DIY Redscale Film - Kodak Portra 800

 

I recently purchased a 2 rolls of CineStill Redrum 120 film. Redrum is a limited run 120 film re-rolled 800T by CineStill. Redrum is a redscale film. 

Here's an example of a photo from the CineStill Redrum shot in a Mamiya 6 & developed with CineStill C-41 chemistry.

My results had a yellowish red tint. The amount of red can be impacted by the light conditions and the ISO used. The box speed of Redrum is 200, but next time I might shoot it at 50-100 ISO.

Well, I decided to DIY some redscale 120 film. Since CineStill Redrum is 800T I decided to use some expired Kodak Portra 800. 

From some basic research on redscale film I read the film is shot through the back of the film and at 200 or lower ISO.

The process I used was simply (in complete darkness):

1. Unrolled the Kodak 800 keeping the film / backing paper on the reels,
2. Taped the backing paper (film up) to a table,
3. Removed the taped end of the 120 film from the backing paper,
4. Flipped the film over and re-taped the film (I precut a pc of painter's tape the length of the film width) in the exact spot it was originally taped,
5. Rerolled the film onto the spool. 
6. Taped the film roll to securely close it.

Not surprisingly, the trickiest part was re-rolling the film. The film has a natural curl from the original rolling and while rolling it up I had to overcome the natural curl. Also, you need to keep the film tight to the backing paper as you re-roll the film so the film doesn't bunch up. In the dark I had to roll, unroll and re-roll it several times to get it tightly rolled.

Here are a few images shot in my Mamiya 6 on a fairly bright fall day. The film was shot at 200 ISO and developed with CineStill C-41. I increased the contrast & black point of the histogram slightly in Adobe Creative Cloud Lightroom Classic.

A few things I noticed and this might be due of the age of the film. First there is considerable grain in the DIY version and a slight wave pattern in the lighter areas (noticeable in the sky of the 2nd image).

This was a fun experiment that worked better than originally envisioned. However, because redscale is such a novelty effect I doubt I'd do it more than occasionally. Therefore, it probably makes more sense to simply buy Redrum when it's available and use the real stuff even if it costs more than rerolling your own!

But if you want to DIY redscale this process works. 

Holga 120N & Ilford Delta 400

 

I took my Holga 120N out again the other day. I really like the 6x6 negative ratio size. The quality is surprisingly good for a plastic "toy" camera. This time I shot at Ft Harrison State Park and Eagle Creek Park in central Indiana on a cloudy / overcast day. I used Ilford Delta 400 in 120 size and developed it with Ilford Ilfotec DD-X 1+9 ratio for 9.5 minutes. The negatives were scanned with an Epson V800 Photo Scanner.

The results

35Film120 - My Film Only Instagram

I regularly use Instagram for my studio based portrait & beauty digital photography.  I use StevenBrokaw for this side of Instagram.  However, I shoot lots of film, but I don't put any of this work on my Instagram page.  Except for now!!

I recently launched a second account which is film photography related only.  I've named it 35Film120.  Why this name?  Honestly I couldn't think of anything catchy.  I'm under the impression the audience for film images is different than my studio work.  Therefore, a separate account.

The goal is to use 35Film120 for film photos using all types of cameras...and trust me, I have them plenty.  Although 35 & 120 is my preferred sized film I also shoot 110, 126, 620, Impossible Project. You get the idea.  I also intend to post behind the scenes, etc.  I'll try to include camera type and film stock used on each image.  

Already having fun posting recent photos.  I might occasionally post one from the archive as well!

Loading a Yashica MAT-124G

I went out on Saturday to do a bit of street photography while my wife had a business meeting.  Yes, I know, I have an executive finance day job and even I DON'T have to take Saturday meetings.  So, while she was working I was doing my photography thing.

Decided to do a stop action video with my iPhone of loading my Yashica MAT-124G TLR.  I ran 2 rolls through it.  Super fun.

Mamiya M645 - A Medium Format Beauty

The next camera up to shoot is my medium format, Mamiya M645 with an 80mm Macro lens.  I've had this camera for about 5 years, but haven't used it much.  Mainly because ... well ... not sure why.  Probably because getting 120 film developed is a bit of a bother unless I soup it myself.  That's a shame because this camera is a work of art.  It reminds me of a piece of American Iron / Muscle Car feel.  Heavy and powerful.

