Lucky SHD 100 review on Darktopography

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Prest_400

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Interesting. It seems to look better underexposed.
The "for sale, 9 rolls" brought me a laugh.
So, if someone needs film at a low price. Better to stick with foma, efke/adox and cheap APX...
 

Rick A

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Okay--So maybe I'll try some o' this cheap schtuff.
Rick
 

PhotoJim

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Lucky's fun. I like it for a certain look. I will concede that the 120 stuff is garbagey though - I can't use it in my Bronica because the mounting tape isn't adhesive enough for the severe backwind that Bronica does.
 

Mick Fagan

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As a person who has (just counted) 75 rolls of this in the darkroom refrigerator awaiting exposure to the whole wide world, I'm not so sure of the outcome as stated by the tester.

The film does have a certain look, the insufficient anti-halation layer (there is some) is a unique signature point of the film and once understood can be exploited, which may or may not exploit it's look.

It has a very nice grain structure, which is something most modern films have (within reason) suppressed.

I myself rate it at 80 ASA in D76 1+1 with excellent and extremely consistent results. I have now used this film over two manufacturing batches, any differences for developing has been non-existent, my contact sheets haven't needed changing once I obtained my contact sheet figures.

I have shot and developed about 35 rolls of this film since earlier this year, as a result I have a bit of a handle on what it can do for me.

Interesting report though, I think a step wedge is quite useful along with a colour chart and a grey card when testing B&W film, these are things I always include when testing.

Taking a picture of a big knife, doesn't necessarily mean it is a cutting edge test :D

Thanks for the link.

Mick.
 

Max Cooper

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Hey folks, thanks for checking out the review.

Mick, I'll defer to your experience on this film. All of my tests are more satire than science. But I'm curious what made you choose this film over more "mainstream" options?

Thanks!
mc
 

Leighgion

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One man's absolute garbage is another's absolute.

Long as a film works, and the worst I've heard about Lucky in that regard is weak tape on 120 rolls, I don't really see the point of declaring it garbage. Just because it doesn't work for my purposes doesn't means it won't be perfect for somebody else's. Like Mick's.
 

Mick Fagan

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MC, I initially used this film for two reasons, firstly, I had never used or seen it before, secondly, it is very cheap.

Four rolls of 36 frame Lucky, didn't cost as much as a single roll of Ilford FP4+, which is a pretty impressive reason to give it a go.

That said, my current main 135 film, is Neopan 400, a couple of years ago I had around 350 rolls of it in bulk, I'm down to about 175 rolls left. Fuji has deleted this film in bulk, so I will not purchase it again.

My next preference is Ilford FP4+ which is still available in bulk and will I believe, always be available in bulk.

The Lucky film has a double difference from most B&W films in it's grain and not altogether effective anti-halation layer. If you have a dark (ish) background and a subject either dressed in light or white clothing, or has light hair and skin, you will see some quite interesting flare.

This flare coupled with the obvious grain is quite interesting and different when enlarged a bit, especially if enlarged around the 20 to 30 times mark, with a section of the negative being the picture.

I can remember in the sixties there were some interesting pictures of models, buildings and things like that, with incredible grain. Since the demise of golf ball sized grain in most B&W films, this is the first film I have used which can do this for me.

Those are the two main reasons for using this film.

Generally, I am after very fine almost unnoticeable grain structure in film, Neopan 400 does this better for me, than any other conventional B&W film I know of at a 400 ASA speed. Ilford FP4+ does this better for me, at or around the 100 ASA speed.

Mick.
 
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You can't base a film test on using one single roll. That's just not going to cut it.

I agree with Mick that Lucky SHD is 'interesting' film in that it has unique properties. Good or bad - that should be left up to each user to decide.

What I feel lacking from the test is mainly that in my mind you cannot get to know a film until you've used many rolls in all kinds of lighting scenarios. You also have to try your hand at it with varying development times, agitation intervals, and agitation technique. All those factors will play a roll in how the film finally looks in a print (be it digital or analog projection/contact prints).

