Film Negatives - Flat or Curl

Flat Negatives Are Your Friends

Photographic film negative curling is an issue if you develop film yourself. During the digitizing or printing workflow your negatives will need to be scanned, photographed or used in a darkroom enlarger. Having film negatives "flat" is important. Even the slightest curling / cupping of the negative can make the film difficult to put into a scanner holder, keep flat on the scanner glass or keeping the entire photo in focus. You WANT your negatives to be as flat as possible for good results.

Different film stocks "curl" / "cup" to various amounts or remain flat while drying. How you dry your negatives (i.e., hanging with a weighted clip on the bottom) or your drying conditions (i.e., humidity level) will also impact how much a negative does or does not dry flat.

Here are a couple examples of flat and slightly curled negatives. Your results may be similar or much more cupping / curling.

Fomapan 400 dries flat

Fujicolor Superia X-TRA 400 has a moderate curl. This negative has been back-rolled

There are DIY ways to flatten curled negatives. You can cut your negatives, sleeve them and put them under a weight (like a book). You can back-roll the negative before cutting and keep it back-rolled for a few hours until flat, etc.

Again, what ever process you use, the simplest is to use film (WHEN POSSIBLE) that dries flat.

To help you decide, here is a list of films I've (or others) have used and how they "typically" end up when dried.  Please note, this list covers just 35mm film. 120 film curls more or less the same but if it curls it tends to curl more than 35mm. AGAIN AS A CAVEAT, your experience may vary.

• ADOX HR50 - flat
• Agfa APX 100 - flat
• Agfa APX 400 - slight curl
• Arista EDU 100 / 200 / 400 - flat
• Arista EDU 100 DX - flat
• Arista EDU 400 DX - flat
• Berger Pancro 400 - slight curl
• Camera Film Photo (CFP) 500T The Film - flat
• CFP Kiki Pan 320 - flat
• CineStill BWXX - slight curl
• Dubblefilm Jelly - flat
• Eastman Double-X (5222) - flat
• EFKE 100 - curls
• Fomapan 100 - flat
• Fomapan 200 - flat
• Fomapan 400 - flat
• FPP Mummy - flat
• FPP RetroChrome 320 - curls
• Fujicolor Pro400H - light curl
• Fujifilm Provia 100 - curls
• Fujifilm 200 - slight curl
• Fujifilm Fujicolor Superia X-TRA 400 - curls
• Fujifilm Fujicolor Superia 800 - flat
• Holga 400 - flat
• Ilford Delta 100 - flat
• Ilford Delta 400 - flat
• Ilford FP4 - flat
• Ilford HP5 - flat
• Ilford Ortho 80 - flat
• Ilford PAN 400 - flat
• Ilford SPX 200 - flat
• Ilford XP2 400 - flat
• JCH Streetpan 400 - flat
• Kentmere 400 - flat
• Kodak Ektar 100 - flat
• Kodak Ektachrome 100 - flat
• Kodak EliteChrome 100 - curls
• Kodak EliteChrome 200 - curls
• Kodak Gold 200 120 - curls
• Kodak Kodalith 6556 - flat
• Kodak MAX 400 - curls
• Kodak Plus X 125 - slight curl
• Kodak Portra 160/400 - flat
• Kodak Portra 800 - flat
• Kodak T-Max - flat / slight curl
• Kodak T-Max 3200 - flat / slight curl
• Kodak Tri-X - curls
• Kodak Ultramax 400 - flat
• Kodak Vision3 250D - flat
• Kodak Vision3 500T - flat
• Kodak X-Pan 125 - slight curl / flat
• Kono Moonstruck - flat
• Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow - slight curl
• LuckyPan 400 - flat
• ORWO UN54 - flat
• Rollei Retro 80s - flat
• Rollei Retro 400s - flat 
• Rollei RPX25 - flat
• SHD100 Pro - flat
• Shanghai GP3 - curls
• Street Candy 400 - slight curl
• Silberra Ultima - flat
• Ultrafine 100 - flat
• Ultrafine Finesse 400 - flat
• Ultrafine Finesse 100 - flat

I'll update this list as I get feedback from others or have personal experience with other films.

