120 Film Shootout

There are many film photography blogs on the net with carefully set up tests complete with technical charts and measurements meticulously documenting every nuance of different films, cameras, lenses, or photography accessories...and this is not one of them.

This is the ramblings and test shots from a photographer trying out a bunch of different films to see which one best suits his style. A film I want to make friends with so I can work it as a medium to depict how the Sonoran Desert feels to me.

I don't measure or rate gear, I use it.

So, with that disclaimer out of the way come with me to the Sonoran Desert (and my back porch) for Fistful of Film's very own:

First decision is color or black and white. Once film's loaded in the camera, I get 10 shots I need to shoot, have developed, and scan. No take-backsies.

There are a lot of amazing photographs in black and white of the Sonoran Desert. I've created a lot of my own I'm proud of, but I didn't feel like I truly created anything new.

Black and white feels safe for me, but I want to dive in to something different. Something outside of my comfort zone.

So for today, color film it is!

Catlabs X Film 100 Color

First up, Catlabs X Film Color 100 film.

This one is relatively new on the market and is rumored to be repurposed Aerocolor blah blah blah, don't care.

Had a roll processed and scanned at a higher end lab. It's more than sharp enough. Loved the unique blue in the sky. but man did it come out like I had an orange filter on the lens.

I didn't.

Any film I tested I tried to get some backlit shots. Desert sun is as harsh as sun gets so understanding how film will do is important to know for creating images out here.

Short of it, the detail is amazing-sharp, the grain almost nonexistent, and it really takes a beating shot straight into the sun.

CatLabs did not get a fair shake. I had these scanned at a high-end lab, meaning the lab technician color corrected and adjusted them. No idea how much of these results are because of the film itself, and how much is the technician's interpretation. There's definitely enough good here, I mean really good, that it's worth exploring further.

Portra 400

Everybody loves Portra, and for good reason. As Steve Jobs said about his Apple products, "it just works."

I like it too, but if I'm going to shoot color, I want COLOR. I shoot film to see the world in a new exciting way.

I like Portra and might use it again but it's too neutral for me. Very close to what you would get with your cell phone.

Might be a little more pastel than your cell phone. I see why people like the look, it's just not MY look.

But, and this is a big BUT, if you want a film that just works producing photographs limited only by your creativity, for every photographer like me who does not like it, there are a hundred producing amazing work with this film. Worth at least trying.

Ektachrome 100

Now it's time to burn some serious cash.

At nearly $20 a roll, you're spending $2 a shot for ten shots of Kodak Ektachrome 100 with the Pentax 67. That's before the more expensive developing fee because it needs to be dipped a bunch of different times in different stuff in the dark room.

Why then? Why use it?

Because it's the good sh*t.

It is a color slide film which means you are a millenial or younger if you don't know what that is. Look it up though, it's cool. If you like film photography, at least try it. It's an experience unto itself.

Everything just looks a little more 3D out of the camera with Ektachorme. It's a little easier to get that wow factor in plain old daylight. And in the desert, most of the year is plain old daylight.

In fact, I think I tried too hard with a lot of these test shots. I shot in the evening or on gray days because gray days are such a rarity in the Sonoran desert, I wanted to spend them using the fancy Ektachrome.

But, put it out in the sun, and it shows off color like nothing else.

Anyway, beautiful as Ektachrome is, I could not tame it for what I wanted to do.

Work with the film shooting what you know will work in ideal conditions and it's great.

I worked with it a lot for a couple of weeks during blue hour trying to get a Maxfield Parrish look.

But I could never quite get that 'pop'.

Overexpose it a little bit and everything washes out.

Which could be an intentional look all by itself, I guess, if you feel like some creative play in that direction. The above does look like the 104 degrees farenheit it was when I took that picture.

Expose for the highlights (brightest part of the image) and everything else disappears pretty quick.

In other words, if you want the color of the sunset, that's all you get.

Still, by all means try it. There's a lot you can do with it and get results you can not get from anything else.