So I think the test is fairly flawed and not exhaustive enough of the possibilities that are out there to obtain optimum results. The fact that it's Lucky film doesn't matter. It could be any film, and it would still be flawed, imho.

- Thomas
 

Max Cooper

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Thomas, you're absolutely right that you can't base your entire estimation of a film on a single roll. However, you can certainly test its speed in a given workflow, and that's what I did. Could I get more out of the film? Sure. But why try when other films work so much better, have steady supply, and don't have quality control issues with the emulsion. Furthermore, I doubt that any amount of testing will make the anti-halation layer work.

Once again, the test is more about satire than science, and I sincerely hope that one who likes this film quits using it because of what some joker on the internet says.

In my defense, I did shoot two more rolls, and they confirmed my result about the ISO200 rating, at least in my workflow. The highlights were completely lost in many of the images. I'll post them eventually, and ad a link here.
 

Leighgion

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Max, if there's one thing I've learned about satire, it's that you have to go over the top far enough before even a reasonable majority of people understand you're kidding.

Just speaking for myself I found no special reason while reading your review to believe you weren't taking technical conclusions about the film as seriously as the next guy, and I like to think of myself as passably sensitive. My impression is that the OP here was taking you quite seriously. Comments about the "real" meaning of "Ka-Bar" slide easily into the category of asides.

I had a funny experience in this area recently with my niece's soccer playing. My sister ended up taking the most pictures last season and being the one who had to put on a slide show for the team. She did one section with a music selection intended to be ironic. She was informed by my niece that there were members of the audience who cried during it. Granted, this audience was mostly teenage girl soccer players, but my sister clearly misjudged her viewership's sense of humor and failed to communicate the joke effectively.
 

Ian Grant

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About 4 or 5 years ago I tried and tested Lucky SHD 100 new after a discussion on APUG about the film with John frm J&C. At that point Lucky had a partnership deal with Kodak and the emulsion was closely related to Tmax 100 nad the press releases at the ime indicated that Kodak were licensing T-grain technology to Lucky.. In fact in practice it behaved in a very similar way to Tmax, and I had problems getting the reputed halation even with extreme lighting back lit tree's with sunlight streaming through.

However Kodak pulled out of the deal and the emulsion changed, when Ilford investigated the film they found it wasn't a T-grain emulsion. There were a number of rumours at the time about why Kodak pulled out.

Ian
 

Max Cooper

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Leighgion, I see your point. The post--and the entire blog--is an expression of how I see photography, and how I see myself as a photographer struggling for success. A big part of this is the almost insurmountable task of NOT focusing on things like which film people use, or which cameras, etc. The satire is mainly self-critique, because despite my feelings on the matter, I always slide into photo-nerd mindset in the end. I had hoped the paragraph about how loosely cared for the film/chemicals were would be an indicator that the test, while valid, is not a Rosetta stone to unlock this film's secrets.

I've received some good critique in this thread. Thank you.

Ian, this is very interesting. My question to you is: How do you find out all this stuff? Are there magazines I'm missing, or do you work in the industry? My dad can rattle off lists of photo-manufacturer partnerships going back to the '60s, but I have no idea how to follow these market rumors and whispers.
 

Ian Grant

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The BJP carried the Press Release and details of the Lucky/Kodak deal but it was in the heavy weight newspapers in the US etc as well. It was also online :D

Ian
 

McFortner

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I have not had any complaints about Lucky 35mm so far. Granted, I'm just an amateur hack and don't have a lot of black and white experience under my belt. But if anybody ever has any film they are just going to throw away because they don't like it, they can mail it to me and I'll play with it for giggles and grins!

Michael
 

Max Cooper

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Just a quick edit: In post #10, I meant to say I hope NO ONE who likes the film quits using it because of my test. Please excuse my poor late-night communication skills. From humility to arrogance in a single typo.
 

Max Cooper

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