I took the Mamiya out this evening with a 120 roll of Ilford HP4 Plus B&W.  The film is rated at ASA 400.

This camera is all manual with no light meter.  For this shoot I used the "sunny 16" rule and set my camera at 1/500 second and f/11-f/16 when it was sunny (bright) and then adjusted as necessary. Basically, I eye-balled the exposure.

I used my waist level viewfinder for this shoot with the magnifying eyepiece throughout the shoot.  It takes a bit of getting used to because everything is reversed in the viewfinder.  It takes some practice to get used to focusing.  But then when you push the shutter release button, hmmmm, butter.  The slap is like music.

That roll went fast.  Just snapshots around town.  I'll report back when I get the film back from developing.

Holga 120N Is Beautiful

Yes, I have a Holga 120N.  I got it as a freebie gift from my niece who lives in Prague.  Not sure where she got it, but she knew I still shot film. She said, "Uncle Steve, you want my Holga and a bunch of expired film that I have?"  It took me about 3 seconds to respond to that email.  The Holga is a cult, toy camera.  A medium format beauty!

Literally, the day I got the camera in the mail I saw the announcement the Chinese (Hong Kong?) manufacturer was stopping production.  A sad day, but hey, I got mine.  Soon after I got the camera I loaded it with a roll of Ilford XP400 Super 120.  And took it on a road trip out east and then another roll about a month ago.

The Holga 120N is simple to use.  There is really nothing to it.  It is a classic toy camera.  Very flimsy, plastic, plastic lens, minimal controls.  On my version it has a 60mm lens, 4 zone focus options on the lens, a sunny / cloudy setting (f/8 & f/13), and a N / B selector on the bottom.  The N mode is 1/100 second. What you also have (which screwed me up on one roll) is a 16/12 shot selector on the back.  Really, just a slider over the red window that tells you if you have the included in box insert for 16 shots.  

You'll note on the photos that they have that classic Holga toy camera vignetting and softness around the edges.  

I also did a roll with the 16 image selected.  Unfortunately, I forgot to put in the insert for 16 shots and it screwed up the roll.  However, it's kind of cool effect.  Semi double exposures.

The Holga is a fun camera to play with, but toy camera enthusiast already know this.  Get yourself one and enjoy.  Next for me is to try it with a roll of color film or sprockets on a 35mm roll.  Dig it.

Photos I've Taken - Yashica Mat 124G

I bought my Yashica Mat 124G from Roberts Camera.  It's a classic TLR design taking 120 sized film.  I've been running a few rolls through it and will be writing a blog post on the camera soon.  In the meantime a bike shop in southern Indiana.

Mamiya M645 - Total Medium Format Uberness

My first medium format film camera is right here, the Mamiya M645.  A classic beauty.  Built like a tank & really heavy.  I bought this about 3 years ago on a bit of a flier.  I was about 2 years into my editorial fashion / model photography focus and thought it would be interesting to use film during some of the shoots.  Good excuse?  Not really, but hey, who said photographers always made good purchasing decisions.  Anything can be justified.  Come on, you know it's true.

Anyway, I researched medium format cameras and decided to get something fairly simple and manual.  I'm fluent with lighting, aperture settings and using a light meter so I'm cool with a manual camera.  My search took me to the Mamiya 645 line.  I focused on the basic M645 with a standard pentaprism viewfinder.  No light meter on the M645, unless I switched out the viewfinder.  I bought it on eBay for about $150 including a Mamiya-Sekor 150mm f/3.5 lens.  A standard portrait lens as the effective focal length is about 85mm.  It was a good deal and really clean.  It already had a battery in it with good power.  This is important because the shutter won't fire without a battery.

I wanted a wider angle, standard lens and a hand grip, so during a trip to NYC I stopped by B&H Camera and made my way to their used section.  I purchased an Mamiya-Sekor Macro 80mm f/4 lens and a hand grip.  Dropped another $150+

The Mamiya M645 does not have a film back, but a film insert.  The inserts are available in both 120/220 sizes.  You simply open the hinged back (took me a while to figure out how to get this open), and take out the insert.  You load your film onto the insert (there are plenty of YouTube videos on how to do this, so I'll not bore you here), and put it back in.  When you put the insert back in there is a pleasing, click as it locks in place.  Don't worry, you can't close the back door if the insert is not properly seated.  You then wind the film crank until it reaches #1.  It stops at that point, and you are ready to go.  Once you get the hang of it, loading the Mamiya is easy.  

