Well we are rather fast. I have some nice prototype films and after next week we are going to rent a studio in Prague where we have some final shooting on Rollei CN400 (C41) pro scanfilm and the Rollei RSD B&W slide film.
My (Czech) model is comming from Pilzen so if things went wrong it MUST be the PILZEN BEER who has spoiled the films then.
Well we are rather fast. I have some nice prototype films and after next week we are going to rent a studio in Prague where we have some final shooting on Rollei CN400 (C41) pro scanfilm...
You'll already know this, but for those who haven't tried it yet, Scanfilm is wonderfully romantic, soft and grainy -- the nearest you can get to the vanished E6 films of yore such as Ferrania 1000D or Ansco 500. Objectively, it's rubbish, and the omission of the orange mask is pretty much irrelevant to its scanning qualities, but it has a 'look' like nothing else available today -- you have to either love it or hate it.
It's all but useless for B+W (despite Maco's claims) though we (my wife Frances Schultz and I) have had some very good results with lith printing from it.
Scanfilm -- Two labs so far, same results both ways. I don't think lab/process variations could explain the discrepancies in grain and sharpness next to the comparison film, Portra 400.
Maco gave us 35mm at photokina; I haven't yet shot the 120 I got from Silverprint (thanks, Martin).
As for the B+W printing, it's highly subject-specific; obviously the absence of the mask has no effect on the sensitivity (or otherwise) of B+W papers to colours other than blue and (for VC) green.
Don't get me wrong: Scanfilm is wonderful stuff if you like the soft, grainy, warm results it gives (I do). But it's grainy and unsharp next to the competition, and as is sometimes the case with Maco claims, there is room for other opinions.
Reviews (Roger Hicks/Frances Schultz) will appear shortly in Shutterbug and Black and White (UK)
aha, that seems to be the only way to change your mind then....
ne rien va plus!
We had some other experiences with different labs. At the end the best consistent results with the DIY C41 kit (K54) from Amaloco, the Netherlands.
At the moment we have a lab in Oss who is able to do it in the right way. When necessary I can correct my prints (myself) during the process there.
Our competitor was the Fuji NPH400 and the new pro 400H. The Fuji was in grain better, yes. The color of the CN400 scan film is rather saturated. Like the older Agfa Optima 400 films.
But overall an interesting film especially for the flatbed scanner with a limited dynamic range.
Seconded. Excellent with my Konica Minolta too (the one with the silly long name -- Scan Dimage 5400 II or some such), though an uncorrected scan is very warm (which I like).
Perhaps next time I am within 200 km of you I should drop in...