Orwo colour film teaser?

[flavio81]

Is it just me, or is anyone else not quite grasping ORWO’s logic with this product?

When the rumblings of this film and its Agfa heritage began to hit online, it sounded as though it was going to be an ECN-2 product, obviously not to compete with, but in some ways an alternative to, the Vision films, at least in a small way. Well, this it certainly is not.

However, the whole C41 process design without remjet when the entire film industry is already set-up for ECN-2 with remjet baffles me. Am I missing something here?

This. It doesn't make sense.

As @koraks said, you either make an ECN2 film or you make a C41 film (forget about the remjet layer, i mean about the dye coupler themselves, etc). These two processes use a different color developer.

You can make an ECN2 film that looks acceptable on C41 process (i.e. the Kodak Vision films repackaged by CineStill), but it sounds really silly to say you designed "a C41 movie camera film".

Unless there are some advantages for movie labs to switch to a C41 process!!

 

[foc]

The only long-roll/continuous C-41 35mm roller processors in Europe are located at few industrial photo-labs

Do you know the names of these labs?

My understanding was that all these high speed C41 processing machines ceased operating back in the early 2010s due to lack of volume. These machines were designed to develop 1000+ rolls of film per hour.

When digital photography took over from the mass film market, these large labs with high volume film processing were unable to down size.

Here is a video explaining these wholesale large volume photofinishers.

 

[AgX]

These large labs still exist, cranking out a billion prints a year just at one firm, part of it RA-4 prints.
Yes, of course the film development dramatically shrunk at industrial labs, but such roller processor is still more economic than their hanger installations for none-C-41, none-135 processes. But now such roller processor no longer runs in line with a twin 24/7 but maybe hours a day. Or some day, as over-night delivery is a matter of the past. Even most small labs once dedicated to commercial photographers only run their hanger processors a few hours per week...

 

[brbo]

This. It doesn't make sense.

As @koraks said, you either make an ECN2 film or you make a C41 film (forget about the remjet layer, i mean about the dye coupler themselves, etc). These two processes use a different color developer.

Unless you want to sell film to both, cine and still users, and you have verified that C-41 will work for both of them.

I think that we might be underestimating the post production with assumption that they can only work with low contrast, low saturation material. For example, recently they filmed an entire season of a popular show on Ektachrome E100 cross processed in ECN-2. It's lower contrast and saturation than cross processed in C-41 but still not even close to an ECN-2 negative (scanned it's very "workable", I do it from time to time myself). So if they can make that work, C-41 will be no problem.

Of course, Hollywood will not switch to ORWO, but ORWO might pick some smaller productions (or those looking for a distinctive look) and those can be processed at two processors they have installed (UK & Germany). I'm thinking that decision on C-41 was a technological constraint on their side and the still photo crowd's hunger for C-41 film at the moment meant that there was now a low(er) risk entering colour cine film business. So if that doesn't really pan out, they can still sell larger chunk of their film to still photographers.

 

[BrianShaw]

This announcement just crossed my desk. How exciting... more new film!

Wolfen NC500 400 ISO 35mm Color Film EXPIRED

PAST DATE SPECIAL: Expired 10/2024. Cold stored. Backed by our 30-Day Guarantee. Price limited to stock on hand.

www.freestylephoto.biz

Oddly, though, it's currently filed under Black and White in their catalogue.

• Home
• >Film
• >Black and White Film
• >Wolfen NC500 500 ISO 35mm x 36exp.Color Negative Film

A review:

 

[BrianShaw]

This announcement just crossed my desk. How exciting... more new film!

Wolfen NC500 500 ISO 35mm x 36exp.Color Negative Film | Freestyle Photo & Imaging​

Wolfen NC500 500 ISO 35mm x 36exp. Color Negative Film from ORWO is a limited edition 500 ASA film. It is the first brand new color photographic film that they have launched in decades, proudly still produced in Bitterfeld-Wolfen on the original…
www.freestylephoto.biz

Oddly, though, it's currently filed under Black and White in their catalogue.

• Home
• >Film
• >Black and White Film
• >Wolfen NC500 500 ISO 35mm x 36exp.Color Negative Film

A review:

 

[AgX]

Well, at the Filmotec site it still is not listed, and their report about the release of that new film has been taken off the site.


So one may wonder whether Filmotec is still involved in this colour endeavour, more so as their very new site design explicitely has it about b&W photography, something one would not expect from a manufacturer just turning to colour for their very first time.

 

[Cholentpot]

C-41? ECN-II? Cross Processed?

