Celebrating 620 Film and Cameras

At the beginning of February 2025 I shared my thoughts about using my Kodak Brownie 127 and shooting a roll of Rera Pan 400 film for 127 day on January 27th 2025. I shared some photos on social media and my friend Tom suggested that maybe we should adapt that idea and have a 620 day on June 20th. I agreed it was a great idea, but there was a slight snag. I didn't own a 620 format camera. It was time to go hunting.

I am often idly searching through ebay to check what kind of prices various cameras are selling for. One thing I noticed a few years ago was that folding cameras are disgracefully cheap. Many of you will now be saying "they are cheap for a reason" and list several of them. On occasion I will happily agree with that sentiment as there's some right chancers on the bay selling what can only be described as "fungus farms" for exorbitant sums of money. However, there are bargains on there if you are patient.

Thus it was that I found a good looking Kodak Sterling II for sale with a starting price of £24.99. I figured it would go for more, so I put a bid in at the starting price and left it to run. A few days later I got an email, I was the only bidder and the new owner of the Kodak Sterling II 620 film camera. I duly paid for it and a few days later the seller messaged me to tell me it was on its way and to enjoy my camera. I promptly ordered some Shanghai 620 black and white film from Nik & Trick to try it out. 

620 format film is the same as 120 format film with a subtle difference, the size of the film spool. This is important as you cannot fit a 120 film into a 620 camera without a fair bit of bodging. For many years 620 film had been discontinued. You couldn't buy it fresh, but it didn't stop a few determined folk re-spooling 120 film onto 3D printed 620 spools. Nik & Trick offered that service and were amongst interested parties who lobbied Shanghai Film in China to bring factory spooled 620 film back to the market.

Shanghai Film in China took a leap of faith and produced a short run of 620 B&W film to see if the folks lobbying for its return were truly serious. It sold out very quickly. Nik & Trick were fortunate enough to get some and it sold out almost as soon as they added it to their website. The leap of faith paid off and Shanghai now have 620 film as a part of their production roster. 

I shot a couple of rolls of film during the spring just to get used to using the camera and I wasn't altogether impressed with my efforts on my first roll, but my second roll was better. It still wasn't perfect, but I was slowly getting the hang of the camera. As it turned out I didn't get to shoot a third roll until the June 20th 2025, 620 day. 

June 20th was hot and humid and I got bitten by just about every horsefly I encountered on my walk. I didn't care as I was out and about with a camera and grimly determined to finish the task I had set myself. I had also fitted the yellow filter I had bought for my Kodak Retina 1a. It's a versatile little addition to my kit and I figured it would help me get my exposures looking decent. With just 8 frames per roll, I was taking care of my film and went for familiar compositions. Also, to help me get my exposures right, I used my trusty Gossen Trisix selenium light meter. 

I had an enjoyable wander, despite being dinner for a multitude of horseflies. My photos are all of things I have photographed to death, but that's ok. It's all part of my ongoing therapy as I keep my brain and my aching body exercised. I'm not healthy by a long way, but getting out once a week with a camera is helping me enormously. By the time I had captured my last frame, I was ready for home.

I developed my 620 roll of Shanghai GP3 100 iso medium format black and white film a few days later in Bellini Euro HC, 1+31 dilution B for 8 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised my film with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, my Valoi medium format film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 size led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Photo 2. 

One thing I noticed right away was my images are nice in the centre and very blurry around the edges. Is it me just not getting my depth of field right or has an element on the lens been reversed at some point in the past? I definitely need to investigate it as these should have been decent photos. They are nicely exposed, but... well. Some folk may like the blurring around the edge, the effect can be done with a spot filter or a very thin smear of lip balm around a UV filter. It certainly makes them stand out. 

