For today’s Film Friday, I selected Fuji Pro 400h in 35mm.
In early 2021, Fuji had announced that they were discontinuing Fuji Pro 400h in both 35mm and 120. I did a Film Friday in June on the 120 film. Despite its unexpected axing, the medium format is still selling at some online photographic retailers, at its standard retail price.
Sole Survivor: The only single in date roll of Pro 400h remaining
Sadly the same can’t be said for the 35mm, which is now gone forever… unless you go on eBay or similar sites, where they are selling a single roll from £20 (or even twice the price).
I did manage to buy a few rolls last year. My intention wasn’t buying them for keepsakes, I did want to put them into great use one day.
Fuji Pro 400h has a decent speed of 400, quite the standard ISO for general shooting – a good all rounder. The film has been recommended for wedding or portrait photography, due to the colour quality and fine grain.
Best Burgenstock Views: It was very high, trust me I was a little nervous looking down
I tested out two Pro 400h rolls while on holiday To Switzerland around six months ago. I went to Burgenstock and Pilatus, two famous mountains. I had shot the film on the Olympus XA2 camera.
The Way is Pilatus: Enroute, there and leaving
My aim was to do landscape photography from the highest peak, on and from the mountains. The outcome came out good after processing and scanning, although they would have been better as darkroom prints.
Cows in Burgenstock and Cable Cars to Pilatus
Most Fuji colour films produce vivid greens, due to the layers and often have the finest colour quality with its tones and contrasts. Like the Pro 400h, scans of the mountains were highlights and examples from the results.
Pilatus Rocking and Rolling!!
I have two 400h rolls left in the fridge: one expired from last August, something I did deliberately, and another still in date. Hopefully, I will shoot them both for the final time very soon…
For today’s Tried and Tested Thursday, I will be talking about shooting a roll of expired Fuji Superia Xtra 800 on the Olympus Mju 1.
The Superia 800 was originally a Film Friday in late 2020, an eBay buy plus expired nearly fifteen years ago. Not to mention, this particular Superia (also the 400 ISO) has now been discontinued by Fujifilm, it is nowhere to be seen through online retailers, with the chance of possibly floating on eBay or similar sites.
It’s Not a Wrap!! Flash was used only for one shot, no guesses which photo
My initial plan was to shoot the Superia on my Canonet 28, however the camera’s highest ISO was up to 400. Not all hope was lost, as I would use the same camera for another film, on the same day. So instead I used the Superia on the Olympus Mju 1, a slightly modern camera with automatic settings.
I tested the film at the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington, London. At the time, it had recently been reopened to the public after lockdowns slowly eased in the United Kingdom.
Superia of Statues: The highlights and low lights at the V&A
To take advantage of the film’s high speed and grain, I captured a few low light shots in the main part of the museum, mostly the sculptures and statues, some wrapped in plastic. I did use flash in one shot, although I believe it isn’t necessary, and hardly use it. I was confident the outcome from the film would be similar to Kodak Portra 800 or the Lomo CN 800.
Oh, I was very wrong!!
Not worth the hype after all: the high speed and grain failed miserably in some parts (above is an example), slightly underwhelmed
As predicted, expired film can often produce surprising results, depending on how long it has been expired or what condition it has been kept in, especially where stored.
It was difficult to tell if there was a significant amount of colour shift; most frames didn’t come out that well after both processing and scanning. The ones shot in low light didn’t result fairly either, however the stained glass shots were decent enough, all thanks to the LED backlighting.
There’s Some Good Amongst Bad: These shots weren’t too bad, I have to admit. I think the backlight from the stained glass was a bonus
My time with both film and camera was far from over. After the museum trip, I decided to walk through the local market as it was closing for the day. I began photographing a few shop fronts and market stalls, quite visible and clearer from the negative scanning – a completely whole different comparison to the museum scans, and this is on the same roll!! Yet again, flash wasn’t really necessary, as the built in flash is very bright for night shooting.
