Two Brand New Colour Films to Try Out
It was only four and a half months ago that I wrote a post on three new colour films. To be fair, one of those was a reissue and I believe that one of the other two were films that were already being produced that were repurposed to use as 35mm. Today is different though, both of the films here are brand new films that were developed for film photography. Also different than the ones I looked at back in November, both of these films are 400 ISO film (sort of) so standard colour film.
Film photography has come back in a big way over the last few years. Mostly, I think because during the pandemic, people were picking up new hobbies that you could do on your own. While I shot film when I was younger (that was the only option); for almost fifteen years I used digital cameras exclusively. For me, it really was that early lockdown that made me dig up an old camera I had sitting around and fix it up and get it working. You can read that post here. Due to the increasing demand for film, we have seen prices rise on the standard films that had never stopped being produced and more recently, film companies have actually started creating new films again. Which brings us to the two films that I recently got from Camera Traders, Wolfen NC500 and Cinestill 400D. They are pretty different colour films as you will see.
Wolfen NC500
Wolfen NC500 is perhaps the more experimental of the two films here. This film is produced by Orwo, a German film company that up to the end of the Second World War was a part of AGFA. AGFA no longer directly sells 35mm film (though there are rebrands out there from companies like Lomography). The Wolfen NC500 has gotten a fair bit of hype in the online film community as pretty much any new film, especially colour film, gets.
I took the film out a couple of times in my Nikon FE and shot the roll over a few days. When I got to the last picture, I heard an odd noise. I tried to rewind the film, but it was not going back. Concerned that I would not be able to wind the film back into the casing, I thought I might be out a full roll of pictures. Luckily, as many of you know, I got a developing kit for Christmas. I haven’t even considered developing colour film yet and I didn’t want to start with a brand new film, but the kit did provide me a dark bag, so I was able to open up the camera and feel the film inside. It was a little tricky trying to feed the obviously cracked and broken end of the film back inside the canister, but I finally did it. The next day I dropped it off at London Drugs for developing and let them know that the end of the roll was a bit challenging. When I got them back I was surprised by just how many of the frames were impacted. Looking at the final product, it was a little disappointing. You can see some of the images below. I would say that they are muddier than I like. It is definitely a usable colour film, just maybe only if you really need one. The grain is also really apparent in the film, which is something I usually like, but there is a weird sandiness to it that I don’t love. Still, it is a brand new colour film and I expect they are still working on perfecting it. You can get a roll right now at camera traders, but it does cost $21.00. That is a dollar more than Portra 400, maybe not my favourite colour film, but it has beautiful grain and nicer colours than the NC500. Let me know what you think of the photos.
Cinestill 400D
If you had never heard of Orwo, there is at least a chance you have heard of Cinestill. Cinestill makes some great black and white film and their 800T is one of the go-to low light colour films. As the name of the company suggests, they work with cinema film. In general, they convert cinema film into 35mm. From what I can see online, that is not at all what Cinestill 400D is. It appears to me to be an entirely new film emulsion. Just as with the NC500, there has been a lot of discussion of this film online. There is also a lot of discussion as to what the “D” stands for. I believe that it stands for “Dynamic” and that is specific to the films ability to be pushed 3 stops, up to 3200 ISO, which means it could be a pretty insane night photography option. I haven’t tried it like that at all though I will likely have some underexposed shots in my samples, but of course developed at box speed.
I took the film out a couple of times in my Nikon F601 and shot some beach and city pictures. I didn’t face any of the challenges that I faced with the Wolfen NC500 from a quality perspective. I had also had heard from another local photographer that it was a quality film. Just like the NC500, it can be developed in C-41 so you can take it down to London Drugs to get your negatives. When I got the film back and got them scanned, I couldn’t believe the clarity of the film. There is almost no discernable grain in a well lit shot. The colours are also really nice, nothing was popping like you will see with Kodak Ektar, but even just for a straight up film the colours were accurate. Standard films like Kodak Gold or Fuji Superia definitely have a look that is unique. I may have to shoot a couple more rolls to find out what the 400D “look” is; from this roll I have to say it is just clear, vivid and true. Have a look at some of the samples below. Of course, just like the Wolfen NC500 you will have to really want to try this film as it is also $21.00 at Camera Traders. That said, at least with this film you will be getting back quality negatives for sure. Would I shoot it again? Definitely.
It is amazing that I can write an article about two brand new colour films. To think that so many people have said film is done and here I am writing my second article in 6 months on new films to try. Of all of the recent options I have tried, the one I have gone back to a few times now in the Flic Film Elektra 100. While 100 ISO film is limiting, we are getting into summer so lots more opportunities to try it out during the day. I shot a roll the other day and the photos I got back just make me happy to look at and it has two more things going for it, Camera Traders has it for 13.50 a roll and it is from a Canadian company. If you have tried the Wolfen NC500 or the Cinestill 400D, I would love to hear what your thoughts are, let me know in the comments.