Nimslo 3D

I was gifted a Nimslo 3D 35mm point & shoot camera. The Nimslo is a unique 4-lens camera that shoots 4 x half-frame sized photos of every image with a slightly different angle of view. There was a special developing process called Lenticular Printing that would create a 3 dimensional like photo from the 4 images. The 4 images are shot across 2 frames. Therefore, a 36 exposure roll yields 18-4 frame images.

After basic research, I’ve not found anyone doing this type of developing / printing so I’m using it simply for fun to create a 4-panel photo. Kind of cool. There is a process currently used to create “wiggle-gifs” which will be fun to try.

The camera is automatic with fixed focus 30mm lens, auto exposure with no additional features. The only variable is a 100 or 400 ASA switch. There is a hotshot which I’ve used to fire a speedlight. Worked great.

The camera is well build with metal / plastic / leatherette. The lenses are glass. It is sturdy.

I gave it a go with a couple of rolls of fresh and expired film. The camera is very stealthy so it can easily be used for street work. I’m a fan.

A commercial from the 80's

The Wikipedia page on the Nimslo 3D

A few images using Fujicolor Superia X-TRA 400, expired Kodak Portra 400NC & Arista EDU

Expired Kodak Portra 400NC

Fujicolor Superia X-TRA 400

Fujicolor Superia X-TRA 400

Arista EDU with a speedlight in studio

Arista EDU on a bright day

Olympus Infinity Stylus - Southern Tier Bike Trek

I recently completed a bucket list item! I rode a bicycle across the entire USA following the Adventure Cycle Association Southern Tier route from St. Augustine, FL to San Diego, CA. OF COURSE, I took a couple of cameras. One digital, a Panasonic Lumix G7 and a film point & shoot, Olympus Infinity Stylus.

The Stylus was the perfect choice for the trip. Not only is it reliable and delivers fairly good quality, but it has the following:

• Very good flash that can be overridden
• Sliding film cover that turns the camera on and off
• Excellent battery life (easy to obtain, 123A size)
• 35mm f/3.5 lens
• Very compact and stealthy

I shot about 25 rolls over the 55 day trek. I took all my color film I had in inventory and purchased a couple of packs along the way. I shot Fujicolor 200 & 400, Kodak Portra 160, 400 & 800, Kodak 200 and several B&W rolls. I also brought one roll of Dubblefilm Jelly.

My plan was just to take snapshots. Just capture scenes along the route versus doing any specific genre like street photography, landscapes, etc. Essentially, I took photos of anything that caught my fancy when I was on a break or when finished riding for the day.

I'm just now starting to home develop the film so will be posting images over the next few posts. Here are some images from the 1st 3 developed rolls.

Bottomline, I'm really happy with my choice to bring the Stylus as my film camera option (and trust me I have lots of cameras to choose from).

Florida - Fujicolor 200

Florida - Fujicolor 200

Florida - Fujicolor 200

Florida - Kodak 200

Florida - Kodak 200

Florida - Kodak 200

Florida - Kodak 200

El Paso, TX - Dubblefilm Jelly

El Paso, TX - Dubblefilm Jelly

El Paso, TX - Dubblefilm Jelly

Kodak Portra 400 Side-By-Side with Fujicolor PRO400H

When using COLOR 35mm film in the studio or street photography I primarily use Kodak Portra 400. I sometimes use Kodak Gold or Fujicolor Superia X-tra 400 when I want a more affordable option, but I prefer Portra (both 160 & 400).

I recently used several rolls during a street photography photoshoot in New York City. After I returned several people commented about trying Fujicolor PRO400H. I investigated the film as I had never used it.