It hasn't put me off the camera, in fact it has piqued my OCD. It makes me want to understand it and maybe even live with it, much like I live with the fact that I always seem to forget where I am up to and get that inevitable "double exposure". Here's a few of my photos from my roll of Shanghai GP100 620 B&W film shot with my Kodak Sterling II for 620 Day. I have placed them all in an album on Flickr that you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Shanghai 620 Film 

 

Rollei RPX 25 medium format film

 Keith came to visit again and he brought some sunshine with him, which was nice. We got out for our customary wander and didn't have a plan, just go out and see where we end up. We started at Preston Dock, where I shot a roll of Fomapan 400 for a separate blog, then we headed to the seaside and had a wander around Fairhaven Lake at Lytham St Annes near Blackpool for an hour. I loaded Baldy the Baldax with a roll of Rollei RPX 25 120 medium format B&W film. The sun was very high and bright, and I hadn't used this film before. Keith had given me a couple of rolls some time previously and it was high time I used it. 

Our first stop was the Fairhaven Lake Café, which was closed, to see the multitude of wildfowl that hangs out there on the off chance a human comes along with some free food. It was there where I met a rather tenacious Swan who thought my camera was something tasty to eat. After a good chat with it, I happily directed the swan to a chap with a loaf of bread who was being followed by a gaggle of geese and a couple more swans and it soon lost interest in trying to eat my camera. 

When wild animals become accustomed to humans, they relax and get on with their lives, which at this time of year means raising their chicks. I found a few compositions as we made our way around the lake. It's a popular spot for recreation and plenty of folk were either walking or jogging along the path, there was also a chap in a powered wheelchair who had a good natter to Keith, who was sat upon his chariot, and they cracked jokes about having a race. British humour at its finest.

We eventually made our way to the Spitfire on display at the opposite end of the lake. This is a full size replica to commemorate the important role that Lytham St Annes and Blackpool played in RAF Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Command during WW2.  Pilots came to Lancashire to train in aircraft before being deployed to their operational unit and defending our skies from the Luftwaffe. 

You don't really appreciate the beauty of this weapon of war until you get close to one. R.J. Mitchell, the designer of the Spitfire, definitely got it right as pilots often said "You didn't strap into a Spitfire, you wore it." It was comfortable, could turn on a sixpence and matched the Messerschmidt Bf 109 in the skies above the English Channel whilst our Hurricanes went after the Luftwaffe Bombers during those dark days of WW2. 

We had a glorious afternoon of photography and I hadn't quite finished my roll of film, but we were getting tired and headed for home. We were happy with what we had achieved on another splendid wander around a couple of great places to visit right here in Lancashire. I finished my roll of Rollei RPX 25 a few days later in Mesnes Park, Wigan on an equally sunny afternoon. 

I developed my film a few days later in Zone Imaging 510 Pyro diluted at 1+150 for 9 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised it with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 sized led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Photo 2.

It's always a joy to get out and about, especially when I have Baldy the Baldax with me. The conditions were wall to wall sunshine and I didn't have to do much my film in post production. Baldy the Baldax thrives on slower films and thus it was with this roll of Rollei RPX 25. 

The slow speed of 25 iso gave me decent exposures without having to max out the camera's shutter and aperture settings in the process. I have another roll in 35mm format and will definitely be using it when we get another sunny day and I will use a yellow filter with it, just to eek out the contrast a little better.

Here's a few favourites from my very first roll of Rollei RPX 25 120 medium format B&W film. We had a wonderful afternoon and you can view them and more in my Rollei RPX 25 album on Flickr that you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Rollei RPX 25 - Balda Baldax 

Frugal Film Project 2025 - June

 The half way point of this years Frugal Film Project arrived and I have added one more item to my Kodak Retina 1a, a Yellow Filter. I have been looking for one of the right size for a while and was drawing a blank until one came along at a price that would keep my kit under budget. It is an Actina yellow filter and cost me the princely sum of £2.82 from the bay. It is a versatile item as it has a fastener to lock the filter on my lens and also fits onto my Agfa Isolette I and Kodak Sterling II cameras. Kerching!

