The Film Pharmacist
Alongside of running interviews with artist, I’ve started a new project on Constellation Cafe called “The Film Pharmacist”. This project hopes to catalog all available / discontinued films in 120 & 135 formats. The idea is simply to educate ourselves with what is what and should be used when.
So I would be using a standard format. I am keeping it simple so as to let everyone understand it without getting into all the technical details. Below is a explanation of the format :
Catalog Number : The serial number allotted to film, just to make it easier for you to maybe remember if you wanted to come back.
Film Name : Name duh!
Format : 120 / 135 / Instant : Ahem
Speed (ISO) : MmmColor / Slide / BW : Now I don’t think I need to explain zis
Processing (C41 / E6 / BW) : For all those who don’t know what this is, well its what chemical you’d need to develop the film
Color Exaggeration (R/G/B) : Does the film highlight any color tone? Well if it does then its marked here.
Availability (In Production / Back Stock / Discontinued) : So that you don’t just walk out to buy Kodak Kodachrome
Contrast : Mmm (do I need explain?)
Uniformity (High, Mid, Low) : Basically explains if the whole roll of film acts in the same way, also will it act the same way if you have more than one roll. Example : Cheap film has a habit of acting up, so it would have LOW uniformity.
Personal Comments : Just the comments by the artist who’s reviewed the film.
If you’d like to review a film yourself (which is not yet reviewed of course) then simply write to me.
Film Review Archive :
really great website. love the film reviews etc.
really great website. love the film reviews etc.
+1
You are amazing! I’ve recently got into film photography and I believe I can learn a LOT here! Thank you.
This is an awesome project…how about some of my favorites: Ilford HP5+ or Superia 1600?
Trevor, I don’t have HP5+ or Superia 1600 on me right now. So you’ll have to shoot them and review them for me or just send me some film to make notes on
Great post! Nice!…
Hi there can anyone add more reviews please? I am particularly interested if someone reviews commercially mass produced film rolls of Kodak, Fujifilm, etc. I am an amateur and new to film photography and can’t get my hands on professional films so it would be nice to see reviews on the other films too. Thank you.
Kenri, I think you missed seeing the archive of Film Pharmacist. About half the film notes on the blog are commonly available consumer films. Specially the Kokak Ultramax, Gold, Fuji Pro and Crystal. These are films which are stocked by every shopkeeper. But I’ll try to review the new Kodak Pro XL as it seems to be most easily available now days.
Thanks abhoan for the reply.
Actually I am from I am from Itanagar Arunachal Pradesh. The place is remote but all the film studios have gone digital here because it is cost effective for remote places. Recently while crossing Assam while going to my native village, I inquired about film rolls in many towns of Assam and luckily I found a Photo studio in Silapathar, Assam which still sells Film rolls and bought few Fujifilm Proplus 200, Kodak Ultramax 400 and Kodak Colorplus 200 which I believe are common (cheap) ones still available in some studios in Assam. So it would be nice if someone covers these/ such common (cheap?) films too for beginners like me…
I want to stock more film rolls, especially professional ones but I don’t know where to buy them. Maybe I’ll ask my cousin studying in Delhi to get them. ebay is so expensive!
I am looking forward to your review on Kodak Pro XL!
P.S. I will check the archive (Kodak Ultramax! ^_^). Thank you
Hi Akshya, how is Nikon F6 from your view-point to get into film…??
Nikon F6 is very similar to the Canon EOS 1 series.. They are the very last of film SLR’s so use all current lense systems and are almost the same as to any high end digital slr in terms of usage.. So if you’re using a Nikon Kit then it makes the transition almost seamless from Digital to Film and back..