Lucky Color Film "First Look"

[mshchem]

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

Thanks for the update. Must be flying it in ?? I'm not going to be rushing out to buy. I want to see Harman's next attempt. Until then Kodak is still for me, (mostly 120) Good to know there's an alternative.

 

[XyDark]

Lucky seems to have started giving out test rolls for a new 400 speed film now. Attached are some examples I've found on Chinese Tiktok.

New colour-negative film: Lucky C400 (乐凯C400).

A four-minute video review of the pre-production version of the Lucky C400 film was posted on Douyin last week. This is my translated and verified summary, along with samples and additional sources. #editorial

www.analog.cafe

 

[koraks]

Thanks for the update @XyDark ! Much appreciated. Also thanks for relaying some actual images to us; they look pretty convincing to me so far. I think Kodak should be worried; if/when this becomes available in quantities in the West, I'm sure this film will be a perfectly viable alternative for the majority of analog color photographers.

 

[ChrisGalway]

This is certainly good news and it looks like Lucky are serious about film.

 

[Nopo]

Thanks for the update @XyDark ! Much appreciated. Also thanks for relaying some actual images to us; they look pretty convincing to me so far. I think Kodak should be worried; if/when this becomes available in quantities in the West, I'm sure this film will be a perfectly viable alternative for the majority of analog color photographers.

Allow me to disagree. Luky could well fill the void left by Fuji, without taking market share away from Kodak.
My concern is Harman and that its investment may be untimely, given that it is facing a duopoly market dominated by two global titans.
That's my personal opinion.
As for color film, that's not my business at the moment.

 

[mohmad khatab]

What wonderful and delightful news!

 

[koraks]

Luky could well fill the void left by Fuji, without taking market share away from Kodak.

If there's a shortage of color film, then any manufacturer with a sufficiently capable product would just add to the total volume. However, I don't think that's the case as supply looks to be balanced fairly well with demand as it is. If you add supply to that, it will automatically reduce someone's market share.

My concern is Harman and that its investment may be untimely, given that it is facing a duopoly market dominated by two global titans.

If your argument would be correct, then harman would have nothing to fear as they would add to the supposedly flexible demand.

 

[Yezishu]

Local reviews note significant emulsion issues in Lucky c200, including a strong red/slightly green color cast (poor blue sensitivity compared to Kodak film and the default color calibration of labs) and typical small-scale-production coating defects. At 52 RMB, it sits just below Kodak ColorPlus (63 RMB) and Gold 200 (67 RMB). It may outshine Phoenix as an experimental stock, it lacks the consistency to challenge Kodak, competing instead with expired Kodak cinema film. While some shots look good after meticulous editing or color calibration, the amount of work involved might make it no more better than expired cinema film. Sending the flim back to Lucky official service for developing and scanning can resolve most color cast issues, but...many people or C41 lab still use old film scanners, it's hard to expect Lucky to provide specific color presets for those kinds of devices.

 

[ChrisGalway]

Local reviews note significant emulsion issues, including a strong red/slightly green color cast (poor blue sensitivity compared to Kodak film and the default color calibration of labs) and typical small-scale-production coating defects. At 52 RMB, it sits just below Kodak ColorPlus (63 RMB) and Gold 200 (67 RMB). It may outshine Phoenix as an experimental stock, it lacks the consistency to challenge Kodak, competing instead with expired Kodak cinema film. While some shots look good after meticulous editing or color calibration, the amount of work involved might make it no more better than expired cinema film. Many people or lab still use old-fashioned film scanners, it's hard to expect Lucky to provide specific color presets for those kinds of devices.

Are you referring to the ISO100 film ... or the new C400 one?

 

[Yezishu]

Are you referring to the ISO100 film ... or the new C400 one?

As the title, Lucky Color C200

 

[brbo]

Local reviews note significant emulsion issues in Lucky c200, including a strong red/slightly green color cast (poor blue sensitivity compared to Kodak film and the default color calibration of labs) and typical small-scale-production coating defects. At 52 RMB, it sits just below Kodak ColorPlus (63 RMB) and Gold 200 (67 RMB). It may outshine Phoenix as an experimental stock, it lacks the consistency to challenge Kodak, competing instead with expired Kodak cinema film. While some shots look good after meticulous editing or color calibration, the amount of work involved might make it no more better than expired cinema film. Sending the flim back to Lucky official service for developing and scanning can resolve most color cast issues, but...many people or C41 lab still use old film scanners, it's hard to expect Lucky to provide specific color presets for those kinds of devices.

So far, I shot 3 rolls of Lucky 200 and observed none of the issues you describe.

Are you referring to early pre-production batches or currently produced film?

 

[Sanug]

I developed a Lucky C200 in Adox C-Tec C-41 kit. No issues and no emulsion defects at all. Scanning with Plustek Opticfilm 7300 was very easy. No problems with colour cast. The only lowside is the missing frame numbers.

Rollei 35 S

 

[blee1996]

I developed a Lucky C200 in Adox C-Tec C-41 kit. No issues and no emulsion defects at all. Scanning with Plustek Opticfilm 7300 was very easy. No problems with colour cast. The only lowside is the missing frame numbers.

Your images looks really really good for an "experimental" color film. You really knows how to develop and scan C41 film. May I ask what is your scanning setup both in hardware and software? Did you do any color calibration for this film?

I just got two rolls from Reflex Labs and will try them in the next few weeks.

 

[Yezishu]

So far, I shot 3 rolls of Lucky 200 and observed none of the issues you describe.

Are you referring to early pre-production batches or currently produced film?

I'm glad that Lucky c200 performed well with you.
Based on the local reviews I've seen, the color cast issue persists even in the past 3 months. The three sample photos below are from three different reviewers under the official online store in this period:

A small number of scratches and striations have still been reported on currently batches, but unlike earlier batches, there are not many dots.

 

[koraks]

Many people struggle with color balancing color negative scans. A lot of the time, the film is blamed by someone at some point in the whole thing. It's rarely the real cause.