ERA Sheet Film

[IanMazursky]

Hi Neil:

You can only tell after you dry them. They looked like a cat rolled in the emulsion when the coated it. They are also very scratched.
It got better as i went through the first box and by the second the defects are mostly gone.
I drum scan most of my stuff at the office so the Kami fills in many of the scratches. Some are still visible though.

I do find that the FP4 times work very well. I find that if i process them for 5-10 seconds longer, the contrasted is boosted slightly.
Sometimes i find it more pleasing for my landscapes.

[Neil Purling]

So don't use the stuff for anything of any importance?
I have the Foma 100 for that. I wanted this stuff for lens testing.

[IanMazursky]

Not exactly. I shoot lots of important stuff using era.
You just need to keep it in the back of your mind that you might need to do extra work on the neg.
I personally like the look so i take the risk. The film doesn't look like anything else i have tried.
It is reminiscent of the older style emulsions. They did have occasional hiccups in manufacturing.
I feel that if the photographers of those days could work with something like this than i can give it a go.

[gbogatko]

It's not inexpensive for 8x10 -- $50 for 25 sheets + $18 for shipping

[Neil Purling]

I have loaded some holders with the first sheets. The stuff seems to have a natural curl. Perhaps due to a box a little on the short side?

[rwyoung]

I have loaded some holders with the first sheets. The stuff seems to have a natural curl. Perhaps due to a box a little on the short side?

I to remember a touch of the curl and it seemed like it was packaging related. I did a little re-organizing of boxes and bags and was able to remove most of the curve.

All in all, nice stuff and I have some more on its way to me.

[Neil Purling]

I might have read too much into other people's experiences of the stuff, but is the quality really hit n mis? I mean £9.20 for 25 sheets, you shouldn't expect too much.
As long as it allows me to test some lenses it'll have done what I asked of it.
I have got a 5" W.A.R. on it's way back to me that i'll need to properly evaluate before taking it on a shoot. This is what I bought the ERA film for, so I don't need to use anything better.

[Ash]

Neil, you have already seen my shots from the stuff, if you use it and trust it, you will get amazing results. I enlarged those images to well over 12x16, probably a few inches on all sides and printed onto 12x16 paper with no issues, hardly any artefacts and good grain and sharpness.