Thinking about purchasing Lucky Film - Advice please

katcall · Jun 5, 2006

Hi all

I was thinking about purchasing some Lucky Film. I have read previous postings and there seem to be mixed reviews but probably worth trying. However I was looking for some advice in relation to purchasing the film. It is available through e-bay for a relatively low price (one of the reasons I would like to try it) mainly from sellers in Taiwan, Hong Kong or China. I don't think it's available here in Australian stores but maybe another member may know it that's the case or not. I was wondering if anyone had purchased this film from e-bay and had any recommendations about which sellers to try. One seller has 10 rolls of 120 or 35mm for $29.70 aus (including postage) which comes to under $3 per roll (very cheap).

Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Kathy

DBP · Jun 5, 2006

My lucky film is Tri-X.

OOPS, I guess that wasn't what you meant.

katcall · Jun 5, 2006

Hi DBP

No it wasn't, but I do like a laugh so thanks.

Kathy

DBP · Jun 5, 2006

Glad someone appreciates the humor. I always wonder whether people know when I am kidding, especially online.

Magpie · Jun 5, 2006

Hi Kathy,

I have seen 35mm lucky for sale on occasions in Sydney's China town, suggest you have a look around Melbourne's Chinatown. It won't be as cheap but you should be able to pick up a couple of rolls to try before bringing in a larger quantity that may not suit.

Regards

Brendan

clay · Jun 6, 2006

Can't resist this. Clint Eastwood as Harry Callahan in Dirty Harry:

"you've got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"

waileong · Jun 6, 2006

Why would you want to do that? The two most important pieces of the imaging equation are lens and film. If you want the best pictures, get the best you can afford for both.

"Cheap is the path to the dark side", as Yoda might say.

vet173 · Jun 6, 2006

I'm sure the film is as good as anything wal-mart sells.

Mike Kennedy · Jun 6, 2006

Hi Kathy,
We have a film available at our local dollar store called Likon. I have been developing it in Rodinal,50:1 per B&W 200. Kind of cool.
I will send you a scan. Remember the old addage, "Know the rules to break the rules"

Mike

nze · Jun 6, 2006

Hello

I ordered some to an ebay seller " isaac.chen " . He is located in Taiwan . I received the film a week after my paypal payment. I know you could find lower price.I just buy to this seller because of he also sell another film Called gP3 .

Best

katcall · Jun 6, 2006

Thanks everyone for the advice, feedback and a few jokes thrown in.

Thanks Christian, that was the seller I was actually looking at so at least I know the film should arrive. The price is really good so I don't think at this stage I will worry about looking elsewhere. I did notice the GP3 but hadn't heard of it before. Maybe another one to try.

Regards

Kathy

Paul Howell · Jun 6, 2006

I have shot 20 or so rolls of the Lucky 120 ASA 100 developed in Edwal 12 or 777. I feel that it has poor anti halation backing and will flare. The highlights are easly blocked and it took 3 test rolls to nail the times. In Edwal 12 61/2 mint and 8 in 777 rated at 100. My guess is that with D76 you can get 1/2 of box speed. Of the 2 developers I use I liked 777 best. I have 2 rolls left and despite the price I don't think I will buy more. If you try the 35mm let us know your thoughts.

Gerald Koch · Jun 6, 2006

Paul Howell said:
I have shot 20 or so rolls of the Lucky 120 ASA 100 developed in Edwal 12 or 777. ... I have 2 rolls left and despite the price I don't think I will buy more.

Your comments would have more weight had you used a standard developer like D-76 or HC-110 in your evaluation.

TheFlyingCamera · Jun 6, 2006

clay said:
Can't resist this. Clint Eastwood as Harry Callahan in Dirty Harry:

"you've got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"

And the follow-up question (for a 35mm shooter)...
"Was that 35 frames or 36? Well, do ya?! Go ahead, Make My Day!"

ZorkiKat · Jun 6, 2006

Excellent film, rather thin emulsion. Fixes quite rapidly, often clearing in under 1 minute or so, even with ordinary (F-5 type) fixer.

It seems most Chinese films recommend D76 as developer. Never seen any other developer recommended in the film's leaflets. Era, Xiamen, Shanghai and Lucky all carry D76 recommendations. Wouldn't harm anything if you stick with this first to see how the film really is.

The ISO 100 version has fine grain. Do not overdevelop. The 5 minute developing recommendation gives negatives which will print nicely through a condenser enlarger on normal paper. Diluting D76 at 1+3 (I used 12 minutes)
will give good accutance. Never had the chance to try other developers with it.

It seems to have extended red sensitivity. Skin tones are rendered rather creamy, and will tend to 'glow' when shot through a pale yellow filter. Lucky pan reacts to usual (eg yellow, orange, red) filters significantly- at least to an observable degree compared to other pans like TX or TMX. Lucky also tends to create glows and haloes around highlight areas under some conditions. Maybe its from the extremely clear (no grey dye) film base it has.

I loved Lucky film when it was available here. Too bad the importer went out of business a couple of years ago.

ZorkiKat

BWKate · Jun 6, 2006

Zorkikat,

That's great advice. I am about to develop my 3 rolls of Lucky 100 35mm that I shot in China and those characteristics sound desirable to me. I also shoot Kodak Infrared so I like the glowy thing. If I get anything decent I'll try to post here.

Kathy,
Good luck with trying out some Lucky film. I bought mine in China for $2.00 a roll(CDN). I wish I'd bought 20! but I was kind of broke.