I got out to shoot my June roll of Type 517 Cine Film during a heatwave on a day with clouds in the sky. To add an extra aspect to this months photos, a yellow filter darkens the blue areas of sky and helps with deepening the blacks. I began my walk at the entrance to Mesnes Park and made my way around town. The weather was perfect for using a filter. It took me a few shots to properly dial it in, but I soon found my settings and cracked on with the task in hand.

I keep saying it, but it's worth it. My Kodak Retina 1a is a great camera and I am glad I bought it. The Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Xenar 50mm f/2.8 is a superb lens mounted on an equally superb Synchro-Compur shutter. Once my settings are dialled in, I can use my camera as a point and shoot. With the yellow filter added to the lens, it brought a bright sunny afternoon under control. 

I visited familiar compositions and tried to get a few different angles on some old favourites as I wandered around town. I like to capture the architecture high on the buildings as well as some closer to the ground to appreciate the skills of the stonemasons that carved them out of solid rock. 

Wigan has a range of architectural styles from Mock Tudor of the shops in the town centre to the brutalism of the Civic Building, which has been freed from it's cladding of scaffolding. It is being re-purposed into offices and shared work spaces for small businesses and will be opening sometime this year.

It didn't take me long to finish my roll of film and, satisfied with my effort on this fine summers day, I popped my camera back into my bag and headed off home for a much needed drink and rest my weary bones.

Developing film in a heatwave is a tough task. I waited for night time and a cooler ambient temperature before setting up my equipment in my kitchen. Water straight from the tap was over 25 degress celcius so I use my jug of filtered water I keep in my fridge to try to keep my chems at a reasonable temperature. 

By the time I had transferred my roll of Type 517 Cine Film onto my Paterson reel and into my developing tank, my Bellini Euro HC had come down to 24 celcius. I had some math to do. Last month I took 2 1/2 minutes off my developing time in similar conditions and decided to use it again. This brought my developing time down to 12 minutes and I soon had my roll of Type 517 Cine Film hanging to dry in my bathroom. 

Once dry, which did not take long, I digitised my film with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi 35mm film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 sized led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Photo 2.

 Adding that yellow filter to my camera made all the difference this month. I didn't have to do much adjustment to my photos with Affinity Photo 2. I got my exposure settings pretty much right thanks to that filter. It was a 1/500th f/16 day without it, so it gave me some wiggle room with this most basic of cameras. I was able to bring some definition into the sky and the black areas are deep and oh so rich. 

I am a very happy bunny this month. To be honest I was going to use one of my Cokin A filters by covering the lens with it, but that would have added a bit of shake and wonkiness to my photos courtesy of having to adjust the way I hold the camera. Buying the Actina yellow filter kept me in full control of my compositions and it shows, but I will let you see them for yourself.

Here's a few favourites from my June roll of Type 517 Cine Film for the Frugal Film Project 2025. As always I have placed them and more in my Frugal Film Project 2025 album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Frugal Film Project 2025 - June 
  

Balda Baldax - Ilford FP4+ 125

For our visit to Ribchester I decided to take Baldy the Baldax out to play, purely on the off-chance I finished my roll of Type 517 Cine Film for the Frugal Film Project. Of course I did finish that part of my plans for the day and thus baldy was retrieved from my bag ready to go. I had loaded it with a roll of Ilford FP4+ 125 and to cap things nicely, the sun finally broke through the haze, bathing us in all its spring glory. 

I started my roll at The White Bull, a lovely pub with what look like real Roman columns holding up the front porch and a model of a white Bull on top of it. This pub found fame when the popular British archaeology series "Time Team" visited Ribchester to search for the extent of the Roman settlement beyond what had already been found. It was the second episode of the first series and the whole town was involved as residents dug test pits in their gardens. You can find it on YouTube.

Ribchester isn't very large, it probably hasn't really grown much since it was founded all those centuries ago, but that doesn't mean there's nothing to photograph. Ribchester is full of sandstone buildings that are a couple of centuries old and there's been a lot of recycling of building materials over time.

