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

Cheap Camera Shootout - Nikon F801S - Kodak ColorPlus

The Cherry Blossom came early this year. A dry and warm March coupled with a bright start to April gave the local cherry trees all the encouragement they needed to burst into colour and what a display they provided for us. I'm glad I was using my Nikon F801S with it's high shutter speeds as I tried to isolate a number of what can only be described as bright balls of colour.

I have been photographing the local cherry trees for a few years now and have come to enjoy my Sakura Hanami each year. It never fails to make me smile, even last year when we didn't get much in the way of sunshine during Sakura season, I was still smiling. When the Japanese people decided to start their Hanami several centuries ago, they were on to a good thing and I have to agree with them.

As I have come to appreciate it more, I am also finding myself choosing my shots a little better. It's easy to get overwhelmed with the riot of pink that boldly announces the start of Spring. We get a few distinct displays each year starting with Snowdrops followed by Crocus, Daffodils and Hawthorne, then the Sakura says "Hold My Saké!"

I was spoilt for choice this year as the sun was bright and the Blossom was displaying almost every shade of pink, from subtle shades of almost white pink to full on in your face PINK! It really is an amazing display of colour and I will never tire of it. It didn't take me long to get through my roll of Kodak ColorPlus, I rewound my film and headed off home for a well earned drink.

As with my other rolls of Kodak ColorPlus in this series, I sent them to Analogue Wonderland for processing. A few days later I received an email saying my scans were ready for me to download and I could get my first look at this years Sakura to see if my Hanami was as good as I remembered it.

Oh boy was it ever!

This is why I like Kodak ColorPlus so much, it doesn't pretend to be anything else. It just produces great colour time and again and makes my memories special. Remember, Kodak made a name from helping us capture our memories on film and these Kodak Moments epitomise that philosophy. I can smell the blossom every time I look at these photos and probably will for many years to come.

This is the end of this particular Cheap Camera Shootout and I have had a lot of fun with it. I might do another in the future, but for now I have learned a lot about the capability of my cheap entry level autofocus 35mm SLR's and my semi pro Nikon F801S. The Canon EOS300 and Minolta Dynax 4 were disgracefully cheap and have given me great photos with minimal effort. Their autofocus systems are fast, reasonably quiet and very accurate, as are their built in light meters. 

If you are thinking of giving film a go, you can't go wrong with them and there are some great lenses available for both Canon EF Mount and Minolta/Sony A mount, yes Sony! Sony A mount lenses are derived from Minolta A mount equivalents and are dirt cheap. A little more money gets you a decent Nikon and access to the huge range of both manual focus and autofocus F mount lenses. I love my Nikon F801s and it's coming on holiday with me later in the year along with my Nikon D610. Two cameras, three lenses, a few rolls of film and a couple of SD cards. Happy days.

Here's a few favourites from my roll of Kodak ColorPlus 200 shot with my Nikon F801S and 35-70mm lens. I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr for you to visit via the link below. Also a reminder that "Opaque", the new publication from the Photozine Collective is now on sale via the link below. This is a limited edition run with all profits going to Asthma + Lung UK in memory of John Whitmore who inspired us. I hope you enjoy them.

Nikon F801S - Kodak ColorPlus
Opaque - from the Photozine Collective

Opaque - A Peek At My contribution.

Time really does fly when you're having fun. After the success of our previous offerings, Lucid and Ambiguous, the Photozine Collective decided to put another zine together using the theme "Opaque." Again we aim to raise money for Asthma & Lung UK in honour of our dear departed friend John Whitmore who inspired us to continue his work.

John liked to challenge us through his work with the Sunny 16 Podcast. One thing I discovered early on with my contribution, Opaque wasn't an easy theme to interpret for this year's zine. Taken literally Opaque is an absence of light, but I wanted to do something different. However, that's easier said than done and I struggled from the start.

