Click on the audio play button to listen to my New Years 2015 Message!
Viva la Revolution- Stephen
Ektar
News From Kodak on Film Production Materials
So in case you missed the hysteria: Kodak is no longer going to make acetate which is a base material for most roll films… HOWEVER!! this does not mean the end of film for Kodak. Kodak reportedly has several years worth of material on hand, their sheet films are on ESTAR base material- which they still produce- and they are looking for additional vendors to fill their acetate needs when their supply runs does out… again not for several years. This is really not as big a deal as some would suggest. Other sources of acetate exist- there will be a lot more news like this in the coming years from all current film makers, so we as film shooters need to take it in stride and not freak out – yet! For now just go shoot some freaking film!
Link to article:
http://motion.kodak.com/motion/About/The_Storyboard/4294971668/index.htm
Viva la Revolution- Stephen
Kodak and Pro Film
Kodak announced yesterday :
“Eastman Kodak Company today announced a comprehensive settlement agreement with the U.K. Kodak Pension Plan (KPP), its largest creditor, with respect to its Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization. Under the agreement, which will be filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Kodak’s Personalized Imaging and Document Imaging businesses will be spun off under new ownership to KPP.”
But, you ask, what does this mean for the future of Pro films like TX400, Portra and Ektar? The answer- direct from my friends at Kodak is:… nothing! All pro films both still and motion are not affected by this agreement. Furthermore, this agreement should give Kodak a better financial footing (exit chapter 11!!!!!) and help to keep film production in Rochester alive for the forseable future- a very good thing.
Now take a deep breath and go buy and shoot some film!
Viva la Revolution- Stephen
Link to press release:
Cape Cod 2013
Just finished a great trip to Cape Cod with my oldest daughter. Many wonderful conversations about film and exposure and getting her comfortable using her “new” Rollei 35S. It was very interesting watching her tune into the light and it’s subtle changes and thinking about how it would look on film- she was much more engaged to the whole process than when I see her shoot with a digital camera. Yes I am very proud!
LF Kickstarter – Travelwide 4×5 Camera
Of course not the first camera of this kind and I do worry about the build quality BUT at $100 for the camera (lens and accessories are additional $$$$$$) it is quite interesting.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wanderlust/travelwide-45-camera
As I said others options do exist and many with a better build quality and additional options, however, anything to keep film and LF alive is cool by me! Ive been shooting a lot of LF in the last few months… but more on that and a review of some LF films and processing options in a few weeks.
Viva la Revolution- Stephen
New Kodak Professional Portra 160 Film Review
When Kodak released the Portra 400 a few months ago many of us speculated that a new Portra 160 would be just around the corner… and guess what? Kodak has announced today that Kodak Professional Portra 160 will be released starting in March 2011 in: 35mm, 120/ 220, 4×5 and 8×10… fantastic!!! Click on the audio-play button to listen to a 13 minute in-depth review of this new film (I tested 120) and be sure to look at the sample images provided below while listening to the audio… What a nice way to start the week!!!
Viva la Revolution- Stephen
Please click on the images below to see larger versions of each.
Article for Consideration
First click on the link below and read the article and look at the examples…
http://www.twinlenslife.com/2011/01/digital-vs-film-canon-5d-mark-ii-vs.html
Now here are my thoughts…
1. The film looks fantastic! The latitude is much better and I like the feeling of the film file much more.
2. The test was very good. It would have been even better if the film scan was done on a higher resolution scanner like say an Imacon. This would have also leveled the field a bit as the RAW processing done to the digital file corrects a lot (but apparently not enough) and the film image was stuck with a relatively middle of the road scan on a Fuji Frontier SP-2500. It is a shame that the scanned image had to be upsampled (due to the scanner resolution limitation) as this film has a lot of subtle detail that a higher quality scanner could have showed optically.
3. I would also like to hear their thoughts regarding a side by side print analysis say at 2 or 3 different sizes… the proof is in the print!
4. The digital wins in the high speed test but the film is still quite good.
In the end will this article sway any true blooded digital shooter to consider film…? I don’t think so, as there will be a myriad of excuses on the RAW conversion technique or other BS that really does not matter. It is a good solid test and it confirms once again the many strengths that film and the hybrid workflow provide for the working creative photographer
Viva la Revolution- Stephen
Thoughts On Testing And A Quick Lens Review
Click on the audio play button to listen to this 10 minute audio on real world testing and a quick review of Voigtlander Ultron 40mm F2.0 SL-II Lens vs Nikon’s 45mm F2.8P lens… real world!!
New Kodak Portra 400 Review Part 4: Conclusion.
Click on the audio play button to listen to my final thoughts on this new film offering by Kodak.
Viva la Revolution- Stephen
Why Shoot Film – Part 1
Click on the link above to listen to a 6:41 minute discussion on Why Shoot Film, Part 1.
Please note that the test files are kinda big so if you have a slow internet connection just be patient. Also note that the different composition is due to the different aspect ratio but I tried to get at least the top and bottom about the same.
Viva la Revolution- Stephen
Figital Revolution 