 

[BrianShaw]

C41

WOLFEN NC500 - 36EXP

WOLFEN NC500 is a 400 ASA, 36 exposure, colour photographic film. This is the first brand new colour photographic film that we have launched in decades, proudly still produced in Bitterfeld-Wolfen on the original site where film manufacture has been a tradition since 1910. At the core of our...

www.orwo.shop

 

[Cholentpot]

C41

WOLFEN NC500 - 36EXP

WOLFEN NC500 is a 400 ASA, 36 exposure, colour photographic film. This is the first brand new colour photographic film that we have launched in decades, proudly still produced in Bitterfeld-Wolfen on the original site where film manufacture has been a tradition since 1910. At the core of our...

www.orwo.shop

Cool. So not cine film. That's remarkable.

 

[MattKing]

Threads combined

 

[faberryman]

It doesn't say out of stock at Freestyle. Of course, at $16.00/roll demand may be suppressed.

 

[halfaman]

There are already some reviews about this new film and, honestly, it reminds me A LOT to Lomochrome Metropolis.

first look - Orwo Wolfen NC500 film — ribsy

This is the first time using the new Orwo film, Wolfen NC500

www.ribsy.net

@Huss What do you think? You have used Metropolis more than me.

 

[flavio81]

There are already some reviews about this new film and, honestly, it reminds me A LOT to Lomochrome Metropolis.

first look - Orwo Wolfen NC500 film — ribsy

This is the first time using the new Orwo film, Wolfen NC500

www.ribsy.net

Ah, enslaved color.

It seems "NC" in "NC500" stands for "No Color"

Well, let's hope the next batch is improved, cross fingers...

 

[BrianShaw]

Painterly; I might like it, especially with a soft-focus filter. Too bad its not in 120 and too bad its so fast.

 

[spark]

Those pics posted by halfaman sure look like old 3M Dynachrome from the 1970’s. Grainy with muted colors

 

[flavio81]

Oddly, though, it's currently filed under Black and White in their catalogue.

That's some sincere, refreshing honesty from them!!

 

[Arcadia4]

Interestingly packaged with Original Wolfen/Inoviscoat branding rather than the ORWO logo.

 

[AgX]

Interestingly packaged with Original Wolfen/Inoviscoat branding rather than the ORWO logo.

This package labelling is the most interesting fact at all !

-) it indicates that Filmotec is out of the game.

-) Inoviscoat so far even did not mention that new Orwo combine at all. This is the first hint to this.


Of course as with most industry news I have to end with "we shall see"...

 

[AgX]

Inoviscoat at their internet site today have listed that colour film as their product.

This is the very first time they list any film they made.


But today at their site they also got a link to Filmotec, which indicates that the new Orwo combine in some way still exists.

 

[faberryman]

It's all a shell game, athough I am not sure why the actual manufacturer of the film should be a big secret. If you use a respected film manufacturer, it will give people confidence in your product. You can always say you engineered the film yourself, and everyone will be fooled.

 

[AgX]

I do not see it as a shell game. But as still hiding the outcome of the insolvency or the respective negotiatons.

 

[AgX]

-) it indicates that Filmotec is out of the game.

But today at their site they also got a link to Filmotec, which indicates that the new Orwo combine in some way still exists.

Inoviscoat indicate that their film can be bought via Filmotec.
(Though not being clear whether this refers to the still or a cine version.)


(Filmotec still do not list either version. Nor do they list any retail/representative contacts as still few days ago.)

 

[AgX]

ECN-2 or C-41

Inoviscoat made now this statement at their site:

"This film was originally developed by us exclusively as 500 ASA cinema negative film. Now available as WOLFEN NC500, this is also available to all 35mm enthusiasts as 400 ASA color negative film. While other cinema films have a Remjet layer on the back, the NC500 doesn't need it, allowing it to be processed using the regular C41 process. A development in the ECN2 process, on the other hand, results in a correspondingly flatter gradation."


I understand this as their film being a

ECN-2 camera film with the REM-jet layer omitted.

 

[Arcadia4]

"This film was originally developed by us exclusively as 500 ASA cinema negative film. Now available as WOLFEN NC500, this is also available to all 35mm enthusiasts as 400 ASA color negative film. While other cinema films have a Remjet layer on the back, the NC500 doesn't need it, allowing it to be processed using the regular C41 process. A development in the ECN2 process, on the other hand, results in a correspondingly flatter gradation."

Good find. i guess given advertised xt320 heritage, thats what most people would have suspected all along, a no remjet ECN2 cine film that can be processed in C-41 as per cinestill offering rather than the other way around. It puzzles me why ‘orwo’ seemed to insist it was a c-41 film by design, maybe to make it sound more market friendly for still use?

I wish it all success nonetheless.

Film was on sale at photopia hamburg apparently a week or so ago.