Evening Stroll in Stow: I shot the last few exposures down Walthamstow Market before going home
The expired Superia wasn’t to my liking, to be honest. I’m glad I got the results and scanned them, since I didn’t want to put them aside or to waste for no reason. I was curious to see its potential outcome, which was certainly not the best of the bunch.
For today’s Tried and Tested Thursday, I will be talking about shooting two rolls of expired Fuji Acros on the Canon EOS 500n and Holga.
Two different format films, 35mm and 120 on the same day; at the same time, at the same location. The camera juggling struggle was real, but certainly worth it. Both rolls expired in October 2019, so I decided to use them exactly a year later.
I went to Southend last October for the day, it was half term – for readers who aren’t from the UK, it is a school break/holiday, typically short for a week or two. Based on a suggestion and inspired from my previous trip there before, I decided to shoot in Southend in the later months in black and white, during the autumn/winter months. I wanted to compare and contrast what it was like during high and low seasons, and whether there would be more people visiting later on in the year. Due to the pandemic and lockdowns, it was slightly different with many places closing for months, such as amusement parks, attractions, entertainment, shops and restaurants. I was quite lucky to have visited Southend before the third (and final) lockdown that would happen a few weeks later.
Despite shooting two same brand films in two different formats, the results had varied after processing and scanning. I will discuss each cameras’ outcome separately in this post and compare them.
Canon EOS 500n
I used the 50mm 1.8 lens with an orange filter on my day trip shooting. It had been the second time I had used the expired Acros roll with both the same lens and colour filter; the first time was for an upcoming photographic series, which I hope to unveil from next month.
High Times in a Low Tide
The majority of photos I had taken on the film were on the beach, from walking along east and towards Shoeburyness (only five miles away) to heading back to the Westcliff area before heading home.
That particular day was cloudy with a low tide, which made the beach almost look like quicksand. This was the first time I had seen a low tide in my life!! I did attempt to walk across and it was a bad idea, as my trainers were getting muddy.
Worth walking in the sand or the tide? Probably up to sea level
Like the previous visit to Southend the summer before, the seaside was near empty and deserted. It wasn’t as busy as I had thought it would be, since it was an advantage for me to do my photography in peace.
Boats aren’t going nowhere (for now)
I worked my way along the beach, mainly capturing my surroundings of the high tide and small boats that were stuck in the tide. I also focused on the clouds too, capturing the formation and detail in the sky.
I kept the photography simple, focusing on landscapes as well as the finer detail whenever shooting with the prime lens.
Sea shells on the sea shore of Southend
The results after processing and scanning came out good. They do have further potential to produce darkroom prints, especially of those shot on the empty areas of the beach.
Off season wanderings are the best; less hassle and less people, probably might do it again
I do consider Acros being ‘grayscale’ since the black tones aren’t that deep. Nevertheless the grain is great, smooth and fine – all thanks to the 100 ISO. Just like the Lomo Color Negative film I used there a year before, it was also at 100 speed.
Holga 120
Like what I did with the Canon camera, I used my Holga mostly on the beach capturing the day’s low tide.
In true fashion, the Holga was taped to prevent possible light leaks however that wasn’t slightly the case after processing, more on that later.
Anyway, having had many trials and errors with the Holga over the years since its purchase, I was confident to pick it up again for the occasion. I was snapping away until I saw the bottom switch of the camera set at ‘B’, meaning ‘bulb’ which is to attach flash guns. I had done this the last time with the results coming out shaky and blurry, but in this case I flicked over to ‘N’, the ‘neutral’ mode.
The Holga is a basic medium format camera with very limited functions and settings. It happens to be a cult favourite and has a following in the photography community.