Lomography Lomo 800

So far on this film list, we've covered the high resolution, lower ISO, stuff. Lug around a heavy tripod, lock the Pentax down tight, tilt, pan, compose, focus and set your settings in as many different zones as you can meter, and you can have 300 megapixels of a crystal clear print that can fill any size wall you like.

But sometimes you just wanna pick up your camera walk around, explore, and shoot.

Maybe you're walking around and see something that could make a nice photo.

Then maybe you took that photo, and something comes along that might make that shot even better but you gotta hurry because it's going by kind'a fast.

Lomography 800 is one of my favorite films for snapshots. It's fast. That means you can use your monster camera handheld and the images won't be blurry.

A lot of the earlier shots in this episode were handheld. You don't need to look too close to figure out which ones. They're soft, they're blurry. They're just snapshots. But, usually, when you go through the trouble of loading up film, you want the film to do what you want it to do. A lot more goes in to a film photograph than digital. Notice all the dust and scratches? It can take hours to get rid of all that in post. It takes a lot of work just to make one print.

Overall that's awesome. I got to this point in photography because I love everything about it but sometimes you just want to take snapshots with an 'everyday' cheaper film and Lomo 800 is my fave if I want to, say, take some street portraits southwest style.

Don't underestimate it though. This is still medium format. Here's a shot of my cat Leia pining for the days before I had a film camera and she got more attention and belly rubs.

It's taken in my screened in back porch. Outside is shaded by a monster mesquite tree. It's dark for film photography but 800 speed is fast. Look at her eye. It's reflecting the screen panels of the back porch and our green storage shed beyond.

There's some grain but it's the good kind. The kind that lets you know it's a film photograph with a classic film look

In fact, I'll take it on a hike when I don't feel like lugging an extra 20 lbs. of gear around.

Lomo 800 handles backlight beautifully too. I can just carry my camera with me when I want to loosen up and be creative without overthinking it.

And get up close shooting handheld? Well, not too close. That's a Teddy Bear cactus and, ask any Sonoran, it wants to hug you sooo bad and come home with you.

Below is this photo cropped in on the center.

The sharpness and detail are there. Get a dream shot, and you can make it fit to print. I used to get shots with high speed on digital or film that looked great on a phone screen but were taken with cheaper gear or film so I could not blow them up and print them. Now there's Lomo 800. If you like the picture you took, you can use it however you want.

Kodak Ektar 100

Finally, the closer. Kodak Ektar 100.

Coming full circle, if you look at photographs I took with My Kiev 6C in my former Florida life, all the color shots are with Ektar 100.

But that was hardly my first time using it. I have tons of shots with little 35 mm and it has been an on and off favorite for years.

I just could not make friends with my old standby in the desert. Part of the problem was I was trying too hard to be stubborn and shoot it handheld. Everything was coming out soft. Colors were kind of off and dull, or just weird.

Plus, I was shooting with too narrow a depth of field for what I was trying to depict.

Then a couple photos reminded me it is probably the sharpest film on the market. Plus, what they say on the box is true. It really is the worlds finest grained film.

Then I remebered the other important thing about Ektar: It loves light. Some guys like cooking with an iron skillet because you pour that heat on and sear the daylights out of everything you cook on it. take it off when charred on the outside, warm on the inside, it's delicous. Ektar is the iron skillet of the film world to me. Just pour that light on. Worried about the shot not coming out? Double the exposure time. Your fine. You can't overexpose it unless you lock open the shutter and walk away for a snack or something. High noon daylight is fine.

When I saw the below test shot I was hooked...again. It was maybe 3pm which, in the Sonoran Desert, might as well be noon. The sun does not soften until maybe 15 minutes before sunset here.

Even in bright sunlight, Ektar has its own special color pallet.

None of these photos are, well, I won't be entering them in any contests. But I needed to start by working the material to get a feel for it. As you have seen, a lot of different looks can be gotten with the same film. And I needed a few rolls of not thinking, just shooting. Needed to learn how to work the material in the desert. Now I can get to work.

If you are in to film photography or are thinking about trying it out, I hope this helped for your own exploration. It's more work, but it's worth it. You'll create something magic no one is creating with digital.

See you next Sunday right here on Fistful of Film!