Another new film from Lomo - Babylon 13

[Donald Qualls]

I recall several times using "drug store" branded film (CVS, for instance) that was marked "Ferrania" on the edge marking. This was when Ferrania was the last manufacturer on Earth loading factory 126 cartridges, only with ISO 400 color negative film -- but the CVS film was ISO 400 in 35mm cassettes.

 

[AgX]

Not surprising as Ferrania was the world wide leader on the rebranding sector. They got involved in that when their own brand got it harder on international markets.

 

[Huss]

Hah, at last found Your post, your thoughts Huss
Yes, Creating atmosphere is always to One’s advantage .,,

Hi Helen! Welcome to the rabbit hole!

 

[Kodachromeguy]

The worst case, as that of course produces enormous costs when a whole production cannot be sold, and it can kill a smaller manufacturer (that was one major reason of Kentmere's market exit, by the way).

Hi Henning, I just looked at Ilford's web page and Amazon (in USA), and both still offer Kentmere film. I must have missed the industry news. Kenmore is gone? Or someone bought the rights to use the name?

 

[Lachlan Young]

Hi Henning, I just looked at Ilford's web page and Amazon (in USA), and both still offer Kentmere film. I must have missed the industry news. Kenmore is gone? Or someone bought the rights to use the name?

I think Henning was referring to Kentmere before Harman bought them.

 

[Henning Serger]

I think Henning was referring to Kentmere before Harman bought them.

Exactly.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[Henning Serger]

Yes, but I was talking about the USA source.

Huss, I know.
My comment was just a hint to you guys in the US . I should have been more precise: If you have problems to get the films in the US because of low or depleted stock, there is always the possibility to contact the manufacturer directly.
Another very attractive alternative for those who are interested in the FilmoTec UN 54 / Lomo Kino Potsdam: ADOX CHS 100 II. It has a very similar spectral sensitivity and similar grain structure, but offers significantly sharper results and higher resolution. And is available in 35mm cassettes. A really good film, and recently fresh produced.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[Henning Serger]

Thanks much for all this - I find these industry details fascinating - we are lucky to have you. I thought at one point, Ferrania was looking at reviving some of the full production machines, not just the prototyper, but I've paid less attention as the updates on the project have slowed.

You're welcome.
Their former main coating machine was a huge one: The max. production capacity was about 300 million films p.a..
That machine and its building doesn't exist anymore. But by the Film Ferrania Kickstarter project quite a lot of the former film converting machinery was at least saved.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[Henning Serger]

While that is largely the case, at the time that E100 was being re-engineered, a number of podcasts etc that spoke with Kodak folk discussed this issue & the Kodak people were quite careful to explain that the ability to scale to only one master roll per wide coating event was important to being able to bring materials like E100 and T-Max P3200 back into production.

Lachlan, some months ago Kodak published the production number of the first E100 coating run. And my KA sources confirmed it. More than 500,000 35mm rolls. So definitely several master rolls, not only one.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[AgX]

Kentmere never made films.

 

[Henning Serger]

I would love an ISO 200 Ortho film...

Huss, just take Ilford Ortho, expose it at EI 200/24°, use a developer which uses / exploits the real film sensitivity in the best way ( like e.g. DD-X, Ultrafin T-Plus, T-Max, Microphen, ADOX HR-DEV, ADOX Atomal etc.) and develop it with a push-processing.
You get a certain loss in shadow detail and a bit higher contrast. But that is probably just the look you like, as lots of the SW pictures you have posted here have higher contrast and less shadow detail.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[Henning Serger]

Hello Félim,

I often wonder is it only people like us here on Photrio that are interested in what film is in which cassette, made by whom.
I remember in around the 1990s, probably the heyday of rebadged and private label films (35mm I am talking about). Often it was only the box and cassette that had the private name/label on it, the film inside still had Agfa / Ferrania / Fuji name and markings. I don't think a lot of people passed any heed.

no, not only we here are interested in this topic. You will find the discussions and questions in the whole film photography scene: On facebook, instagram, youtube, other forums, photographer clubs and meetings, photo magazines.
And the situation today is very different compared to the 90ies: At that time the repacked films have been significantly cheaper. But nowadays they are in most cases more expensive than the original films.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[Huss]

Lomo Babylon 13 in DF96 in a Leica M7.

With Voigtlander CV 50 2.5:







With Lomo Minitar 32mm 2.8:

 

[Agulliver]

Hello Félim,

no, not only we here are interested in this topic. You will find the discussions and questions in the whole film photography scene: On facebook, instagram, youtube, other forums, photographer clubs and meetings, photo magazines.
And the situation today is very different compared to the 90ies: At that time the repacked films have been significantly cheaper. But nowadays they are in most cases more expensive than the original films.

That's important....the position in the market of most rebranded/badged film is different compared to 20 years ago. All those "free film with D&P" were cheap mass market C41 films often rebranded with the name of the lab/shop....and in Europe frequently these films came from Ferrania though some were "Made in Japan" so Fuji or Konica/Sakura. These repackaged films were often available for sale at considerably cheaper price than any of the big names....sometimes exactly the same film as the big names. The very last of these was "Agfa Photo Vista Plus" offered by Poundland until 2016/17. £1 for a roll of Fuji 200.