There's also some new buildings that stand out, but they will weather in over the years ahead. In ten years you wouldn't know they hadn't been there long unless you knew what to look for. Ribchester is a conservation area thanks to its Roman roots which spread out in the local countryside, including an ancient road through a field that you can hike along.

Keith was indulging in photographing his favourite subject. Doors. To be fair there are some ornate doors around the town worthy of a photo and Keith made the most of them. I too got a couple of photos of doors as well as general photos of the buildings and details unique to each one. It didn't seem like we had been out for very long, but by 4 pm, we were both getting tired and made our way home, happy with what we had achieved.

I developed my roll of Ilford FP4+ 125 with BelliniFoto Euro HC for 8 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised my film with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi 120 mediumformat film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 size led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Photo 2.

I haven't used dear Baldy the Baldax for a few weeks as I have been busy with my autofocus cameras, so it was nice to spend a day with no batteries or automation bar my Gossen Trisix selenium light meter. I haven't forgotten how to use them, but it still shows where I cocked up the odd composition and a couple of light leaks strayed into my photos.

I'm not too fussed about it because perfection just isn't happening with a camera that's over 90 years of age. I just wanted to enjoy using it again and I certainly did that. Here's a few favourites from my roll of Ilford FP4 shot with Baldy the Baldax on a fine afternoon in Ribchester. I have posted them and more in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Balda Baldax - Ilford FP4+ 125

Kentmere 200 - A new film from Harman Technology, the home of Ilford Film.

 Harman Technology, manufacturers of Ilford and Kentmere Black & White film and Harman Phoenix colour film have been busy over the last couple of years. They brought us Phoenix, their first colour film manufactured totally in house at their factory here in the north west of England. Now they have announced a new B&W film with the recent release of Kentmere 200, a medium speed B&W film that rounds out and compliments their Kentmere range of B&W film.

Regular readers will know I enjoy using budget films and they don't come much more budget friendly than Kentmere. Those of us with very little disposable income need to find ways to enhance versatility and have been pushing Kentmere 100 and pulling Kentmere 400 to 200 iso for years. We don't need to do that anymore now that Harman have brought Kentmere 200 onto the market. I had to try some and purchased a few rolls around 3 milliseconds after it went live on the Analogue Wonderland website. (yeah I was slacking, it should have been 1 picosecond....)

Using any film for the first time can be a crap shoot, but I mitigated any chances of my ineptitude getting in the way of well exposed photos by choosing my camera wisely. I loading my first roll of Kentmere 200 into my Minolta X-700 and took advantage of it's excellent aperture priority mode.I also used my MD 50mm f/1.7 lens and a MD 2x teleconverter for long shots, and my Vivitar 28mm MC close focus wide angle lens to give me a decent range of focal lengths to play with. I headed out into my local countryside on a sunny afternoon to explore.

The Film Photography market has been steadily rising over the last decade and Harman have put a lot of effort into ensuring they are at the forefront of it. In recent years they have secured investment to expand their facilities at Mobberley to enable them to make more film. A statement of intent they are already acting upon.

Kentmere 200 slots into a niche in the market once inhabited by Fomapan 200. Sadly, production problems with Fomapan 200, particuarly in 120 medium format had B&W film photographers like myself looking elsewhere to scratch that particular creative itch. I like Fomapan 200 in 35mm and this first roll of Kentmere 200 would give me something to compare directly to it rather than pushing or pulling other films. Kentmere 200 is also available in 120 and that itch will be scratched later in the year.

I was having fun on my walk and totally forgot I had bought 24 shot rolls of film instead of the usual 36 shot rolls I normally buy. It turned out ok though as my last couple of shots coincided with the half way mark of my walk and I finished my very first roll of Kentmere 200 at the stile to the footpath across the corn field. At least I think the farmer is growing corn this year, wheat isn't spaced out as much as this years crop. With my last shot taken, I switched cameras to start my Frugal Film Project 2025 obligation with my Kodak Retina 1a and headed off towards home.

