Lucky Color Film "First Look"

[Minolta93]

and I don't know why anyone shooting sheet film would want to gamble with it.

What does sheet film have to do with anything here?

 

[DREW WILEY]

Sheet film was mentioned earlier, as a wish list version of this same film, but probably incorrectly.

 

[dcy]

Gold a budget film? Maybe it's priced differently in the USA....over here it's pretty expensive compared to Color Plus which is definitely the nearest we have to a "budget" colour film.

At B&H Photo Kodak Gold and Color Plus are identically priced, at $8.49 for 35 mm roll of 36 exposures.

I know it's simply personal choice, and fits in with "diversity in palette" but I've never liked Gold. To my eyes it renders reds as brown, almost mud-like. So I'd certainly welcome more choice...even if I end up defaulting to Color Plus and Ultramax.

Interestingly, many people think that Gold and Color Plus look so similar that they've done tests and written long articles where they try to figure out if they are even different emulsions.

Kodak Gold vs. ColorPlus: Side-by-Side Comparison

Our extensive tests revealed no significant difference between the two emulsions. But there’s a slight nuance you may like to know about.

www.analog.cafe

 

[mshchem]

At B&H Photo Kodak Gold and Color Plus are identically priced, at $8.49 for 35 mm roll of 36 exposures.



Interestingly, many people think that Gold and Color Plus look so similar that they've done tests and written long articles where they try to figure out if they are even different emulsions.

Kodak Gold vs. ColorPlus: Side-by-Side Comparison

Our extensive tests revealed no significant difference between the two emulsions. But there’s a slight nuance you may like to know about.

www.analog.cafe

From a business perspective, does it serve the end user by using a different coating for these two films? I think just a different color box does the job.

I remember a friend who wouldn't use anything that didn't come in a green box.

 

[DREW WILEY]

I think what gave my mother's box Brownie Kodak Gold shots their special charm was that ants had crawled over the film box first. Plus she always tilted the camera about 15 degrees when she pushed the button. I can't recall a single picture that was level.

 

[Agulliver]

As far as I am aware it has long been established that Gold is a more modern emulsion, the first iteration of which was introduced as Kodacolor VR-G in the late 80s with the purpose of making photos taken on dull days look brighter and more colourful....holiday snaps, if you will. It does this but, to my eyes at least, looks much less pleasing than the previous Kodacolor VR which has somewhat more natural colours especially at the red end.

Kodak Color Plus has long been said to actually be Kodacolor VR....backed up by the fact that for as long as it's existed it's been sold in cassettes labelled "Kodacolor". No doubt it's been tweaked since 1986, but it's a simpler and less saturated/more neutral colour palette than Gold.

Horses for courses. Many people like Gold. I simply never have. Assuming I'm not unique in this perspective, there's a business case for both. Additionally, certainly across Europe, there's about a 20% price difference between the two in favour of Color Plus.

Anyhoo none of this really is relevant to the new Lucky film. Which looks promising. The relevance might be that they were believed to be also using a derivative of Kodacolor VR back when they were producing film under license from Kodak. If the new Lucky colour film is based on the knowledge gained during those days, it could well be similar to Kodacolor VR/Color Plus. Whether it sells in the West is going to depend on price, distribution, QC and how well disposed people are to buying Chinese film.

 

[dcy]

As far as I am aware it has long been established that Gold is a more modern emulsion, the first iteration of which was introduced as Kodacolor VR-G in the late 80s with the purpose of making photos taken on dull days look brighter and more colourful....holiday snaps, if you will. It does this but, to my eyes at least, looks much less pleasing than the previous Kodacolor VR which has somewhat more natural colours especially at the red end.

Kodak Color Plus has long been said to actually be Kodacolor VR....backed up by the fact that for as long as it's existed it's been sold in cassettes labelled "Kodacolor". No doubt it's been tweaked since 1986, but it's a simpler and less saturated/more neutral colour palette than Gold.

For what it's worth, I think I see a difference, and I buy Color Plus. But the article I linked to really has me questioning if this is all in my head.

Anyhoo none of this really is relevant to the new Lucky film. Which looks promising. The relevance might be that they were believed to be also using a derivative of Kodacolor VR back when they were producing film under license from Kodak. If the new Lucky colour film is based on the knowledge gained during those days, it could well be similar to Kodacolor VR/Color Plus. Whether it sells in the West is going to depend on price, distribution, QC and how well disposed people are to buying Chinese film.

Yeah. For me personally, I'm sure I'll buy a couple of rolls because I like to try everything once, but I doubt I will buy it regularly. Considering that any non-Kodak colour film is going to be worse quality than Kodak, my decision to buy is very close to a charitable donation and is influenced by whether I want Harman to expand its product line, or whether I feel that there's already too much manufacturing concentrated in China, and so on.

 

[ChrisGalway]

Reflx Labs are now offering Lucky Color 200 in both 35mm and 120 size:

1 ROLL LUCKY COLOR 200 FILM C41 36EXP

Freshly made by the time-honored Chinese brand Lucky Film High contrast, medium grainy, daylight balanced film Film Format: 35mm color negativeISO: 200 (DX coded) Number of Exposures: 36Process: C-41

reflxlab.com

1 ROLL LUCKY COLOR 200 C41 FILM-120

Freshly made by the time-honored Chinese brand Lucky Film High contrast, medium grainy, daylight balanced film Film Format: 120 color negativeISO: 200Number of Exposures: 36Process: C-41

reflxlab.com

 

[flavio81]

Reflx Labs are now offering Lucky Color 200 in both 35mm and 120 size:

1 ROLL LUCKY COLOR 200 FILM C41 36EXP

Freshly made by the time-honored Chinese brand Lucky Film High contrast, medium grainy, daylight balanced film Film Format: 35mm color negativeISO: 200 (DX coded) Number of Exposures: 36Process: C-41

reflxlab.com

1 ROLL LUCKY COLOR 200 C41 FILM-120

Freshly made by the time-honored Chinese brand Lucky Film High contrast, medium grainy, daylight balanced film Film Format: 120 color negativeISO: 200Number of Exposures: 36Process: C-41

reflxlab.com

$9.99 / roll? It's more expensive than Colorplus 200.