Simply set the aperture & speed to the desired setting, focus the lens and you are ready to go.  There are 2 shutter release buttons depending how you are using / holding the camera.  One is located on the top of the camera at the front on the right.  This can be triggered with your thumb.  The other is on the front of the camera lower right of the lens.  This is the release that is triggered with my hand grip.  2 shutter release buttons are handy.

Here are some basic specs on the camera:

• 120/220 medium format, 6 x 4.5 SLR
• All Mamiya M645 models share similar accessories including finders, screens, grips, lenses, etc.
• Flash synch tops at a whopping 1/60 of a second (that screwed me up during my first model shoot since I thought it was higher and I was using studio strobes - I didn't know the little red circle on the speed dial is to indicate the max synch speed....oh, now I do)
• Speed from 8 seconds to 1/500 second, there's also a B mode
• The shutter locks when there is no film in the camera and as I mentioned above, doesn't work without a battery
• Takes a 6v PX28 or a 4LR44 battery
• Red battery test button with a little green light to check the battery strength...very handy.
• There were several different M645 variants like the Super, 100S, M645J, etc.  The one I have is the first version & the most basic
• Focal plane shutter
• No mid-roll change possible because there is not film back with an insert.  You have to finish your roll if you want to change
• Mirror lockup & multiple exposure possible
• 2 flash synch terminals: electronic = "x", bulb = "FP"
• There are multiple viewfinder prisms available including a waist level "sport", metered prism, etc.

Shooting the camera requires a hand held light meter, the Sunny 16, or simply a good working knowledge of light settings.  I've used all 3 with good results.  

I'm really happy with the camera.  I've run about a dozen rolls through it.  All have been Ilford XP2 400 Super.  The results are soft.  I think part of the softness is that I haven't nailed the focus every time.  It is definitely a retro feel to the photos.  By the way, being a medium format the negatives are huge, so a well focused / properly exposed photo can be blown up greatly.  One other thing, when you take this beast out for street photography or a model shoot it definitely gets stares.

Here are a few images (please note, these images were taken from my 1st 2 rolls and were just to test the camera):

Model Wendy in studio with mono-lights,  but speed higher than synch speed

Model Wendy in studio with mono-lights,  but speed higher than synch speed

Abandoned house during an overcast day

Indiana cornfield during the early summer during an overcast day

Accessories Are Cool

Just like in my digital photography world, I buy accessories for my film camera photography.  Not as much of course, but I still by accessories.  One of the little annoyances with film photography is keeping your film together in your bag & in order.  Having a film case helps.  I bought a D sized battery holder for this purpose and they work fine, but it doesn't hold 120 film.  I shoot both.  Something better was needed.

I was recently watching a video blog post by Eric Kim, an excellent street photographer who I know & visited my studio once.   I follow his blog and podcasts.  He recently posted a video blog about a visit to Bellamy Hunt AKA, the Japan Camera Hunter in Tokyo.  I had heard of TJCH but had never investigated his website in detail. 

Following Eric's  video blog post I visited Bellamy's site and saw he sold both 120 film cases as well as 35mm film cases.   Well, I ordered one each.  Pricing was super reasonable as was the shipping to the USA from Japan.  The 35mm case holds 10 rolls & the 120 holds 5.  They come in a few colors too.  Delivery was quick, and since it really wasn't something I needed immediately a few days wait was no dramas.

They arrived today, and I've already loaded them up.  They will fit nicely in my camera bag, so I'm set.  Honestly, did I REALLY need the film cases...nope, but then I did it anyway.

Here you go

Success With Old Cameras - Film Is Back

I stopped over at Roberts Camera today and picked up some film that was processed.  This is the camera store where I normally taking in my film for processing.  This time I had film in from my Yashica Mat-124G (a TLR), a Kodak Easy Load KE30 point & shoot and a Prinz Alternative EZ-200 point & shoot.  I'll write a post on each.