The film we were all using was Rollei Retro 400S b&w film and it's a film I am familiar with having shot a few rolls over the last year or two. It has decent contrast and as a 400 iso speed it should have given me decent exposures in the dead of winter. How wrong was I! I got through 4 rolls of film without getting a decent photo. It just wasn't coming together and I almost threw in the towel and dropped out.

On the last day I loaded a roll of Rollei Retro 400S 35mm into my OM-2 and put it in aperture priority. I also loaded a roll of 120 medium format Rollei Retro 400S into Baldy the Baldax to give me options. I wasn't expecting to have anything as I just couldn't see the wood for the trees, and then it hit me... The Opacity of Time!

I have no idea where it came from, but I took that as a sign from John and the idea grew. I thought about how the trees mark time and wondered if they too live in the moment, not knowing what the next moment will bring. It's also a good tribute to John as he loved photographing trees.

I wasn't alone with my struggle as we all found this to be a serious challenge, which makes this book all the more special. Here's a couple of my photos that I shot for Opaque using my Olympus OM-2 and dear Baldy the Baldax. If you want to see all the photos and added prose from 16 talented film photographers and myself, you can buy Opaque for £9 plus postage from our Ko-Fi site below. A few of our contributors appeared on the Sunny 16 Podcast to talk about their work for Opaque and you can listen to it via the link below. We all hope you enjoy it.

Opaque - Buy One Now! 
Sunny 16 Podcast - Opaque

Cheap Camera Shooutout - Minolta Dynax 4 - Kodak ColorPlus

 Next in line in the Cheap Camera Shootout for a roll of Kodak ColorPlus is my Minolta Dynax 4, an ebay bargain from a friend and a superb entry level 35mm SLR. A beginner to film would probably want to shoot colour film and be able to get decent quality photos, I know I did when I returned to film in 2017. I loaded a roll of the greatest colour film ever made into my Dynax 4 and hopped onto a bus into town.

I headed straight to Wigan Parish Church to make the most of the Cherry Blossom that was in full bloom on the trees in the church gardens. The blossom was making its appearance a little earlier this year. April really did start with plenty of sunshine, which always brings the blossom out, and I was able to use the strength of the cameras electronics to use fast shutter speeds as I photographed nature's finest display of colour.

The Minolta Dynax 4 has a fastest shutter speed of 1/2000th of a second and I used it on a few close ups with a wider aperture for a shallow depth of field. These are things to think about when taking a photo, there's always something that needs to be the focus of the composition and I isolate it with a shallow depth of field.

A wide aperture and fast shutter speed does that and using aperture priority takes a little bit of thinking out of the equation for me. The camera selects the shutter speed based upon the aperture I choose and the light meter reading. With this camera, that little bit of automation is bang on and ensures the blossom is in focus whilst the background falls away into a blur.

I always seem to miss photographing the Cherry Blossom at Wigan Parish Church so catching it at peak flower was a fortunate opportunity I really wasn't going to pass by. The sun was high and bright and the blossom truly bloomed for me. I took full advantage of the blossom on the cherry trees and also the blossom on the young apple trees in the Church Gardens. There was also a couple of Poppies too and I soon finished a full roll of film and headed off for a bit of shopping before heading home.

I sent my roll of Kodak ColorPlus to Analogue Wonderland for development and a few days later had the scans downloaded ready for my first good look at the photos I shot with my Minolta Dynax 4.

Again, I was not disappointed!

The colour that Kodak ColorPlus produces is indicative of a film that punches way above it's weight class. I have enjoyed other Kodak colour films, both stills and cinema, but I will always come back to ColorPlus. Kodak made their name from making memories and the colours from ColorPlus are true to life, which for me makes those memories especially vivid. 

Here's a few favourites from my roll of Kodak ColorPlus shot with my Minolta Dynax 4. I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr for you to visit using the link below. Also a reminder that "Opaque", the new publication from the Photozine Collective is now on sale via the link below. This is a limited edition run with all profits going to Asthma + Lung UK in memory of John Whitmore who inspired us to do this. I hope you enjoy them.

