Opinions on Shanghai GP3 120?

[taylorlutz]

I came across what seems to be a great deal on rolls of Shanghai GP3 120 ($2.49). I'm new to Holgas and looking to experiment and keep things cost-effective. Any opinions from those that have used Shanghai before? Is this a good deal?

 

[Colin Corneau]

Not bad at all. I picked up some of this film in China last year...I really liked it. Nice grain, tone and seemed to be rated close to its stated speed.

I noticed the quality seemed to be there; quick sound-bite take on it -- it struck me as a Chinese FP4.

 

[brucemuir]

cant comment on the stuff, I've never tried it
but
for an additional quarter a roll (plus shipping) you can get tri x and I know that is excellent

 

[CGW]

I liked Lucky in 120 but it suddenly vanished from the Canadian market about 18 months ago. Shanghai GP3 doesn't appear to be here--yet. Any leads? Colin?

 

[taylorlutz]

I liked Lucky in 120 but it suddenly vanished from the Canadian market about 18 months ago. Shanghai GP3 doesn't appear to be here--yet. Any leads? Colin?

I actually came across it in lots on Ebay. I usually use Ilford Delta for 120 but it's kind of pricey for me.

 

[anon12345]

I'm working on a 50 roll batch and finally made it to roll #4. Anyone that wants several sample scans from this film please PM your email address. I can't complain about the film so far, but I have not printed from it yet. I just finished a roll that has one frame worthy of that task. I'll know more about it's printability in a couple days. It does curl.

 

[tomalophicon]

It's a good film. It does curl, sometimes flake and is thin, but the tonality is good as in my opinion.

 

[mablo]

You can buy GP3 for something like 1€/roll through *Bay. Reminds me quite a lot of Foma 100 classic. The packaging is bad and you really need a rubber band around it when you unload the roll. The backing paper doesn't have proper numbering so it's useless with old folders (which is too bad). Goes nicely together with Rodinal. Remember to remove the roll end tape strip before developing. It melts in the water and creates havoc.

 

[subsole]

Very nice film!
But you can barely read the film numbers in the red window,so I don't use it with the Holga.

 

[Andrew K]

nice film - I also bought some (50 rolls) when I was in China years ago....

used some to take some shots on the Great Wall - with a Great Wall Camera I bought in Beijing..

And please share where you can get Tri x for less than $3 a roll with affordable shipping to Australia? The chinese B&W films cost less than $3 posted to OZ...

 

[Blanc]

Very nice film but sometimes the adhesive unglues in the midle of the roll.
The lightproof paper isn't the best so you'd better be carefull about loading/unloading conditions.

Except that it's a really good film

 

[taylorlutz]

nice film - I also bought some (50 rolls) when I was in China years ago....

used some to take some shots on the Great Wall - with a Great Wall Camera I bought in Beijing..

And please share where you can get Tri x for less than $3 a roll with affordable shipping to Australia? The chinese B&W films cost less than $3 posted to OZ...

I've never seen Tri-X for less than $3, especially in 120.

 

[brucemuir]

yea, sorry folks. I misread what you were paying for the shanghai
Trix is available for around 3.75 not 2.75 in the USA.

I figured this film was much more attractive to our Aussie brethren due to pricing.
With all the reports of pinholes, bad backing tape etc with some of these cheaper films lately it just makes sense for me to go with a product that is 100% reliable.

Don't get me wrong, I like trying off brand emulsions and truly dig the look of Foma100 it just seems QC has been iffy and Kodak has a stellar rep. and you know what you are getting.

 

[anon12345]

As mentioned previous the frame numbers, at least on my batch, are very light grey. It's a blast trying to read them through a red window. And of course the window on my farorite camera has to be extra dark red.

I purchased these 50 just a couple months ago on ebay for 1.02 a roll. The seller put them up as auction instead of buy-it-now. That was good for me, but bad for him. That's just the way some cookies crumble.

 

[Colin Corneau]

I bought rolls in China, I've never seen them in Canada as the distribution just doesn't seem to be there (yet, anyway).

Have heard it's for sale on eBay, so barring a trip to Beijing I'd say that's the best bet. I've printed this film and have been happy with it for sure. It seems to me to be quality stuff.

 

[wotalegend]

Just do a search in eBay on "Shanghai GP3". There are lots of sellers, mostly in Hong Kong and in China itself. You can buy from 1 roll to 100, some are by auction starting as low as $0.01, some are Buy It Now, and some with free shipping. I bought 10 rolls and the first one is in my Rollei at the moment. I don't think I will be using it in any of my "red window" cameras. As others have said, the frame numbers are grey on a black background and would be very hard to see through the red window.

 

[taylorlutz]

yea, sorry folks. I misread what you were paying for the shanghai
Trix is available for around 3.75 not 2.75 in the USA.

I figured this film was much more attractive to our Aussie brethren due to pricing.
With all the reports of pinholes, bad backing tape etc with some of these cheaper films lately it just makes sense for me to go with a product that is 100% reliable.

Don't get me wrong, I like trying off brand emulsions and truly dig the look of Foma100 it just seems QC has been iffy and Kodak has a stellar rep. and you know what you are getting.

I'd love to be able to afford the amounts of Kodak or Ilford that I want. I was thinking about trying out Foma as well. I'm a student and Arista seems to be the most widely available, inexpensive film. However, I'm not too fond of it.

 

[michaelbsc]

I bought 30 rolls some time ago, and have used about 20 of them.



I would give it a C+ grade. It passes, and I use it to test camera repairs exclusicly. It is perfectly adequate to test stuff.



I carry masking tape with me to seal the end ofThe roll after exposure. The little gummy tape is worthless as everyone has pointed out.

 

[jamesgignac]

I'm a new expat to Beijing and I haven't tried it yet but I'll definitely give it a shot based on comments from this thread - thanks for the tip, it's always nice to find a bit of extra savings. I still like to support the old boys (Il & Ag) but supporting any film production out there is definitely a good thing.

 

[pschauss]

It works well at box speed in Diafine. It is, however, a pain to handle in the darkroom because it curls so much, possibly even worse than Foma. As stated above, the numbers on the backing paper are too faint to read through the red window. Also, I had a couple of rolls where the film was attached to the backing paper in the wrong place causing me to shoot the first frame on the backing paper instead of the film.

If you want to save money on 120 film, look at Freestyle's Arista Edu Ultra (100 or 400) which is relabeled Foma.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

It works well at box speed in Diafine. It is, however, a pain to handle in the darkroom because it curls so much, possibly even worse than Foma. As stated above, the numbers on the backing paper are too faint to read through the red window. Also, I had a couple of rolls where the film was attached to the backing paper in the wrong place causing me to shoot the first frame on the backing paper instead of the film.

If you want to save money on 120 film, look at Freestyle's Arista Edu Ultra (100 or 400) which is relabeled Foma.

I have no experience with the GP3 film, but can tell you that the Arista rebranded Foma film is really nice film. Looks wonderful in just about any developer, is inexpensive, and to boot they have fixed much of the curling problems they used to have; it is much improved in that department.
Sometimes you may get some minor quality issues with the Arista film, but you get what you pay for, essentially.

 

[peterkant]

Hello, I bought 10 rolls the Price is really cheap, and the film is nice. I toke this picture with my rolleiflex, develop in HC-110 in a Jobo processor.

Dead Link Removed

The film curls but is easy to scan because is flat, curl like a roll not like other films that curls in the center and is difficult to keep flat in the scanner.