And here we have the slightly more interesting second roll of Rollei 640 used this spring. It came out cleaner (for some reason I don’t know) from the tank, so less water staining on the scans. The subjects are not so different from the usual ones but we have new stunning locations in Tuscany – the small monastery is on the mount Cetona – and Rome – Palazzo Barberini. Oh, and WE HAVE A DOG!
Finally a new film on my blog! I bought a couple of Rollei some months ago and I thought I had to use them before summer, trying to fully benefit from that good 640 ASA sensitivity, shooting at sunset or indoors. I have to say it’s a very interesting new film, it’s not expensive, not too grainy, and with an impressive versatility. As an added bonus it’s super-flat after development, so no troubles when scanning! Regarding the pictures, well, these are my friends, my children, my guitars, my cat in various locations around Rome. There’s even a picture of me […]
The familiar Rollei film (I still have to decide if I like it or not), developed this time in a Kodak HC-110 developer. Results are finally decent regarding contrast, but obviously questionable regarding anything else: subjects, composition, supposed photographer’s skill and whatever you think applies. My cat is superb though.
Another Rollei, maybe too many Rolleis but they’re very cheap and I shot too many Ilfords years ago so I’m, like, recovering. I suppose I have to apologize because the subjects too, they are very common for this blog: friends, kids, park, trees, you know. But there’s big news hidden in this gallery: I used a new developer, the Ars-Imago FE, without even knowing a reliable developing time. So, the gentle folks at the Ars-Imago shop told me to try 12 minutes, but I’m slow so at the end it was around 30 seconds more… and not bad, not bad […]
WhenI buy film I usually put them in the cart in pairs. I don’t know why but I don’t feel OK to buy just one roll for each emulsion. So this is the “other” Superpan 200 and it’s just another batch of my “pictures in parks” super-cool project about, you know, pictures taken inside parks – woods, grass fields, kids running and so on. So interesting, I know.
Another Rollei RPX and another mess of i-dont-know-what-happened-in-the-tank – yes, the infamous IDKWHITT sindrome that every home-developer is sometimes affected by. Probably the D76 in the bottle wasn’t fresh enough or clean enough so I’m happy it’s finished. Regarding the flat boring pictures in the gallery below I don’t want to say it’s entirely developer’s fault, I’m accountable too. And the weather. And my self-portrait is not going to make it better anyway.
Hello Superpan 200, it’s been a long time, isn’t it? I like this film but I’m definitely not impressed by its behaviour in low light – and I have my share of fault of course. Grain is absolutely visible and, at this point, I would suggest to use any developer that can mitigate it. In this case I used D76 but it’s been a pain to scan because the negative came out with poor density and the scenes were all very flat and boring. This guy needs contrast – and a lot more sun.
Here we go, the first roll on this blog that’s been entirely NOT shot by me. Yes, the 12 years old daughter decided to use something like half-an-hour to totally waste a precious Rollei Retro 400 S just goin around our “quarantine in the country” house, in a not-so-sunny morning, framing just plants and buildings in black and white. Isn’t she crazy? The funny thing is: i would never ever do that, she did, and some result is very interesting and unexpected. It’s not the “totally wasted roll” I was presuming before scanning the negative. There’s something, I think.
My “Rome” rolls are almost quite predictable regarding subjects and locations. But for this beautiful Rollei Retro 400 S I did my best trying to be not-too-much predictable. And not everything has been shot in Rome, to be honest. So, what we have here: a moody and almost unintelligible picture of my daughters on a ice-skating rink; people playing traditional afro or south-american music (I don’t remember well) and dancing inside Forte Prenestino (google it, it’s a beautiful place); my daughter Daria with a unicorn hairband; a brilliant painting on a Potenza city wall. On a technical side-note: this film […]
