Film Photography News — October 2024 Recap

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What’s new?

Kodak is no longer selling Vision 3 film reels for bulk loading, photographers are terrible at telling which black-and-white film a photo was shot on but we can expose it with LEGOs — which is pretty cool.

Lomography released Lomo’Instant Wide Glass, “the world’s sharpest instant camera,” and a fancy version of their Lomomatic 110 camera. Jagglé’s Berlinova daylight film processing units are on Kickstarter, Polaroid’s new film is Reclaimed Green, the Crown & Flint app gets an update, and Analog Sparks declares competition winners.

💛 GOLD members get full access to the new in-depth course, “How to Edit Film Scans” and “Hands-on With ZH1, a WORKING LEGO Film Camera.”

🎁 GOLD memberships are on sale until December 31st! Use 2024FREEMO during checkout to get your first month free. You’ll get access to all premium articles, apps/features, and help support this ad-free independent blog. In this Community Letter: What’s new? A new course on editing film scans. Kodak is no longer selling Vision 3. Black and white films kinda all look the same, according to this study. Lomo’Instant Wide Glass, “the world’s sharpest instant camera.”” New Lomographic 110 variants. Hands-on with ZH1 — a working LEGO film camera. Jagglé Berlinova daylight printers on Kickstarter. Polaroid’s new film is green. Analog Sparks contest winners. Crown & Flint app update. Becoming a creative professional. Latest on Analog.Cafe. Support this blog & get premium features with GOLD memberships!

A new course on editing film scans.

If you ever wondered how you could improve your film scans, this course is for you. This structured read covers all the steps, from scanning to negative inversion, colour corrections, dust & scratch removal, sharpening, and cropping.

“How to Edit Film Scans” goes deep into all aspects of scanner resolution (also includes a high-res sample download), teaches a few helpful, simple techniques for better results with any software/hardware, and suggests limits to avoid quality loss while taking full advantage of film’s versatile gamut.

This illustrated text course is available for GOLD members. (You can get your first month free — use 2024FREEMO at checkout).

Kodak is no longer selling Vision 3.

Eastman Kodak Company is no longer selling Vision 3, Ektachrome, and XX motion picture film for bulk loading. While all those films are still in production with no plans of discontinuation, still photographers can no longer purchase this film directly from Rochester without offering proof that the film will be used to make movies.

While the change isn’t new (this has been the case since March), it became apparent to me recently, so I contacted CineStill, Analogue Wonderland, Analog Amsterdam, Reflx Lab, and Kodak to see if I could get any clarity or comment.

Reflx Lab was the first to confirm the fact, adding that they are now forced to purchase their bulk rolls through a third party at a greater cost.

Paul from Analogue Wonderland got back to me also, suggesting that this change will mean less choice of film for us but also help new photographers avoid issues buying film from brands that aren’t doing a particularly good job respooling their film.

I’ve also heard back from CineStill, who respectfully declined to comment on decisions made by other manufacturers. Kodak did not reply.

Naturally, this news upset a few people, though the full implications aren’t clear. The film I bought this summer to make Cinema Shorts came from a motion picture studio, which had no trouble purchasing from Kodak. Analog Amsterdam, a retailer that sells Kodak Vision 3 film in Europe, reported no issues finding their supplies. And CineStill has not mentioned any difficulties in getting their stock.

Perhaps we’re OK?

(More reporting on this story can be found here.)

Black and white films kinda all look the same, according to this study.

Have you ever thought that most black-and-white films look the same?

I certainly had a lot of trouble deciding between stocks when I started with film photography. I’ve since learned that there’s a lot more to consider when choosing film than the look it may render. Yet, I haven’t gained any mystical powers that would help me flawlessly identify black-and-white films since (I thought I would).

A small study that took the “What The Film ?!” game scores of 573 players shows that it is, in fact, exceptionally hard to tell black-and-white films apart. On average, just 37.6% of the guesses were correct. And that’s based on multiple-choice questions, some of which had only two options!

I am now working on an expansion pack for the WTF?! game which will include colour films (with a follow-up study). If you’d like to help me test our colour film eye, please upload your colour-negative and slide film scans today.