A few days later I developed my roll of Kentmere 200 in Bellini Euro HC 1+31 dilution B for 6 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised it with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi 35mm film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 sized LED light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Photo 2.

With any new film, the manufacturer rightly uses their own proprietary developers to test their new product and the Film Community goes right ahead and starts experimenting with the developers and times their experience lead them towards. I went for 6 minutes based upon the time given by Harman for Ilfotec HC at 1+31, which, as far as I am aware, is near as darn it the same developer as Kodak HC110 and Bellini Euro HC. 

As more photographers get to experiment with this film using any of the healthy number of developers on the market, the knowledge base will grow, but for now I am happy to use Bellini Euro HC 1+31 dilution B to develop Kentmere 200. I could see straight away I had made a good choice as the film looked decently exposed and as I digitised it and began editing the RAW files, I didn't have to do much to it at all, despite shooting the roll in the harshest light on the hottest day in May 2025, a harsh baptism of fire! I have three more rolls to play with and will be having a lot of fun with filters as I go along.

Here's a few favourites from my walk in my local countryside with my very first roll of Kentmere 200. They are compositions I have done to death, but familiar was the way to go with this brand new film. I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them

Kentmere 200 

Frugal Film Project 2025 - May

 Spring has been hot and dry here in darkest Wigan and I wasn't feeling up to going out much after expending a lot of creative energy on Opaque, the new photo book from the Photozine Collective, and making the most of the glorious Cherry Blossom around town. That changed when a good rest made life a little more bearable and I went for a walk in my local countryside on a sunny Sunday afternoon in mid May. As always when I am out and about I was pulling double duty and shooting a brand new film with my Minolta X-700. I shot that roll first and will speak about it in a future blog.

I finished my other roll at the half way point of my walk and got started on my roll of Type 517 Cine Film in my Retina 1a. To be honest I was enjoying being out in the countryside, taking advantage of the dry spring we have had. The farmer had been busy planting this years crop, I think it's corn, and I enjoyed using the rows of crops as leading lines to the house and trees in the distance across the field. I was thinking of my hope for rain to help the crops grow tall and strong. We all love the nice weather, but to feed us all we need rain.

I soon arrived at the Stile which has been my nemesis this last few years. I don't like using it at the best of times, but with the sun being out, it made me be a little more bold and, after a few photos, I managed to navigate my way over it. This stile is a deceptive one as it drops down on the other side and has caught a few people out in the past. I took a couple from the other side and headed across the field where the horses were enjoying the shade at the bottom of the hill.

The pond at the top of this field was quite still on this day so I tried a couple of compositions using reflections with the trees and reeds etc. Then I headed onto the wash to visit my favourite tree on there. It's good to see the Silver Birch trees in full foliage again. I also took a couple of photos of the derelict car with it's new graffiti. It changes every time I see it and the local kids haven't got any better at painting and spelling, bless 'em.

It was almost time to head for home and I took a walk onwards to the next pond and the summerhouse that has been enthralling me with it's reflection on the water. I also took a shot of the Post Box and a lonely traffic cone because we have to, it's the law! I headed for the shops to pick up a couple of things before I turned for home. This Brit need milk for his cuppa tea and cornflakes and I had run out. I had also nearly run out of frames on this roll and had had enough inspiration for one day so I resolved to finish the last few frames later. I put my camera in my bag, got my shopping and went home for a well earned cuppa.

I decided to have a little play and developed my roll of Type 517 Cine Film with Bellini Euro HC  1+31 for 12 minutes at 20 celcius instead of 14 1/2 minutes and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised it with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi 35mm film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 sized LED light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Photo 2.