Henning's right in that many of the repackaged films are now more expensive than the regular brand. Those who buy Kosmo Foto are doing so because they like the packaging....what's inside is Fomapan. Foma themselves offer some of their films in a retro box at greater cost than the regular films. The Lomogrpahy Babylon and similar products aren't exactly cheap but this appears to be the only way to buy them other than 100 foot rolls.

It's probably more important today to know what film is in the box. Because buying the rebrand is no longer always cheaper.

 

[AgX]

The classic idea behind rebranding is to open the manufacturer another, price-sensitive market. The products are either toll-branded and -packed for another entity or the manufacturer themself had on own cheaper brand. For the latter in the past Agfa used their own brand Perutz, today Harman use their own brand Kentmere.

A other more recent idea for rebranding is upgrading, giving the buyer the impression to buy something niche, exotic, or even higher quality.


Something else then is rebranding at products that not exist originally in that form. For instance Maco converting Agfa films that do not exist as e.g. type 135 to this format and branding it under Rollei for which use they got a licence.

 

[Donald Qualls]

All those "free film with D&P" were cheap mass market C41 films often rebranded with the name of the lab/shop

Here in the US, one of the major "free film with D&P" outlets was selling ECN-2 with remjet, carrying a warning that it could not be processed in regular photo labs. They also (at least for a while) offered prints and slides from the same roll (using the same methods from the cine industry to make the positives from the negatives), and still undercut more other processing, never mind processing plus replacement film. Of course, they were rolling Kodak, Agfa, Fuji, or Ferrania cine stock, purchased by the (hundreds of) thousands of feet, into cassettes for the consumer market, and they did well (enough to afford large ads in glossy magazines) for a while.

 

[AgX]

This enterprise showed up here too, in ads in a photo magazin in the 80's. Offered were paper prints and slides. The ad shows a cassette dominantly bearing the Kodak catalog-number for that cine camera-film.

 

[Donald Qualls]

This enterprise showed up here too, in ads in a photo magazin in the 80's. Offered were paper prints and slides. The ad shows a cassette dominantly bearing the Kodak catalog-number for that cine camera-film.

Yep. Now, Cinestill makes more of their business loading the current descendants of the same films, combined with a process that lets them remove the remjet without altering the film, so it can be "cross-processed" in C-41. They don't offer processing, slides, prints, and replacement film, however...

 

[Agulliver]

Ah...Seattle Film Works. I used them when I lived in the states and still have some floppy discs from them! I think I was fully aware after a short time what the nature of their film was. I used them quite a lot.

 

[Huss]

Arista is rebranded Foma, for less. Arista Premium 400 apparently was Tri-X. Now it is Ultra 400 and is Foma 400.

But all this digression has annoyed Papa Churro!



Above shot on Babylon 13 getting this thread back on track, M7 CV 50 2.5 at a really low shutter speed. Maybe 1/8 sec. Cuz iso 13 and shade.
(Papa was mid-sneeze)

 

[dourbalistar]

Arista is rebranded Foma, for less. Arista Premium 400 apparently was Tri-X. Now it is Ultra 400 and is Foma 400.

But all this digression has annoyed Papa Churro!



Above shot on Babylon 13 getting this thread back on track, M7 CV 50 2.5 at a really low shutter speed. Maybe 1/8 sec. Cuz iso 13 and shade.
(Papa was mid-sneeze)

So... it's Papa Aaaaa-Churro? Either way, great shot, especially at low shutter speed.

 

[PFGS]

Arista is rebranded Foma, for less. Arista Premium 400 apparently was Tri-X. Now it is Ultra 400 and is Foma 400.

But all this digression has annoyed Papa Churro!



Above shot on Babylon 13 getting this thread back on track, M7 CV 50 2.5 at a really low shutter speed. Maybe 1/8 sec. Cuz iso 13 and shade.
(Papa was mid-sneeze)

This is great.

 

[warden]

Hah, at last found Your post, your thoughts Huss
Yes, Creating atmosphere is always to One’s advantage .,,

Welcome!

 

[Donald Qualls]

I don't recall Arista Premium -- must have been before I found Freestyle (around 2005). I recall Arista, Arista .EDU (which was rebranded Forte -- long gone since Forte closed up shop), and of course Arista .EDU Ultra which is Foma at about a 5% discount -- and is sometimes cheaper from Adorama or B&H than from Freestyle?! My last bulk roll of .EDU Ultra 400 came from B&H; they had stock and Adorama didn't, but both were a couple bucks under Freestyle's price and B&H had free shipping.

I was also very happy to note that ORWO NA gave free shipping on the bulk roll of DN 21 I ordered a few days ago -- $67 to my door. I was going to load the first roll in my Petri 7S, but I just checked and it's loaded with something ISO 100 (probably .EDU Ultra 100). Might in fact have to find an unloaded M42 body and mount my Super Takumar 50/1.4. Film that slow begs for a fast lens. Bokeh in the sunshine...

 

[MattKing]

I don't recall Arista Premium -- must have been before I found Freestyle (around 2005).

I think it was while you were lost in the wilderness Donald - around the time of the 2012 Kodak bankruptcy, when Freestyle had re-branded versions of both Plus-X and Tri-X in 135.