December 2023 Roundup
Howdy folks. Here are some ramblings about things I’ve been thinking about this month. No one is asking for this, but here it is. Buckle in, put on this chaotic playlost, and let me know what ya think.
Film & Analog Things…
So many new new films were released these last few months and I am hyped. I have my mainstays (I’m mostly an HP5 & FP4 girlie), but when I get an opportunity, I hope to shoot some of these newly-released emulsions.
Starting with the big one: Harman Phoenix 200 Colo(u)r film. This stuff looks grainy and contrasty and punchy - not quite my style - but what I do love is that this is a completely new color emulsion… from Harman of all companies! This is huge news and - I hope I’m not jumping the gun saying this - it signals a big commitment from a major manufacturer to film production & innovation.
Also released this month is Northeastern Photographic Acadia 100 Color Film and Woods and Waters 250 B&W Film. Yes, it is re-spooled cinema film, but from the examples I’ve seen, it looks great. The folks at Northeastern Photographic are great and on the rare occasion I shoot slide film (or I want my film developed in 510-pyro), I send it out to them. Acadia is native E6 with the option to cross process as C41; Woods and Waters “has a legendary tonal scale with delicate reproduction of highlights and shadows.” Sounds good to me. Finally, I love Maine and Acadia National Park, so they get some bonus points there from me.
Gonna keep this one short and tiptoe around the recent CineStill drama, but I heard they’re about to start shipping out their 4x5 Color 400D film. The original plan advertised a Fall 2022 release date for 4x5, but that date has come and gone pretty quickly without any updates until now.
Speaking of crowd-funded projects… I (naively?) backed a Kickstarter in July 2020 for the Escura Hasselback: an Instax Square/Mini back for the Hasselblad. I still have not received it and I’m grumpy. There have been other companies that have come out with similar products in the time I’ve spent waiting for this. Will I ever get it or should I assume this money is gone for good? If it does show up, will it even work? I’ll keep you updated.
Lomograflok Frustration & Shooting in the Cold
More like Lomogra…fuck why is this spitting out film? What am I doing wrong? Oh my god turn it off!
Let me say, I love the Lomography’s Lomograflok back. I originally bought it as a quick way to check lighting for sheet film. Folks used to use peel-apart film for this process, but unless I want to spend $10+ a frame (for expired, unpredictable results), that’s not a possibility. The Lomograflok uses Instax Wide film, which is still produced and much cheaper. A downside is that it’s not 4x5, but you gotta take what you can get.
As soon as I started using the Lomograflok back, I was hooked. It is addicting to be able to quickly iterate with a large format camera. Take photo, make adjustments, repeat. And the results are awesome - sometimes I don’t even shoot sheet film and just have the Instax as the final product.
This all being said, there are a few issues I have with it. For one, I consider the Cameradactyl Integrated Shim to be an essential accessory if you’re planning on using the Lomograflok with any frequency. I’m happy to support Cameradactyl - he does great stuff - but at the same time I’m annoyed to have to buy a third-party accessory that should have been included from the get-go (for almost half the price of the original item!)
Secondly, what prompted me to write about the Lomograflok is it’s performance in the cold. Below 40°F or so, when you press the button to eject the Instax, it ejects your Instax. Then another. Then another. And by the time you realize what’s happening and that you need to turn it off, you have already wasted some frames. At about $1 a frame, it’s not great. I posted about this on Instagram last winter and multiple people reached out and said they have similar experiences. I live in Minnesota, so it’s a good chunk of the year where using the Lomograflok outside is basically off the table.
Quality control for Lomography products isn’t known for being the best, and it seems this product is no exception. Aside from the cold weather issue, the Lomograflok I bought has what I assume to be a loose electrical connection. I can get it to work mostly consistently with some adjustments, but I want it to work all the time. When I contacted Lomography, they sent me a replacement back… but the replacement back didn’t work (for a totally different reason). So now I just make due with what I got and I don’t shoot it in the winter.
Thanks for reading and I hope to write more of these in the future. Topics ideas include media I’m consuming (music, movies, etc.), a review of whatever camera equipment I’m currently using, a deep-dive of my Dec 1 photo show, how I trained my dog to “speak” using buttons, and more.