BWKate

Brac · Jun 6, 2006

nze said:
Hello

I ordered some to an ebay seller " isaac.chen " . He is located in Taiwan . I received the film a week after my paypal payment. I know you could find lower price.I just buy to this seller because of he also sell another film Called gP3 .

Best

The GP3 is 120 rollfilm and made by Shanghai with a speed of ISO 100. I think the maker is linked with or part of the Seagull camera manufacturers. Anyway the ebay seller you refer to has some links on some of his sales which show photographs taken on GP3 so people can judge for themselves.

ZorkiKat · Jun 6, 2006

Brac said:
The GP3 is 120 rollfilm and made by Shanghai with a speed of ISO 100. I think the maker is linked with or part of the Seagull camera manufacturers. Anyway the ebay seller you refer to has some links on some of his sales which show photographs taken on GP3 so people can judge for themselves.

Shanghai, Era (Gongyuan), and Lucky are different films with different imaging and processing characteristics. Lucky seems to be most different- it has little to share in terms of image quality with Shanghai or Era. Lucky seems to be the most 'modern' of the three- not quite as "classic" as Shanghai or Era when the emulsion is concerned.

Donald Qualls · Jun 7, 2006

Back to original topic -- I've used a few rolls of Lucky SHD 400 in 120 (it's available, both speeds in both 120 and 35 mm, from J&C Photo, BTW). I processed in HC-110 Dilution F, with reduced agitation, which is a process that tends to give extra film speed, so didn't notice any lack of speed relative to the box rating. I didn't notice significant halation issues -- it's got a little more "spread" around bright lights than Tri-X, but people pay extra to get that "aura" with HIE and then don't even use a filter. Grain is about like the Tri-X I recall from the 1970s, which isn't objectionable at all in 6x9 cm, but might be an issue with 35 mm (though I don't recall thinking it was terrible when I shot 35 mm Tri-X in 1975).

I liked it well enough that I bought some more, but not enough to make it my standard film. .EDU Ultra 100 and 400 are similar price, and "better" film -- at least by conventional standards of what we want from B&W. And I can get the same exact emulsion in 35 mm, 120, and 4x5 (even 9x12 cm in the ISO 100, with the original Foma label), which greatly simplifies getting the most from the film...

haris · Jun 9, 2006

In one shop here in Sarajevo, I bought some Lucky films (35mm, ISO 100) as EFKE films (it means over Lucky film canister was glued EFKE sticker, I write about this before). But, what I want to say: Talking with seller in that shop he said that people returns in shop specifically asking "Do you have more of those b/w Chinese films..." People here loved it, not knowing even name of that film... I shooted only two rolles of that film, last year, developed it as recommended for EFKE in Ilford ID11, and I can say I wasn't disapointed. I can not say it is great film, people with more experience already spoke better than me, but also I can not say it is bad film. For me, and my shooting style, film was OK.

timeUnit · Jun 9, 2006

Lucky is a very nice "experimental" film, and you can get really nice effects and moods by using a very sharp lens. It's sharp and soft at the same time.

Some people have commented about poor anti-halation etc, and this is of course true, but also the only reason to buy the film. Don't try to force Lucky to act like a cheap Tri-X, because it's not. It's a specialty film for a specific look.

Do try it with a red filter!

The only bad thing about Lucky is the curl. It curls on the short "end" and it takes loooong for it to flatten. Otherwise it's just great.

IMO, no offence intended etc.

ZorkiKat · Jun 10, 2006

timeUnit said:
Lucky is a very nice "experimental" film, and you can get really nice effects and moods by using a very sharp lens. It's sharp and soft at the same time.

Some people have commented about poor anti-halation etc, and this is of course true, but also the only reason to buy the film. Don't try to force Lucky to act like a cheap Tri-X, because it's not. It's a specialty film for a specific look.

Do try it with a red filter!

The only bad thing about Lucky is the curl. It curls on the short "end" and it takes loooong for it to flatten. Otherwise it's just great.

IMO, no offence intended etc.

When I first shot on Luckypan, I found that it had some characteristics which faintly reminded me of Plus-X. The developing times and contrast characteristics of the older PX developed in D76 were there. I tried various ISO 100-125 films and no other quite had very PX traits. With all the talk that Kodak technology went into Lucky materials, there must be some truth to this.

Shooting through a red filter gives more (and easier) dramatic effects than from any other film I've tried.

As for the curling, I never encountered any. The Lucky film I used was really flat from the moment it came off the drying line. Perhaps the tropical climate makes Lucky film flatter than in temperate/colder ones.

Jay

BWKate · Jun 10, 2006

Jay,

I tried your recommended developing time and dilution and it worked great! The two films I bought in Yangshuo were flat and one I bought in Suzhou was really curly. I think where they stored the film was a factor.

ZorkiKat · Jun 12, 2006

BWKate said:
Jay,

I tried your recommended developing time and dilution and it worked great! The two films I bought in Yangshuo were flat and one I bought in Suzhou was really curly. I think where they stored the film was a factor.

BWKate,

Glad that the combo worked for you. The negs print easily, with minimum of burning in. They scan nicely too.

Jay

Hamster · Jun 12, 2006

Lucky "SHD 100 New" is good for most situation, but very disappointing when you need shadow detail or shooting in low light. Here in China they retail for USD 0.75.

In China, most "arty" prefer Shantou ERA films, but all the wedding studios uses lucky despite both film cost the same.

Thinking about purchasing Lucky Film - Advice please

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