That price doesn't make sense, at least not in 135 format.

Maybe Reflx Labs wants to overcharge people.

 

[ChrisGalway]

$9.99 / roll? It's more expensive than Colorplus 200.

That price doesn't make sense, at least not in 135 format.

Maybe Reflx Labs wants to overcharge people.

Well, it's cheaper than Phoenix II ... and a lot better I suspect!

Anyway it's another option we have, so that's good news.

 

[blee1996]

Kyle McDougall has a review on YouTube. He said there is a bit too much red, which needs to be correct in post. But otherwise a bit more neutral than Harman Phoenix. So it is good to have another alternative to Kodak family.

 

[Minolta93]

$9.99 / roll? It's more expensive than Colorplus 200.

That price doesn't make sense, at least not in 135 format.

Maybe Reflx Labs wants to overcharge people.

At that price I'm not very interested. It's the same price or more than Gold, but it might come down in price soon as well.

 

[ChrisGalway]

At that price I'm not very interested. It's the same price or more than Gold, but it might come down in price soon as well.

Fair enough, but Harman Phoenix II is $13.99 at B&H. Of course, Phoenix has the "advantage" that's is pretty dreadful! Presumably Lucky Color 200 will be available in the US shortly and it will be interesting to see how it's priced there by US retailers.

 

[Minolta93]

Fair enough, but Harman Phoenix II is $13.99 at B&H. Of course, Phoenix has the "advantage" that's is pretty dreadful! Presumably Lucky Color 200 will be available in the US shortly and it will be interesting to see how it's priced there by US retailers.

Check out Freestyle. They do charge shipping but they have some on clearance for $8 if you want to pick some up.

At $9.99 I'll probably try a few rolls of Lucky 200 anyway, but I'm also hoping it'll be cheaper once it starts being sold more.

 

[brbo]

Lucky Color 200 is now available at some European online retailers so I got a few rolls and quickly shot one. It was with a compact, so I didn't do any over/under exposure test shots etc...

Latitude and grain is not in the Fuji/Kodak league, but I was (pleasantly) surprised by how well it behaves. It's definitely a couple of steps above Phoenix II. Definitely in Adox Color Mission 200 class and better than Orwo NC200 (but I only tried the pre-production version that lacked the antihalation layer).

 

[koraks]

Thanks for posting those samples @brbo, that does look like a usable, general-purpose CN film. 1970s-1980s colors!

 

[ChrisGalway]

Yes, "old-fashioned" colours, but I'm old fashioned so I like the softer look. And available in 120 size as well!

 

[foc]

Lucky Color 200 is now available at some European online retailers so I got a few rolls and quickly shot one. It was with a compact, so I didn't do any over/under exposure test shots etc...

Latitude and grain is not in the Fuji/Kodak league, but I was (pleasantly) surprised by how well it behaves. It's definitely a couple of steps above Phoenix II. Definitely in Adox Color Mission 200 class.

I notice the negatives don't have barcode markings, just simple edge markings.

Does the film cassette have DX code?

Thank you for posting the contact sheet and negatives. I like the look of Lucky!

 

[brbo]

I notice the negatives don't have barcode markings, just simple edge markings.

Does the film cassette have DX code?

This film comes in metal cassettes with DX code.

Film has no barcode markings and even the simple edge markings on this roll only appear in the first part of the film strip and then wander off...

I think they have (had?) a problem with edge markings. There is slight fogging on the edges of the film and the colour of the markings match the colour of the fogging so I think they will need to address this. If you don't scan the edges of the film you will probably never notice this.

 

[brbo]

970s-1980s colors!

Yes, "old-fashioned" colours...

Quite surprised by the "old-fashined" remarks. I think* Lucky 200 has more "zing" than any other currently produced colour negative film bar Ektar, Fuji Color 100 and Adox Color Mission 200. Kodak's consumer film has the exceptional ability to render every colour as a shade of brown. Not the case with Lucky 200.

* I'll wait until I have time to print it to form final opinion

 

[bernard_L]

Quite surprised by the "old-fashined" remarks. I think* Lucky 200 has more "zing" (...)

Agreed. That is what I thought when I saw your contact sheet and individual frames.

 

[koraks]

I think* Lucky 200 has more "zing"

This as well as my own 'vintage colors' remark is of course rather subjective. I tried to make it more objective, but I find it hard to. My first hunch/guess/impression is that it doesn't separate hues as cleanly as the high-end Kodak films like Ektar and Portra. So some inherent crosstalk between channels. The red is also fairly muted, which can be a symptom of the same. But it's still vague hand-waving on my part.

 

[Samu]

Lucky Color 200 is now available at some European online retailers so I got a few rolls and quickly shot one. It was with a compact, so I didn't do any over/under exposure test shots etc...

Where? At least, the big names based in Germany have nothing available. The local ones here in Lithuania don't have any Lucky either. Poland?

 

[ChrisGalway]

Dubblefilm have both formats, Optik-Oldschool have 35mm. (I ordered my 120 from Reflx Lab in China.)

 

[Disconnekt]

Well, for anybody in the US thats interested, Royal We Film Lab (located in Oakland, CA) has Lucky Color C200 in 35mm & 120 in stock! Both are priced at $11.99:

35mm:

Royal We Film Lab

www.royalwefilmlab.com

120:

Royal We Film Lab

www.royalwefilmlab.com