New Classic EZ400 - 35mm Film

[spark]

Over here: all
The industrial labs sort them out as PE plastic waste. Amateurs and small labs will add them to the packaging materials waste collection.*


*At this route the black canisters likely will be incinerated as not detectable by the sorting sensors.

Over here, geocachers are always after empty ones. They prefer the black but will wrap black or camouflage tape around the clears

 

[foc]

When I had the shop/lab, a magician used to call and collect the black canisters which he used in his magic act with wedding guests.
I made sure I had a big bag of mixed canisters when I retired, they are in the shed and get used for all sorts of things.
My wife even uses them for putting cosmetics in when, we go away for a weekend, to save packing space.

But I digress ! Personally, I don't mind rebadged film if it helps people use more film. I would prefer if it was more transparent as to who uses what brand for repackaging but it is also fun to speculate who has what.

 

[pentaxuser]

Technically, EZed.
But the overwhelming influence of the US means you do hear a lot of EZee.
I continue to fight the almost hopeless battle with "lefftenant" (lieutenant). When faced with the response "it isn't spelled that way", I usually generally riposte with "How do you pronounce colonel?"

When I speak of most colonels I virtually declare them to be nuts

pentaxuser

 

[pentaxuser]

Zed. Always will be. The only time I say the American way, is with the band, ZZTop.
Speaking of pronunciation of lieutenant, a reporter on the TV news...youngster... pronounced it the American way when talking about our new "lefftenant" governor. I almost had a heart attack!!
And it's a Zed28 up here... just saying.

I still recall the song "Zee in love" in my early teens before I had any knowledge of the U.S. alphabet and wondered if Zee was the sort of nasty consequences we teenagers had been warned about in what passed for sex lessons

pentaxuser

 

[Adrian Bacon]

Anyone tried this stuff?
A Gritty film from the description, no super super smooth rendition and definitely strikes a clear distinction from the clinical look of digital.
The adds says: ‘If you prefer additional detail in your shadows, and some attractive blooming in your highlights, you can also expose EZ400 rated at ISO 200, without altering the standard development times (for ISO 400)”.
The comb of grain and blooming sounds fantastic, I must say!
Anyone tried this film and have any thoughts they’d care to share?

most likely fomapan 400. Ribsey, one of the guys behind it has stated that it’s not a new emulsion and it’s manufactured by a European film manufurer. Additionally, the tail sticking out has the same cut pattern as what Foma uses with their film.

all that being said, nothing wrong with any of that. It’s a great way for supporters to support his efforts in promoting and talking about film. We need that.

 

[Huss]

..

What amazed me was how many of the commentators appeared eager to buy what they appeared to think was a new film simply because he sells it as EZ400 but I suppose it's a bit like the Fantome 8 and Babylon 13 effect. Newcomers to film or a section of them at least, are drawn to this kind of marketing...

You know you are being disingenuous with that statement. The Fantome and Babylon films are rebrands, but they are the only way to buy individual 36 exp rolls. Most people do not want to buy 100 or 200ft of the stuff, and roll their own.
I don't. It is for people who only want a few rolls, and do not want to deal with the hassle of buying a bulk loader and all that gear needed with it, and then deal with having both ends of the film exposed etc.

EZ400, Secret Agent etc are just direct rebrands of the exact same film in the same lengths. So it Arista (it is Foma). Fantome and Babylon is the only place where you can get them as individual rolls.

 

[AgX]

It is for people who only want a few rolls, and do not want to deal with the hassle of buying a bulk loader and all that gear needed with it, and then deal with having both ends of the film exposed etc.

For bulk loading you do not need ANY gear you do not have in house. At best you can acquire a reloadable cassette, but even that is no necessity, though I advise it. Neither will you have exposed any end of the new film.

 

[Huss]

For bulk loading you do not need ANY gear you do not have in house. At best you can acquire a reloadable cassette, but even that is no necessity, though I advise it. Neither will you have exposed any end of the new film.

That is just one part of it. Most people just don't want to bulk load. Most people want to buy one or two rolls at their convenience.

 

[AgX]

EZ400, Secret Agent etc are just direct rebrands of the exact same film in the same lengths. So it Arista (it is Foma). Fantome and Babylon is the only place where you can get them as individual rolls.

The offcial reseller of Orwo films, a german outlet, offers various Orwo taking, intermediate and print films as type 135 conversion via Ebay.

 

[Huss]

The offcial reseller of Orwo films, a german outlet, offers various Orwo taking, intermediate and print films as type 135 conversion via Ebay.

You keep proving my point. A normal person will just go to their camera shop, or regular online source (in the US it could be B&H, Adorama, Freestyle, in the UK it could be analoguewonderland, in the EU Fotoimpex, macodirect etc).
Guess how many carry Orwo film? Zero. None. Zilch.

Yet you think that telling me about an ebay store - that you don't even provide the name to - makes it a main stream product? Don't forget, Photrio is an enthusiast site that frankly has next to nothing to do with the real world when it comes to the average film enthusiast. We are total film nerd geeks here. And yet most of us don't know where this Orwo stuff is sold as a 135 conversion?

