ISO 3200 from Kodak

[Ricoh]

Great news! Film is alive and kicking back!

https://emulsive.org/articles/news/a...ak-t-max-p3200

[Zuiko]

I bet its noisy!

[Ricoh]

Originally Posted by Zuiko

I bet its noisy!

Noisy, haha. You've been shooting digital for too long. Repeat after me: digital produces noise, film produces lovely grain, not noise.

If you repeat this error it'll be 1000 lines and detention!

[Zuiko]

Thought you'd take the bait.....

[Otto]

Ilford Delta 3200 never went away! A friend of mine tried it at ISO 25,600 - you could count the grains but it was quite a nice effect .

[Ricoh]

Apparently Delta 3200 is best shot at an EI of 1600 and developed for box speed. As you say it's never been away.

It will be interesting to see the cash point (god I've realised I'm becomming American) for the Kodak offering. One or other IS going to end up in my half frame.

[drmarkf]

Yes, back in the day I shot a few rolls of that in my OMs.

[Zuiko]

Originally Posted by Ricoh

Apparently Delta 3200 is best shot at an EI of 1600 and developed for box speed. As you say it's never been away.

It will be interesting to see the cash point (god I've realised I'm becomming American) for the Kodak offering. One or other IS going to end up in my half frame.

I wonder how it compares to HP5 pushed two stops?

[Ricoh]

Pushing HP5 or Tri-X results in high contrast, and depending on exposure point blocked out shadows. Works great if you want to recreate a Ralph Gibson look (he exposed for the highlights).

[Naughty Nigel]

Indeed, it seems that film is alive and kicking back.

Unfortunately that message doesn't seem to have got through to Fuji, who have recently dropped their NPS range, and I am told have not made a roll of film in over a year.

If true were are living on borrowed time, or refrigerated stock, at least as far as Fuji is concerned.

[Ricoh]

Film is definitely alive with a strong pulse, but I doubt it will ever achieve the pre yr 2k levels ever again. Digital almost killed it, but it has now become a bit of a niche product for old farts like myself, and the younger hipsters looking for something other than the hyper-sharp digital; those images any Tom, Dick or Harry (not necessarily Prince Harry, I should add) can churn out with their smart phones.
The USP of film, IMHO, is the unknown, the unexpected.

[Naughty Nigel]

Originally Posted by Ricoh

Film is definitely alive with a strong pulse, but I doubt it will ever achieve the pre yr 2k levels ever again......

That is my interpretation too. Black and white in particular seems to be very popular at the moment, especially amongst medium format users; although having seen some of their subject matters I think many of them have a lot to learn about the medium.

The use of coloured filters with B&W also seems to be a lost art. When I mentioned this on one forum I was told that there is no need to use filters any more [with B&W film] as it can all be done in Photoshop.

Clearly they know something that I don't.

There is a plentiful supply of B&W films at the moment from several manufacturers, which is healthy. However, I am a little concerned about colour because it seems that Fuji has already pulled the plug on film production, (both colour and B&W), which if true means that Kodak is the only major player left producing colour films.

As I understand the situation Kodak farms out its film production to outside contractors, so they don't have a lot of capital tied up in film. I could be wrong but it looks to me that the long term future for colour film is extremely venerable.

[Ricoh]

If you like film as I think you do, Nigel, buy it and vote with your feet. I tend to purchase by the brick and I love it.
Photography is a journey but not necessarily with a destination. If I had known what I know today I could have saved a great deal of money. Ok film is not cheap, but I don't shoot that much anyway. Digital on the other hand is expensive with built in obsolescence from the day you make the purchase, or indeed earlier than that if not an early adopter.
They say #shootfilmstaybroke, but I believe it over simplifies the matter.

[Naughty Nigel]

I do buy it (film) and have a hundred rolls or more of colour film (mostly Velvia and Provia) in the freezer, so I won't be running out any time soon.

I am a great fan of Velvia in particular, but I have recently been using the 'new' Kodak Ektar 100 colour negative film, which is a real joy to use.

I also use quite a lot of B&W when the mood and opportunity takes me. FP4 and HP5 are my favourites. I am trying some Fuji Acros at the moment, but I fear that pleasure will be short lived.

However, whilst I have enough film to keep me going for a few years (with care), if the big names did pull the plug on it the whole film infrastructure would very quickly disappear.

I am told that Fuji have not produced a single roll of film for over a year now. I am not sure how true this is, but I do know that Fuji's films seem to be disappearing almost weekly at present. However, Fuji is also one of the world's biggest manufacturers of photographic papers, so if they have stopped film production how long will they continue to produce papers?

It seems that mobile phones and digital cameras have a lot to answer for.

[Naughty Nigel]

Whilst writing can I also recommend these guys Nick & Trick Photoworks in Folkstone in Kent who keep a good range of films and developing chemistry. They also sell some interesting cameras.

I ordered some film from them on Friday and had it on our doormat on Saturday morning.