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.