Minolta Dynax 4 - Kodak ColorPlus 200
Opaque - from the Photozine Collective

 

Opaque - A New Photo Book from the Photozine Collective

The Photozine Collective announce the Publication of “Opaque”

Opaque is the third collection of Photographs from the members of the Photozine Collective. Following on from “Lucid” and “Ambiguous”, “Opaque” was once again a challenging theme. 17 film photographers responded to the theme with their own unique mini-series of images. The result is a small but impressive photo-book that engages the reader visually and thoughtfully through both the contributors’ own words and their imagery.

The collective selected the theme "Opaque", the film stock, Rollei Retro 400s, and Photozine Collective member Yant Martin-Keyte agreed to take on the role of the Editor. At 116 pages the result is larger than most zines and more of a small photo book. “I wanted the contributors to have as much space and leeway as possible for them to bring their ideas to fruition," Yant explained, “Hence the size of the publication.”

“We gave people enough pages in the zine for their work to speak clearly and we got some great work from the contributors. Giving space for the work to really speak for itself was important to me as Editor.”

The contributors to the publication are a worldwide team. Although predominately from the UK, Opaque includes contributions from North America, Europe, and Australasia. The international mix of the contributors adds to the dynamic of the zine and brings strikingly different perspectives to the imagery. The contributors are also more diverse than previous publications with more women contributing, something the collective actively encourages.

The Photozine Collective has been inspired by the work of the photographer John Whitmore who’s passing in 2021, when his “Choosing and Losing” zine series was really starting to show photographers how to use the medium, was a great loss.

More details on how to buy Opaque are available from the Collective’s website that you can visit using the link below. All profits will go to the Asthma+Lung UK charity in John's memory.

Photozine Collective

 

Cheap Camera Shootout - Canon EOS300 - Kodak Colorplus

 April began with glorious spring sunshine and I went for a wander in Mesnes Park with a roll of Kodak ColorPlus in my Canon EOS300 to capture the early spring colours. I decided to make the most of the nice weather whilst I could, this is Wigan after all. The weather can change in a heart beat and I planned on getting as much done as I could before my weary bones stopped play.

My rolls of ColorPlus had been sat in my fridge for a couple of years and expired in February 2024, but that is not a problem for this marvellous colour film from Kodak. Some film photographers will tell you to allow a stop for every decade the film has been expired, so a year past it's best before date is not going to need any compensation. I let the DX code reader in the camera automatically set the iso to 200 and got to work.

Mesnes Park really comes alive in the spring. The Parks and Gardens Staff are busy mowing lawns and populating the flower beds with a blaze of colourful plants, and on a day like the one I enjoyed, the spring colours really do bring a smile to my face. I kept it simple for this roll of ColorPlus, I took a few similar shots to the B&W ones I took with this camera a couple of weeks previously and also photographed a couple of compositions I haven't visited for a while. Above all I was looking for vivid colours and Mesnes Park has lots of it at this time of year. 

I was having fun and soon reached the park gates where I found some Daffodils at the Park Lodge alongside some Tulips about to burst into flower. I was by now running low on film and made my way into the town centre to grab a couple of shots of the construction work at the former Galleries site. It was here that my film ran out and I put my Canon EOS300 in my bag and toddled off to get a bit of shopping before heading home.

I sent my film to Analogue Wonderland for developing and scanning. Yep, I could have done it myself, but I sent my film to a lab I trust. A few days later I received the email telling me my scans were ready for downloading and I was able to get my first look at the photos I had taken on that glorious spring day.

I was not disappointed.

Kodak ColorPlus 200 is the best colour film ever made and I wish it was available in medium format. All Kodak colour films are fantastic, but the performance of this bargain bucket holiday snaps film is a sight to behold. Bright colours in a well balanced palette and reds that shout "look at me!" without being too overbearing. It is the classic Kodak look and I love it.

Here's a few of my favourites from my roll of Kodak ColorPlus shot with my Canon EOS300. I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr that you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Canon EOS300 - Kodak ColorPlus