Whenever my film gets processed I often feel anticipated for the results, even more excited to see the negatives before scanning them…
It started off so well…
Well, the Acros 120 negatives came out quite interesting: the first couple of frames were OK, but down the line it appeared to be some sort of problem or malfunction. I initially thought there could have been a few factors, from loading the film or possible exposure to light.
Then this happened…
Most likely it could be from the paperbacking from the 120 roll, where the numbers seemed to be imprinted on some frames of the negatives. It didn’t really impact the post-production side of things, such as scanning but I didn’t want to discard the film. Sometimes I would keep ‘errors’ for keepsake purposes, like in this instance.
Thankfully, it wasn’t too severe and the frames were somehow ‘alright, I guess’…
This was the second time shooting Acros on the Holga. The first time, the results came out blurry, so I was determined the second time round would be an improvement and probably would have been a bit better.
Now that I got my point ‘Acros’ slightly, I am satisfied with the results from both cameras. I do lean towards the Canon SLR being the strongest contender, although the Holga isn’t the loser in this round. The 120 film did have potential sans malfunction plus no tape, the outcome would have told an alternative story with a happier ending.
For today’s Tried and Tested Thursday, I will be talking about shooting a roll of Fuji Acros on my Canon EOS 500n with a yellow filter.
Back in 2018, Fuji announced they were going to discontinue Acros both 35mm and 120. That same year, I had bought ten rolls of them in 35mm and a pack of five in 120 from Parallax in Brixton. Then around a year later, Fuji released Acros II in both formats; a little on the pricey side, yes, but I find it a little baffling on why the original film had discontinued in the first place…
Anyway moving on, I shot a few Acros rolls last year prior to the expiry date, which was October 2019. Including the examples used in today’s post. At the time of writing this entry, I still have some Acros film left: three in 35mm, and three in 120. I shot two rolls in both formats (past expiry) a couple months back for an upcoming series.
From Clapton to slightly beyond…
Last July I went on a little adventure around Clapton and Finsbury Park, then ending in Islington before going home. I had two different brands of film on me and used a yellow filter that was attached onto my lens. I had mainly used the Acros film around the Stoke Newington area with the journey initially starting from Clapton Pond through to the high street and ending on Church Street.
I was curious to test out the Acros film on the colour filters I have: orange, yellow and red. I wanted to see if there was a comparison from them used; in terms of tone and contrast, and to see if there is any significant difference from the results.
In the past prior to using filters or my Canon SLR, I only shot Acros on my Point and Shoot cameras, such as Canon Z135 and Olympus Mju 1. Results can vary from camera to camera, processing and even post-production like negative scanning or darkroom printing.
The overall outcome was good after processing and scanning the negatives at home with the Epson V550, however I am yet to print these in the darkroom.
On that day, I had focused my attention on street photography around the local area, although I briefly went to Abney Park Cemetery to take a few shots of the grave stones. I returned back to Church Street, mainly shooting store fronts or anything random like street signs. A slow speed film like Acros, which is at 100 ISO is good for bright days, especially sunny days. There are some advantages with low speed film to shoot in low light settings or night photography, something I had done a few times in the past but not with this particular film.
I have to admit, I don’t use the yellow filter as much in my black and white photography. It has been considered as being the ‘popular choice’ for beginners and quite versatile for any genre of photography. I often consider the orange filter for being versatile, which I think it can also be used for almost any style of photography from street to portraits.
The yellow filter on the Acros came out quite good, better than expected; the tones and contrasts are subtle and are on point, although there aren’t many deep blacks in the shadows. If I had set the shutter speed to 125 to 250, it would have possibly made a slight difference with the shadows; not too overexposed or underexposed, but somewhere in between.
It would be great to recreate the same street shots in the same location with the new Acros II film, and probably use the yellow filter again. It would be interesting to see if there is a major comparison between the new film and the original. I might consider that idea in the near future.
For now, I have a few remaining recently expired Acros films that I am hoping to put into great use at some point. Once they’re gone, they’re gone for good.
Photographic Jannine 