Here are a few samples of Fujichrome Provia 400X; it's color reversal film rated at ISO 400. I really like it for those late afternoon photoshoots with medium format cameras, it allows you to keep the shutter speeds up when the sun is low in the sky. This is excellent film, and it's almost as fine grained as ISO 100 speed Provia due to Fuji's use of magical Epitaxial Sigma Crystal Technology!! Check out the Fuji Spec sheet here.
Unfortunately, this film was discontinued around 2016, and the prices now are freakin' ridiculous for fresh dated or refrigerated stock; like $20-$30 per roll!! I bought a couple dozen rolls before...
I had the chance to shoot another roll of Rollei Digibase CR200 E-6 film, (B&H, eBay), and the results are similar to the shots from the first time out. The difference this time was that I took the shots in a harbor town setting, instead of Arizona desert fall colors.
One thing is for certain, Rollei CR200 has a very large dynamic range, almost like print film. Unfortunately, I don't really care for the colors, which are muted warm, with a bluish hue to the shadows. The colors just don't "pop" for me. You can "jack" the colors in photoshop, but it's really hard to get a more "traditional" look back to the scene. However, for the artistic type, the native look for this film might be right up your alley...
Either I got a bad roll of film, or this is the most pathetic film ever manufactured. If you look at the picture of the Rollei Digibase CN200 negatives in the film preserver, you can see the color goes from a somewhat normal orange look, to cyan/greenish, and then totally blue. Obviously, something must be wrong with the quality control, I don't think it was with the developing, as my local lab did it in standard C-41 chemistry, which is what the film calls for.
Rollie CR200 is a warm E-6 transparency film, which I thought had some nice qualities, even though I didn't like the grain and resolution, I posted some samples here. So I decided to try a roll of Rollei CN200, which is C-41 print film that has no mask, (can be processed using E-6 with a shift in color),and is supposed to scan well because it dries flat, has fine grain, high sharpness and vivid colors. Unfortunately, this roll has none of those qualities, so I guess I received a bad roll. Oh well, with processing that's about $15 down the drain. I'm quite sure that the exposures are appropriate, as that information is burned on the edge of the film with the Fuji GA645. I'm also sure it was processed in C-41 as my lab no longer does E-6.
I may try the film out again...
I purchased this roll of CineStill 800T Xpro quite a while back, and finally found a good time to use it, which is at night with a lot of lights. It's tungsten balanced film, with a color of 3200k, (same as incandescent light bulbs), so if you use it in daylight without a filter, you'll wind up with very bluish images. It has an odd characteristic of forming red halos and tinged borders around dark to bright transitions; check out the shots below to see what I'm talking about.
CineStill 800T Xpro is actually Kodak Vision3 500T 5219 color negative film, which has a coating called 'remjet' for use in motion picture cameras; however, Cinestill has removed the coating so it can be developed in standard color print C-41 chemicals, see the info below from CineStill...
I took two shots of the scene above with two different cameras for some reason, so we’re able to directly compare the two types of film involved. This unremarkable Green Pier composition was taken just before noon, and naturally the lighting is quite harsh, but I did manage to expose the film properly, which is pretty easy in this lighting …
The FujiFilm QuickSnap Flash, B&H, Amazon, eBay, is a 'single use,' 'throw-away' or 'disposable' camera, whichever term you prefer. Like nearly all single use cameras, it has a very simple plastic lens, manual film advance, and 27 exposures. This model comes with a flash.
These little cameras are about as easy to use as it gets for film. The film is already loaded, all you do is advance the film via thumb wheel until it won't turn anymore, then simple look through the viewfinder and take a snap. If you want a little fill flash, just push the button up on the front of the camera until the pop-up plastic piece turns red, which means the flash is ready, see pic below.
You'll see a bunch of these at weddings where the guests are encouraged to pick them up and start shooting, especially after the liquor starts to flow, then turn them in to the hosts before going home so the newlywed couple can get them developed and have some laughs later on...
Interested in turning your high quality medium format camera into a cheap 35mm? well, plop a roll of this film into your camera and get some cool low-def images! However, this E-6 color reversal film does have some redeeming qualities for those looking for more than resolution.
Rollei Digibase CR 200 (B&H, eBay) is a color reversal (E-6 developing) or 'slide film' in hobbyist terms. Characteristics include a warm look, which is very noticeable after using Fuji E-6 film like Velvia and provia; a wide dynamic range, almost like print film believe it or not, and a final plus; it's pretty easy to scan as the film has almost no curl.
I like the warm look; again, it's a welcome change from the bluish Fuji films, although it's a far cry from Kodachrome as some people compare it to. Also noticeable is the neutral fine grain which is acceptable in my opinion, but only when exposing properly, highlight/shadow fixes in post can degrade even-toned areas in the picture; see the sky in the 'tree' shot below.
I only ran one roll of this through my Fuji GS645S, which is a medium format 120 roll film camera with a wide angle 60mm F/4 lens, so this isn't a review, I just wanted to post some samples in case you were wondering how it looks with that size of film; I've only seen 35mm samples from my quick web searches. I'm guessing I could get a sharp 8x10 with a medium format camera, unfortunately, I'm also guessing 35mm film might not produce enough sharp detail for a good 5x7 print.
For those looking for a more traditional high ISO rated color reversal film, I'd recommend Fuji Provia 400X, however, it's being discontinued in 2017, and prices are sky high.
I've been getting everything ready for the Fuji GS645S review that's coming up shortly. It's a pretty small camera for the film size, (similar to a pro 35mm camera body), and has a full manual mode too.