Your photos may appear in the game and get featured in the new videos Daren and Yvonne are filming this month!

Lomo’Instant Wide Glass, “the world’s sharpest instant camera.”

Lomography recently launched an Instax Wide camera with a coated glass lens that it claims is “the world’s sharpest instant camera.”

Of course, the sharpness of your images will depend on the light, motion, and your ability to zone focus — especially at close distances. The photo above is an outstanding example of the camera’s capacity to make compelling portraits full of definition and impressive background separation with its 𝒇8 lens at the closest focus distance of 0.3m/1’ (see the full specs and a bit more about the camera here).

The camera isn’t perfect, as Ben outlines in his latest In An Instant video review. Yet, at $279, it’s probably the cheapest glass lens rig you can get with Instax Wide film.

New Lomographic 110 variants.

Speaking of cheap Lomography cameras, the Lomographic 110 seems to have been a huge hit when it launched this March at $99. Multiple versions of this camera are now available, with a new $189 brass version  added earlier this month.

Hands-on with ZH1 — a working LEGO film camera.

You might’ve heard of a working gingerbread film camera, but have you heard of a working camera made entirely out of LEGOs? You probably have if you’re subscribed to Community Letters.

This month I’ve had the pleasure of testing and sharing my experience with this unique invention that may someday become an official LEGO kit:

“Hands-on With ZH1, a WORKING LEGO Film Camera.”

The above article has tons of samples, photos of the camera as it was disassembled in front of my eyes, a full explanation of how it works, and the quirks that came with this unique way of shooting film.

(You’ll need a GOLD membership to read this article, which is currently on sale; use 2024FREEMO to get the first month free).

Jagglé Berlinova daylight printers on Kickstarter.

I covered Wicher’s fascinating endeavour to create a daylight wet printer in last month’s Community Letter, and I announced the launch of the Kickstarter campaign to fund his project earlier this month.

Berlinova is a clever enlarger design that could make wet printing easy and accessible for people who don’t own darkrooms or don’t have enough space for a traditional enlarger (it can even be used on the road).

Check out what this project is all about and consider supporting it if you’d like it to materialize!

Polaroid’s new film is green.

One of my favourite things to come out of the last Polaroid factory was the Polaroid Reclaimed Blue film. Looks like this year, it gets another go in a new colour.

The Reclaimed films aren’t like the Duochrome series. Duochromes are black-and-white Polaroid films with a dye added to create colour out of the monochrome frames. However, that colour is additive, which means that Duochromes have no whites — the lightest shade you’ll see is the colour of the dye.

Reclaimed films are deconstructed colour films. Reclaimed blue has a (nearly) full spectrum of shades from navy/black to white with the most colour showing in the midrange. Reclaimed Green is the same film — but with a yellow dye, giving it a unique spectrum of shades.

Polaroid Reclaimed Green 600 film is available on their website, and it costs less than the colour film packs.

Analog Sparks contest winners.

Analog Sparks announced winners in their second annual competition that centers around film photography. Talented recipients who got the top spots get cash prizes (up to $2,000), recognition, and exhibition space in the House of Lucie Galleries in Ostuni, Athens, and Budapest.

A bit more about the announcements and winning photos can be found here.

Crown & Flint app update.

Crown & Flint is a film-tracking app that lets you take detailed field notes and digital snaps to complement and augment your scans. The app recently received a major update, which is documented here .

Becoming a creative professional.

In the last bit of this newsletter, I’d like to direct your attention to my short essay about switching careers (at least for a while) to run this blog full-time.

I’ve held many jobs over the years. The first one was being a dog walker, which I later upgraded to a stock boy. Then I was a server, then a stock boy again, a carpenter assistant, and a logistics factory worker—on and on—until I got the senior software engineer position at WebMD. But I’ve never allowed any of those jobs to consume me wholly. There was always something else.

For the past seven years, that “something else” was this blog. But now that it’s my job, I’m afraid there’s no space in my life for anything else except my home and my family, which strangely feels right.

This essay documents a career transition that guarantees less income and no time for hobbies, yet it is a very special one as the job is film photography.