Following up I bought 2 rolls of the PRO400H at Roberts Camera and decided to give it a go. However, first a head-to-head comparison with the same camera I used in NYC. I used an Olympus MJU-1 in NYC with the rolls of Portra 400, and it just so happens I have 2 of them. I went out the other day and loaded one MJU-1 with Portra 400 & one with PRO400H.

I shot every scene with both cameras back-to-back. I developed the film at the same time using Unicolor C-41 in the same tank. The film dried side-by-side. Finally, I scanned the negatives on the same scanner, an Epson V800 Photo with the same settings.  I imported the images into Adobe Lightroom and only cropped, removed dust spots and slighting increased contrast on all of the photos equally.

Here are the results side by side

My non-scientific thoughts from 1 roll each on a somewhat overcast afternoon:

• Kodak Portra 400 dries fairly flat but Fujicolor PRO400H curled (corkscrewed) a moderate amount. Since I develop / scan film myself the curling is an issue.

• My observation is Portra 400 is a bit “richer”. Shadows and blacks seem darker. There appears to be a bit more depth on some of the Portra images. Some of the Fujicolor PRO400H images appear a bit “flatter”. I don’t think I would notice this if I wasn’t looking side-by-sides.  
• Portra appears warmer & PRO400H cooler. There is more yellow in the shadows and midtones on Portra & more blue / green on the PRO400H
• Concrete, aluminum & metals appear more accurate with the PRO400H. These textures on the Portra images have a slight yellow hue.
• PRO400H has a bit of blue in the reds and Kodak has yellow.  This was obvious in the photo of the caution cones.

Overall, I prefer the Kodak Portra 400. This is mainly because when using film in studio I’m photographing fashion models and the yellow tones are closer to true skin color.  Also, I tend to like warmer tones overall.  HOWEVER, I think for street photography without a focus on people Fujicolor PRO400H would be better. I think the cooler tones compliment the color pallet in street photography. 

Bottomline, in my opinion both films are nice, however, the curling of the PRO400H is an issue for me & I prefer a warmer image.  Therefore, I prefer Kodak Portra 400. Obviously, your results and tastes may vary.

Olympus Infinity Jr

Next up is a boxy little 35mm point & shoot, an Olympus Infinity Jr. This is another Goodwill find.  Spent only $1.99. When I purchased the camera there was no battery so I couldn’t tell if it worked.  However, I gave it my standard “found camera” going over. It looked clean so I bought it.

The camera carries a 35mm f/3.5 lens.  Not very fast, but the lens size makes if perfect as a street photography film camera.  The camera is 4 ½” long x 2 ½” tall x 2” wide.  A bit too wide for a pocket, but cool for a bag. The camera takes a standard 123A battery.

The camera is a standard point & shoot.  DX coding. Almost all features are automatic.  Autofocus, auto-flash, auto-film advance, and auto-film rewind.  The only feature that can be adjusted is the flash control.  You can set it to “fill-in”, “off”, & “auto”.  There is an obvious self-timer button on the top of the camera.  I measured it at 12 seconds.  There is a simple red light that is on when the self-timer is set and flashed with about 2 seconds to go.  There is a good slide cover over the lens with a rubberized grip.  The grip allows you to slide the cover open and close easily.

The has a boxy sleek look and your finger falls easily on the shutter release button.  The camera is a bit awkward feeling to hold, but that’s probably just me.  Someone with big hands might have a problem.

I loaded the camera with a roll of Fujicolor Superia X-TRA 400.  A standard color film.  I used it during a recent model shoot.  About ½ of the time the flash went off.  Lots of red eye with the flash.  Quality was all over the map but that was because I used the camera is several different lighting situations. 

Bottomline, it’s a good little camera.  Nothing special, but a reasonable film point & shoot if you can pick one up for a few dollars.  I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy one.

A few shots

Model Anastasiya - Industrial lighting - flash didn't go off

Model Anastasiya - Industrial lighting / partial shadow - flash went off

Model Anastasiya - In Studio with fluorescent lights - flash didn't go off