This is Tokyo in 2018…I took these photos from January to May. Film is a perfect balance of light and shadow. The photo above is one of my personal favorites this time. The orange light draws the eye, but at the back of the platform, there is a bluish tint, perhaps due to buildings blocking the light, giving the viewer a sense of the richness of color from place to place. KODAK tends to lean toward orange, and this photo is generally more orange than most, but the softness of the film gives it a nice feel without being seductive.
I saw a tweet that Koda Proimage100 was in stock at Popeye Camera, where I always get my film developed, and I rushed to buy it. You can still buy it from their online store (maybe even in stores). Most of the time when you buy online, you don’t know the expiration date, but they have written the expiration date as 2024.8, which is helpful. I have never used Proimage100, and when I wanted to use it, it was out of stock, including online. Did they get quite a few in this time? It seems that other camera stores are also reselling it.
I had to buy them when I could, otherwise they might run out, so I bought two of them for now. The price may go up even if they come back in stock in the future due to the weak yen.
It seems that they are still available, so if you want one, it is better to buy it as soon as possible. It appears to be available both in 5-packs and sold individually.
A photo from my trip to Taiwan 2017 that I thought was finish last post, but it was still there. Fujifilm PRO400H is also a film whose 35mm version is no longer available. I want to have PRO400H, don’t you?
I think PRO400H was a negative film with a unique character that was very Fujifilm-like. That’s why I’m sorry to see the end of sales.
Looking at it again, Kodak’s Taiwan is good, but Fujifilm’s Taiwan is more Taiwanese, leaving an impression closer to the image of Taiwan. I think it is a film that is only made by Japan, and I think it is a film that goes well with Asian countries…
I wish I could have taken PRO400H to Singapore or other places….
I searched casually yodobashi.com for available films, and for some reason, FUJIFILM SUPERIA X-TRA400 was found and is now available for purchase. Why? I thought it was discontinued, and when I looked it up, I found that it was indeed discontinued in 2018.
But somehow it is back… Originally, the film was still being sold overseas, and it seems that the specifications of the film that is now being sold are the overseas version with the packaging labeled for Japanese (The film specification is still X-TRA400).
The product is not listed on the Fujifilm product page, but the online sales site Fujifilm Mall has resumed handling the product. フジカラー SUPERIA X-TRA400 36枚撮り (Sorry, the link is to only Japanese page.) However, there is currently a waiting list.
Continuing from the last time, here is Tokyo in 2016, this time in summer, with a Kodak ULTRAMAX 400. Kodak gives the impression of being a bit yellowish, but the sky has a deep and strong blue color. The colors also seem darker. The film tends to depending on the type, and even the way the film is developed when it is sent out for development can change it. So what is the truely image of film is difficult to say. However, the base of each film is different, and the developing process adds flavor to the film. There is no right answer, and I think one way to deal with film is to choose what you like. Of course, there have some standard films that you just have to choose when you are in doubt, but that is one of the many (or maybe not so many nowadays) types of film.
This is Tokyo in the winter of 2016 taken by the film Kodak Gold 200. The colors are typical of Kodak. In winter, the humidity is low, so the light tends to penetrate better and produce higher-resolution photos. I noticed that Kodak Gold 200 is one of the films that is not easy to get. It is still available on the Internet, but Yodobashi Camera no longer carries it and it is no longer a film that can be easily used…. It is hard to see Fujifilm’s lineup decrease, but it is also hard to see Kodak’s lineup decrease.
夜の台湾をKLASSE W + PORTRA 400で。今回で2017年の台湾の写真は最後に。前々回夜の撮影はNATURA 1600がいいなんて書きましたが、ISO400あってがんばってカメラを固定できればなんとか撮れるということだと思います。粒状感も悪くないし。ただ、やっぱり現像した結果ブレている写真は何枚か出てきちゃいます。撮り慣れてない人に撮ってもらうと、もうブレブレ、笑。 そういう意味でもNATURA 1600は安心だったんだと思います。失敗が少ないって、誰にでも撮りやすいってことになるので、それはとても大事なことだと思うので。 ISO800のフィルムが現状、カラーでの最高感度になりますが、富士フイルムのフィルムはISO800感度のフィルムもう売ってないんですよね。 KODAK PORTRA 800、Lomography Color Negative 800、cinestill 800Tといったところが選択肢でしょうか。 種類の少なさに焦りを感じます。
Taiwan at night with KLASSE W + PORTRA 400. This is the last photo of Taiwan in 2017. I wrote in the previous issue that NATURA 1600 is good for night photography, but I think it means that if you have ISO 400 and can hold the camera steady, you can manage to take pictures. The graininess is good. However, there have some blurred few pictures after developing the film. When I asked someone who is not used to taking pictures to take them, taht were blurry lol. In that sense, I think NATURA 1600 was a safe choice. I think it is very important to have less mistakes, because that means it is easy for anyone to take pictures. ISO 800 film is currently the highest sensitivity for color, but Fujifilm does not sell ISO 800 sensitivity film anymore. KODAK PORTRA 800, Lomography Color Negative 800, and cinestill 800T are the options. I feel impatient with the lack of variety.