscale Film for the month of February to banish the blues! Try some ready-made redscale film, or make your own (just re-roll the film with the emulsion facing out). Post your images on tumblr with the hashtag #BIFscale17 .

Suggested themes are Fill Your Bucket List and Geometric Shapes. Try something different, just to see how it will turn out. Submit your results by March 15, 2017 for a chance to win eternal glory!

Phoblographer: Interview with Florian ``Doc'' Kaps

Our friends at Phoblobrapher did a short interview with the lead at Impossible instant film. He reveals the true inventor of instant film, his projects with New55 for replacement pack film and why he got into instant film.

* Impossible Project
* Save Pack Film
* THIS Interviews Impossible
* Impossible Introduces 8x10 Colour Instant Film

ILFORD Inspires!

Ilford Photo by Harman Technology presents ILFORD Inspires, a series of global events to encourage people to use traditional film photography. The featured photographers and artists demonstrate the use of film to inspire and demonstrate the art of the analog medium through their unique talents. The concept is to present a well known figure whom you want to listen to present how they use film. A YouTube channel has been created to show case the presentation. One exciting fact that is revealed in the Introduction to the series, is that sales of Ilford film have increased in 2016!

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CES: Kodak Ektachrome

As has been reported widely, Kodak Alaris (the company that makes Kodak film and is independent from Kodak since 2013), has re-introduced Ektachrome colour transparency film at CES 2017. The film will be available in Super 8 movie film format and 135-36 still format.

This is a boon for Kodak Super 8 motion picture filmmakers, whom have had to either use colour negative films or Tri-X B&W reversal film. Now a direct from camera to silver screen workflow can be used. Still photographers can gain from the return of an iconic film stock that has been discontinued since 2012.

Kodak is also unveiling a Limited Edition Super 8 camera to be introduced in the Spring this year, with a consumer variant available later in the year. The camera has been developed in conjunction with filmmakers, directors and amateurs and is claimed to capture incredibly high quality images on Super 8 film.