Sunny days is where this film thrives, but I have a habit of getting my Mk1 eyeball metering wrong and it shows in this months roll. I over exposed most of my shots, but the ones I got right were bang on. I lose focus and things just slip my mind, it happens to everyone, but especially me since my stroke. Thankfully this film has a wide dynamic range and I was able to salvage it with Affinity Photo 2. 

That dynamic range means that this film has got my attention and it has grown on me over the first half of 2025. I want to experiment with filters and I think it's time to hunt some down on the bay. I also need to give myself a kick up the ass to make a better effort at getting my exposures right rather than hoping I can save them later. One thing I do know for sure is this Kodak Retina 1a is a little gem, the diamond in the bundle I bought last year and I reckon everyone should give one of these cameras a try at some point, even if it is just the once.

It was a joy to get back to my vintage cameras after spending a bit of time with my all singing and dancing electronic auto everything cameras of the last few weeks. It's nice to have the toys with all the bells and whistles, but a simple camera is much more fun. Here's a few favourites from my May roll of Type 517 Cine Film shot my Kodak Retina 1a for the Frugal Film Project 2025. I have placed them and more in my Frugal Film Project album on Flickr for you to visit via the link below. I hope you enjoy them. 

Frugal Film Project 2025 

Olympus OM10 - Santacolor 100

 For Christmas 2024 I had a plan. The good folks at Kamerastore gave me a free roll of Santacolor 100 film for filling out a questionnaire and my plan was to shoot it at Christmas with my OM-1n. Then it went pear shaped. My OM-1n has developed a shutter problem, as I found out after loading my Santacolor film and taking a couple of photos with it. Fortunately I was able to rewind the film and my OM-10 was pressed into service. I loaded my Santacolor into my OM-10 and promptly forgot about it until January.  D'OH! 

I have heard and read a lot about Santacolor over the last couple of years as various blogs and vlogs have covered it extensively. Santacolor originated as Kodak aerial surveillance film with a nominal 100 iso rating. I first saw it on sale at Kamerstore as their own in house brand and it has also been re-spooled by several retailers with their own branding on it. It is noted for rendering bright reds and with that in mind I headed into town.

Wigan has a lot of buildings with ornate terracotta brick facades, they were intended to convey the wealth of the various benefactors who made their money from the Coal, Cotton and Iron industries in the area. Wigan had enough natural resources to make it worthwhile mining coal and building cotton mills as the Industrial Revolution began to gather pace here in the north west of England. It was said you could dig a hole anywhere in Wigan and hit coal. The Iron Works was built because of the abundance of coal to fuel the furnaces.

I wandered about the town centre happy snapping as I explored the bright reds of the various buildings. I tried to capture a few shots of Wigan folk going about their day along the main shopping street too. I also made a point of getting a shot of the famous Uncle Joe's Mint Balls sign. I know how it looks in colour having shot it on ColorPlus and Gold in the past, but it is nice to see how the three compare against each other.

I really enjoyed myself exploring colour for a change and soon finished my roll of Santacolor 100. I rewound my film, happy with what I had photographed and hopeful of how it would turn out. I put my OM10 back in my bag and continued on my photowalk around town with a roll of Rollei Superpan 200 in my OM-2. You can read that blog via the link below.

I entrusted developing of my roll of Santacolor 100 to the good folks at Analogue Wonderland. I sent it with my three rolls of ColorPlus and used my Club AW Wonderpoints to bring the price down. Join Club AW, they have regular members only deals and discounts and those all important Wonderpoints to collect.

First impression of Santacolor 100 35mm colour film is this was a fun film to shoot, despite my false start with my OM-1 and I might just go for it again some day. Check for availability at your local film retailer or buy it straight from Kamerastore using the link below.

Here's a few favourites from my roll of Santacolor 100 shot with my OM-10 and Zuiko lenses. I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr that you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Olympus OM10 - Santacolor 100
Olympus OM-2 - Rollei Superpan 200 
Santacolor 100 35mm 36 exp colour film
Analogue Wonderland