I did a search and I think perhaps you mean core-tek on ebay. They seem to be selling individually rolled film. Not sure how this one ebay store as its only presence competes on other manufacturers/resellers who make their film widely and easily available.

Your ebay store sells Orwo 21 for $8 for 24 exposures. Not 36 exposures, but 33% less at 24.
Lomo Babylon 13 (which I think is the same) is $9 from Macodirect. For 36 exposures.

I havent even taken shipping into account. The ebay store charges $9 per roll to ship.

So your way is not only much more convoluted and harder to find, but also much more expensive.

 

[AgX]

A normal person will just go to their camera shop, or regular online source (in the US it could be B&H, Adorama, Freestyle, in the UK it could be analoguewonderland, in the EU Fotoimpex, macodirect etc).
Guess how many carry Orwo film? Zero. None.

If you had looked it up yourself, you would have seen that there are even few brick&mortor shops who got these type 135 Orwo films. Amongst them a classic camera store and a store solely devoted to analog photgrapgy.

And it are rather fellows like me that would look up manufacturers or established shops, but there are young folks having grown up with Ebay, Amazon etc. Even here at Apug constantly is hinted at the most obscure internet sources of photographic products I even never heard of before.

 

[Ernst-Jan]

You keep proving my point. A normal person will just go to their camera shop, or regular online source (in the US it could be B&H, Adorama, Freestyle, in the UK it could be analoguewonderland, in the EU Fotoimpex, macodirect etc).
Guess how many carry Orwo film? Zero. None. Zilch.

Yet you think that telling me about an ebay store - that you don't even provide the name to - makes it a main stream product? Don't forget, Photrio is an enthusiast site that frankly has next to nothing to do with the real world when it comes to the average film enthusiast. We are total film nerd geeks here. And yet most of us don't know where this Orwo stuff is sold as a 135 conversion?

I did a search and I think perhaps you mean core-tek on ebay. They seem to be selling individually rolled film. Not sure how this one ebay store as its only presence competes on other manufacturers/resellers who make their film widely and easily available.

Your ebay store sells Orwo 21 for $8 for 24 exposures. Not 36 exposures, but 33% less at 24.
Lomo Babylon 13 (which I think is the same) is $9 from Macodirect. For 36 exposures.

I havent even taken shipping into account. The ebay store charges $9 per roll to ship.

So your way is not only much more convoluted and harder to find, but also much more expensive.

I do prefer 24 exposure rolls to be honest. I bought from C0re and what I liked about it is that you have many different kinds of film in one package. And the don't rebrand it/it is very clear what the base material is, they sell it as the same type you can find on the website of Filmotec.

But all others, like this EZ400 or Kosmo 100 not being clear and honest about the source of the film, to me it feels like scam. Basically you let people pay for a fancy box or name.

 

[pentaxuser]

EZ400, Secret Agent etc are just direct rebrands of the exact same film in the same lengths. So it Arista (it is Foma). Fantome and Babylon is the only place where you can get them as individual rolls.

So you are saying that EZ400 is not Foma film which is available in normal rolls but is another maker's film (ORWO?) and can only be obtained from rebranders who buy large rolls and then repackage it in cassettes? So if you want EZ400 in cassettes you either buy it from Ribsy or some other rebrander as EZ400 in Ribsy's case or you cannot buy it all. It is not available any other way

Does this mean that EZ400 is available in cassette form from other sources but will be called by another name so that EZ400 is a rebrand of a rebrand? Do you know who those sources are and what they charge for what is EZ400?

Thanks

pentaxuser

 

[Danner]

Ribsy is a solid YouTuber, and helps the film community. I ordered 5 rolls.

 

[Ernst-Jan]

So you are saying that EZ400 is not Foma film which is available in normal rolls but is another maker's film (ORWO?)

I don't know if I say that, but it is not what I mean It is Foma.

EZ400: 5,45 GBP=€6,37 (Coolfilm.co.uk)
Foma 400: €4,30 (fotoimpex.de)
Quite a difference for the same film.
Also, I wonder how waterproof / water thight the paper containers are compared to plastic. I think this is relevant when you store film in the fridge

 

[Danner]

BTW, it is repackaged Foma 400. Ribsy stated so in a reply comment under the video.

 

[Steve@f8]

Having ordered 10 rolls from @Analoguewonderland I feel cheated. If I could kick myself in the ar$e I would! In U.K. terms £5.50 for Forma 400 in a bog roll holder v £4.00 for Forma 400 in a plastic holder. Absolutely cheated and annoyed!

 

[Donald Qualls]

I'd say think of it as supporting one of the better, more informative YouTube film photography channels. Channels like Ribsy's, SFLaB, Naked Photographer, Steve O'Nions,Old Camera Guy, and Matt Marrash cannot be cheap to run; not only is there the cost of film and chemistry, there's the video equipment (and not just cameras; my desktop computer, perfectly adequate for editing scans close to 100 megapixels, just goes to its knees if I try to edit video). They're helping keep film alive by keeping it in the public consciousness via YouTube -- and I'd guess Patreon doesn't bring in much money (at least my partner's Patreon doesn't, though it's not photography related).