In the meantime all the cameras appeared to work.  There were some moderate light leaks with the Prinz, but the film I'm using is expired and I suspect wasn't stored in a refrig, so there's that.  More than likely however it's the camera.  Here's a photo from each

The Yashica Mat-124G:

Downtown Indianapolis from the top of a parking garage

The Prinz Alternative EZ-200 (in the "panorama" mode - oh yes, it does panorama also):

Outside my studio

The Kodak Easy Load KE30 (the infamous film eater):

On a sad note, I learned Roberts will stop processing 120 film in the very near future.  That was the last place in Indianapolis to process 120 that I'm aware of.  Yes, that's correct, one of the largest cities in the USA and there is no 120 film processing readily available.  Oh well either I have to do it myself (I'd prefer not...been there done that) or send it out someplace.  We'll see.

Agfa Isolette V - Medium Format Oldie

I picked up an Agfa Isolette V during a business trip last year.  I decided to drive from Indianapolis to Knoxville for a business meeting instead of flying.  While I was on the road I saw this huge flea market next to the highway.  I'm always on the lookout for cheapo film cameras so I pulled off to take a look.  I found this booth with lots of flea market junk scattered around.  Within the junk was this camera.  It was folded up, but I knew immediately it was a camera.  I picked it up, pushed the button on the top and it unfolded as in the picture above.  It looked clean.  The moving parts all moved.  The baffles looked intact.  The insides looked clean.  And guess what, it was only $18.  I bought it immediately.  My business trip was already a success.  One of the fun things about the camera is that the name is embossed on the front of the camera spelled "Jsolette".

This is a medium format camera.  It takes 120 film and the results are a square photo.  I can't pin down the date it was produced, but the range is 1950-1952.  Great shape for a 50+ year old camera.  Built like a tank.  Metal and leather.  This beauty is all manual.  No light meter, or anything electronic.

A few weeks ago I loaded a roll of Ilford 400 B&W 120 film.  Weird results.  About 1/2 the pictures have excessive light leaks, mainly the first part of the roll.  The rest of the photos had a bit of light leaking, but looked OK.  Might have been the film.  The photos looked soft and muted contrast.  Actually not bad.  Here are 3.  

Sammy the cat with massive light leaks

Indiana soybean field

Abandoned grain silos

The Isolette was produced in Germany by Agfa.  The early (and some of the other versions "I think") have Isolette spelled "Jsolette".  When I researched the camera I thought this was a 1st version produced in 1936. The research indicated Agfa changed the spelling of Jsolette to Isolette on the camera during the production of the 1st version.  Mine says Jsolette, but I still think this is a version V.  Yep, I'm confused too.

The camera folds up nicely into a small package.  By pressing the button on top the front gate opens pulling out the lens & baffles.  Loading the 120 film is straight forward and smooth.  After you take a picture you manually advance the film using the wheel on the top.  There is no lock on the film after taking a photo so double exposures are easy on purpose or accident.  The shutter is cocked with a very small lever on the top of the lens and then triggered by a small lever on the right side of the lens.  There is a lock under the lever to avoid unplanned shutter releases.

The camera is focus by turning the focus ring at the very front.  Small and a bit of a pain.  You have to guess the distance as the viewfinder is a simple look-through.  Therefore, you focus in advance.  The shutter speeds are set on the lens. You have B, 1/8, 1/25, 1/50 & 1/200.  Aperture is set on the lens as well with a small switch from f/4.5 to f/32.  There is no function to change the ASA (ISO).  Therefore, to get good exposures you need to really have a good understanding of light/settings, use a light meter or use the sunny 16 rule.  I tried all 3.   There's a cold shoe on the camera, but not sure why because there's no sync port.  There's a standard tripod mount on the bottom.  The lens is an Agfa Agnar f/4.5 85 with a Vario shutter.

Here are photos of the camera

Back showing the red film number window and the tiny viewfinder

Camera in the closed position - very compact

Open - keeping the moving parts clean

This was a fun camera to play with and I'm sure if I used it for street photography I'd get loads of stares.  Not the most practical of cameras and my first results were just so-so, but I still enjoyed it.  So there you go, want a medium format film camera with baffles and all manual?  Pick up an Agfa Isolette.