Too Big to Fail - the Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L - Plus the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L + Leica 50mm f/1.2 Noctilux-M

We’ll start with the cheaper or what I would call the budget films. These are films typically used by students or the budget conscious photographer. And, weighing in at a pretty nine cents per frame (again, in USD), the cheapest of all of the films is Ultrafine Xtreme 400. I couldn’t find a lot of information on the history of this film. Though it is labeled as being produced in Europe, and many believe it to be another film simply rebranded, I can’t find any hard evidence to substantiate that claim. Los Angeles with Anna - Part II - Day and Night with the Leica 21mm f/3.4 Super Elmar + APO 50mm f/2 Summicron Rollei is one of the oldest and most famous film brands. Perhaps better known for their iconic cameras than their films, but nethertheless they do have a brilliant range of emulsions to choose from (view the full collection here). In this review we will be diving into the wonderful Rollei RPX 400 emulsion! So I’ve given a lot of disclaimers so far, and I want to add yet one more, but this is probably the most important disclaimer. Except in the case of one film (which we’ll get to later), I used the same developer: Kodak HC 110. For this road trip I brought with me almost every film I had available. Ilford HP5 & Ilford Delta 400 on 120 format and Agfa APX 400 & Ilford FP4+ on 35mm. I came to some useful conclusions now that I had the chance to develop all of them with the same developer, Rodinal. Prespes lakes, Nikon FM, Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D, Agfa APX400, Rodinal 1+25 Ilford HP5 vs Ilford Delta 400 on 120Camera Leica M3 Lens 7Artisans 50mm f1.1 Film Agfa APX 400 EI400 Development Kodak HC-110; Dilution B; 8:00+ minutes Scanner Reflecta ProScan 10T Islands It seems safe to assume that Harmon (maker of Kentmere and Ilford films) does the coating/finishing of this film, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that this emulsion is simply Kentmere or HP5 as many claim. Regardless, this film, to me, is surprisingly high quality for one so cheap. It has low contrast with good latitude (define latitude), and I’d say a medium to fine grain. It dries flat and is great for scanning. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. Next, you may just want to use my numbers here for scannability. These are based on how flat these films were able to lie for me when I scanned them. Next up is Fomapan, which, is also Arista EDU Ultra, which, is also HOLGA. It’s all the same emulsion. Fomapan 400 has been produced for by Foma, Czech company, for almost a hundred years. It is Europe’s popular budget-friendly brand. I’ve found that prices vary between its various brands, so I’ll usually watch and compare these prices and get the version which happens to be the cheapest at any given time.

I can understand Tim's frustration but if we start boycotting every maker of traditional photo supplies just because they've discontinued a favorite product or changed it without our permission we won't be buying from any of 'em. We'll be coating glass plates and arguing about who makes the best glass and debating the merits of free range vs. captive hens for making albumen prints.From how I developed this film I would say the film performed better under exposed vs. over exposed. You can decide for yourself from the images above. I don’t think I lost too much highlight detail but the shadow performance was particularly impressive. Film shot at box speed then pushed in developing? First Kentmere 400 portraits from Poland! I’m really impressed with the detail captured but the film scan showed blemishes from the developing (I think that is the marks though it is not visible on the film itself). Pan 400 vs Kentmere 400 vs Ilford Pan 400? But how to recognize if it is the new or the old film? Both films (100 and 400) have the imprint “New Emulsion”. Also, the country of manufacture has changed, from “Made in Germany” to “Made in EU”. Like Kentmere, Ilford HP5+ is a product of the Harman technology company. It is a lower contrast film. It has good shadow detail and well-separated mid-tones with sharp grain. Although the contrast is low, there is a great deal of latitude in this film, which makes it great for pushing or flavoring the curves and contrast to taste, after scanning. Selling for about 14 cents per frame, currently, it might be less sharp than some films, but it will provide predictable and reproducible results. Like Kentmere, there is a bit more bounce to this film after drying. As a side note, I’ve found HP5+ fans to be some of the most loyal and enthusiastic in the community, more so, than perhaps, any of the other films that I’m talking about.

Conclusion: At print sizes of 6x9 inches or 9x13 inches you will probably see very little difference in sharpness or grain among these five films. The best of these films with poor developing (especially overdevelopment) will look a lot worse than the worst of these films with good processing, especially with Xtol.It is probably worth mentioning but for the photos shared above I shot the film both over exposed and under exposed. Sadly from a scientific point of view I was just winging it on the day and guessed the exposure. What I can say is some images were shot in very under exposed conditions with the light being probably -2 stops under. Highlights and shadow detail After the dissolution of IG Farben, Agfa emerged as its own independent company again before becoming a subsidiary of Bayer in 1952. In 1964, Agfa AG merged with Belgian photographic company Gevaert Photo-Producten N.V. to form Agfa-Gevaert N.V. which would remain under Bayer’s control until 1999. The company continued manufacturing film cameras until the early 1980s and then produced a series of unsuccessful entry-level digital cameras from the mid 1990s until the early 2000s. Now, that isn’t what I always did; but I also don’t care about every single one of my images being an HDR either. Most people though my care for it. Image Quality