Buying stuff from these channels -- Steve and Roger's prints, Ribsy's film, Greg's darkroom towels, aprons, and t-shirts (and prints) -- helps make these channels pay enough to keep the "love" in "labor of love" production.

 

[Huss]

If you had looked it up yourself, you would have seen that there are even few brick&mortor shops who got these type 135 Orwo films. Amongst them a classic camera store and a store solely devoted to analog photgrapgy.
.

Who? Which shops? You keep mentioning places to buy it, without mentioning the places.

This is so weird. Why couldnt you say from the very beginning 'you can buy this film at...' and name the place?

Do you not understand that being so cryptic is proving my point about availability.

And why didn't you address the fact that your one apparent location on ebay is MUCH more expensive than the mainstream places that offer the same product? Lomo is much cheaper than your apparent dealer.

 

[Huss]

So you are saying that EZ400 is not Foma film which is available in normal rolls but is another maker's film (ORWO?) and can only be obtained from rebranders who buy large rolls and then repackage it in cassettes? So if you want EZ400 in cassettes you either buy it from Ribsy or some other rebrander as EZ400 in Ribsy's case or you cannot buy it all. It is not available any other way

Does this mean that EZ400 is available in cassette form from other sources but will be called by another name so that EZ400 is a rebrand of a rebrand? Do you know who those sources are and what they charge for what is EZ400?

Thanks

pentaxuser

No, I am saying EZ400 is just Foma. As is Arista (Freestyle's brand). The difference is Arista is cheaper than Foma, EZ is more expensive.

The Lomo films are Orwo films cut down to 36exp rolls. As AGX has shown, their offerings are quite the bargain as Lomo's version is much cheaper than the one shop doing the same thing on ebay.

 

[Steve@f8]

Another recent potential repackaging is ‘Agent Shadow’ - a recent Kickstarter campaign. Anyone know the provenance of this one?

 

[AgX]

Who? Which shops? You keep mentioning places to buy it, without mentioning the places.

This is so weird. Why couldnt you say from the very beginning 'you can buy this film at...' and name the place?

Do you not understand that being so cryptic is proving my point about availability.

And why didn't you address the fact that your one apparent location on ebay is MUCH more expensive than the mainstream places that offer the same product? Lomo is much cheaper than your apparent dealer.

The offcial reseller of Orwo films, a german outlet, offers various Orwo taking, intermediate and print films as type 135 conversion via Ebay.

As I said above, I am one of those fellows who still look things up at the manufacturer.

 

[pentaxuser]

No, I am saying EZ400 is just Foma. As is Arista (Freestyle's brand). The difference is Arista is cheaper than Foma, EZ is more expensive.

The Lomo films are Orwo films cut down to 36exp rolls. As AGX has shown, their offerings are quite the bargain as Lomo's version is much cheaper than the one shop doing the same thing on ebay.

Fine and thanks for the clarification It just seemed that somehow ORWO and rebranders performing a service to film users which they are in the case of turning large rolls into cassettes seemed to get tangled up with whether EZ400 was available in cassettes which as it is Foma and Arista is clearly the case

It appears that Ribsy who is, I agree promoting film, did mention it was Foma but I failed to find that reference in either his video or the comments section. It was just that it did not seem to be admitted quickly.

When someone either asks questions or questions an aspect of film promotion it does not mean that he is necessarily criticising film promotion. It is not a case of dividing everyone into two categories of being either 100% with film promotion no matter what or being judged as being a 100% against something because he makes comments or asks questions

pentaxuser

 

[Danner]

I'd say think of it as supporting one of the better, more informative YouTube film photography channels. Channels like Ribsy's, SFLaB, Naked Photographer, Steve O'Nions,Old Camera Guy, and Matt Marrash cannot be cheap to run; not only is there the cost of film and chemistry, there's the video equipment (and not just cameras; my desktop computer, perfectly adequate for editing scans close to 100 megapixels, just goes to its knees if I try to edit video). They're helping keep film alive by keeping it in the public consciousness via YouTube -- and I'd guess Patreon doesn't bring in much money (at least my partner's Patreon doesn't, though it's not photography related).

Buying stuff from these channels -- Steve and Roger's prints, Ribsy's film, Greg's darkroom towels, aprons, and t-shirts (and prints) -- helps make these channels pay enough to keep the "love" in "labor of love" production.

I totally agree. I bought 5 rolls, knowing full well it was rebranded and more costly. Still delighted with my purchase.
I support the arts [proudfacesmile]

After all, does anybody really think, even for a moment, that it could be anything else but a rebranded stock? Because setting up a film production line is rather difficult (I assume) LOL.

 

[Jonno85uk]

After all, does anybody really think, even for a moment, that it could be anything else but a rebranded stock?

No. I just find it a little irksome that it is rebranded Foma 400, again.