Testing and evaluating CatLabs "X Film 320 Pro (2022 version)

[StrangleMeRandy]

OT: I "tested" a bunch of Ferrania P30 when they (like Catlabs) had no data aside from some suggested best practices. It was contrasty like Catlabs unless I exposed it at iso50 or below, and at those speeds it worked in a way that could be scanned or wet printed without too much difficulty. But for me it was an expensive time waster only to learn that the film was too slow for my intended use. That's when I got out of the business of testing undocumented films.

I offered to give the rest of my P30 to a friend that tried one of my rolls and he declined saying he was already dealing with PTSD from the first roll. ;-)

Edit: I added the quote marks around the word tested to make sure people don't think I was doing what @aparat is doing, which is on another level entirely. I don't have those skills!

I'd be happy to finish "testing" your P30 if it's still floating around...

 

[aparat]

Now that I figured out how to digitize my 120 negatives with a phone, I can share a few from a recent 120 roll of CatLABS X FILM 320 Pro, developed in XTOL-R for 14 minutes. I was trying to push the film, as the Holga, despite sunny conditions, underexposed it. Fortunately, I could change the overall brightness/exposure with a phone app and salvage the underexposed images. So these are not straight, unmanipulated scans. Despite the necessary boost in brightness, I still ended up with the film's signature punch-looking images. I must say, the look is kinda growing on me, and XTOL-R seems to tame some of the unwieldy tonality that D-76 could not do quite as well.

 

[Donald Qualls]

Damn. I need to push my one exposed roll of this stuff to the head of the line, as soon as I get the three rolls of Fomapan 400 already in the tank processed. Might finally get time over New Year's; three day weekend and shouldn't need to fix my computer again...

 

[Auer]

From my first roll. 7.5 min continuos agitation in 1:25 Rodinal at 70F

 

[Auer]

A few more images here: https://www.auer.studio/2023

These are 120, 10:30 minutes in 68F HC-110 1:49

Works pretty well.

 

[aparat]

A few more images here: https://www.auer.studio/2023

These are 120, 10:30 minutes in 68F HC-110 1:49

Works pretty well.

Fantastic! Your website looks great, too.

 

[Auer]

Fantastic! Your website looks great, too.

Thanks. I feel like I got to where I want to be with this film, at least in Medium Format.

 

[Donald Qualls]

three day weekend and shouldn't need to fix my computer again...

Me and my big mouth. Computer crapped out again, spent two days poking at it, and the third got eaten with honey-do stuff...

 

[John Wiegerink]

From my first roll. 7.5 min continuos agitation in 1:25 Rodinal at 70F

Those shots look very good in my opinion. The film seems to get along with Rodinal very well. What did you rate the film at for these Rodinal developed pictures.

 

[Auer]

Those shots look very good in my opinion. The film seems to get along with Rodinal very well. What did you rate the film at for these Rodinal developed pictures.

These were at ISO320

I also shot some at ISO200 and developed in HC-110 1:49 https://www.auer.studio/2023

 

[John Wiegerink]

These were at ISO320

I also shot some at ISO200 and developed in HC-110 1:49 https://www.auer.studio/2023

Those all look very good. Just curious as to how you are metering those scenes in which Rodinal was used as the developer. Incident or more on a zone III-IV shadow setting. The reason I ask is that it seems that most folks here want to rate this film much lower than ISO 320

 

[Auer]

Those all look very good. Just curious as to how you are metering those scenes in which Rodinal was used as the developer. Incident or more on a zone III-IV shadow setting. The reason I ask is that it seems that most folks here want to rate this film much lower than ISO 320

The rodinal set was shot with a Nikon N70 which I use a lot for "first roll for me of that brand" use.
So I let the camera do the metering and shoot at box speed always for that first roll.
In this case it worked out pretty ok.

 

[John Wiegerink]

The rodinal set was shot with a Nikon N70 which I use a lot for "first roll for me of that brand" use.
So I let the camera do the metering and shoot at box speed always for that first roll.
In this case it worked out pretty ok.

OK, thanks for that info. It makes more sense now if you are using matrix metering.

 

[aparat]

It's been a long time since this thread ended, but I only now got around to printing some of the photographs taken on the CatLABS X FILM 320 Pro around the time of the film's launch. Overall, my experience with printing was good. The film does not have the beautifully extended smooth tonality of, say HP5 Plus, but it does not need to. It can be printed fairly easily on Grade 2 paper, if exposed and developed for that purpose. I set my exposure meter to EI 80, if I remember correctly, and developed for in D-76 1+1 for 5:45 min. at 20C in a Jobo rotary processor.

Here's an 8x10 enlargement from a 35mm frame on the B&H Multitone VC RC Glossy paper. Grain is not visible at this magnification, and there's ample detail to be had. The banding artifacts and smudges are from my old flatbed scanner. The PET film base resists water drying marks, actually, making for a very clean negative to print. This particular print was developed in D-72 and toned in selenium 1+9 for six minutes. The scan is straight from VueScan, or as straight as I could make it.

Contractor by Nick Mazur, on Flickr

 

[Romanko]

Very nice! Thanks for sharing and all the work you've done on this film. This Aviphot does have pictorial potential.

 

[Skywalker]

This image was captured with my Bronica ETR Si + Zenzanon 50mm lens + CatLabs X320 Pro exposed at ISO 320 and developed with R09 dilution 1:50 for 21:45 minutes at 65ºF. My experience with this film is excellent. I find the tonalities very well when exposed in direct sunlight like the first picture. I did not try it using in interior with tungsten lights or flash. The second picture good performance in the shadow. I used the exposure measured by the camera (center-weight) pointing toward the building in shadow. Handling the negatives was very good. It has a slight curl, but very manageable for scanning using my Epson V800 flat bed scanner at 2400 PPI. Does anyone knows is this is Orwo N75 film?

 

[Oleg_A]

Please, be so kind as to give some information as to where the film is produced. I am a Ukrainian and, naturally no more a single dime to china or india. Any United States based producer, any Great Britain based producer, any Europe based producer will be welcomed.

 

[Don_ih]

Please, be so kind as to give some information as to where the film is produced.

The film itself is Aviphot made by Agfa. But who knows where the cassettes were made. (Maybe someone here does.) It's very difficult to buy anything without in some way sending something to China or India. Even if the cassettes were cut and pressed in Europe, the sheet metal probably came from India. And the light-trap material probably came from China.