The Film Apocalypse and Proper Freezing and Storage of Film

[mdm]

I am using some Shanghai GP3 in 5x7. I have only used 4 sheets.

It is on a nice thick base, thicker than ilford, and lies nice and flat for scanning and does not scratch easily.
The sheets are a few mm longer than standard 5x7 film which gives a little extra space on one end for handling.
Plain nesting box but the film is in a black plastic coated paper bag, similar to Kodak and inside that is a light black plastic bag.
Sheets are interleaved with thin paper.
It appears to have poor reciprocity characteristics, but I wont put my head on the block with that one.
For me it is nearly half the price of FP4.

[sanking]

I am using some Shanghai GP3 in 5x7. I have only used 4 sheets.

It is on a nice thick base, thicker than ilford, and lies nice and flat for scanning and does not scratch easily.
The sheets are a few mm longer than standard 5x7 film which gives a little extra space on one end for handling.
Plain nesting box but the film is in a black plastic coated paper bag, similar to Kodak and inside that is a light black plastic bag.
Sheets are interleaved with thin paper.
It appears to have poor reciprocity characteristics, but I wont put my head on the block with that one.
For me it is nearly half the price of FP4.

I have used about two full 50 sheet boxes of 5X7 Shanghai ASA 100 film and have not found a single quality control issue yet.

The reciprocity characteristics are not good, but not any worse than the old Kodak films like Tri-X 320. And the film also does not have good expansion capability, but again not much different from Tri-X320. But for the price I can live with this, especially since I scan to print anyway.

I have no problem with people buying whatever film they like, but when Kodak started selling 20X24 film for more than $35 a sheet they lost my business, and once I have made my decision I rarely look back.

Sandy

[Brian C. Miller]

But this was in 2009, Sandy. Not too long ago. Sure, if they wanted to they could do it, but do they really want to do it? They effectively put a distributor out of business with bad products. If Lucky were producing Kodak paper and to Kodak's quality, then I'd say it was good and fine. But Lucky isn't producing a quality product, and what it does produce isn't chemistry-compatible with labs outside of east Asia. Would you say, "oh, sure, amonia in the process, no problem."

Royal’s Vice President, Farshid Ourian noted that “When one of our customers was told by a China Lucky technician who had visited his lab, that he was supposed to add ammonia, I thought he was going to call the police to have the guy physically removed. All of our clients were utterly shocked at what they were being told by the China Lucky representative.”

The Lodima paper is coming from eastern Europe, right? Therefore, I'm guessing that those factories will be where we can get what we'll need.

[mdm]

You learn theese things by experience. Anyway TriX is part of our heritage, that is why I will try it out, even if the the top guns have moved on. The price drop tipped the balance for me. I want to see a base that can be retouched or drawn on with a pencil and how it compares to HP5, if TMY is really worth the price? You dont take peoples word for it, unless you want to be like them.

[John NYC]

Boy thats the same EXACT reasoning I had for selling off my old Analog synthesizers back in 1988.
snip
Fast forward, Jan 2011, Mini Moogs used on ebay $3500.00 - 6000.00 depending on condition, Jupiter 8's two right now at $9000.00, Oberheim OBXa $2000.00 - 4000.00.Studios that have them in their keyboard rooms are in high demand, and kids half my age lust after them even though high quality digital samples of em all abound.Though I have a high end studio utilizing all digital synthesizers these days that get the bills paid, I truly miss the old boys and their unique personalities.

I feel your pain, as I was a musician back in those days, too, and did similar things as you. And it is exactly why I feel the way I do about the best LF gear maybe not going down so much over the next decade. Even if Chinese manufacturers step in to fill any resurgence in demand due to style trends, there is still going to be a demand for "vintage" gear from the heyday. My gosh look at what those projector lenses are going for, and Deardorffs, etc.

P.S. Another thing I never should have sold was my completely mint condition Yamaha YP-D8 turntable!

[mikebarger]

Michael, the most rational post you've made in this thread. Good common sense, I've got 700 sheets of 4x5 HP5+ in the freezer. The 8x10 Tmax deal did convince me to skip buying an 8x10 camera....cured my GAS.

David, these threads annoy me also, but like a moth to a candle.....I can't stay away.

Mike

[sanking]

Brian,

I believe that Lucky and Shanghai film are not made by the same company. If I am mistaken, I stand corrected.

But if I am correct it is not fair to equate quality control issues of one company with that of another, or to imply that China as a country is not capable of manufacturing quality film. In fact, I know they can because I have used a lot of the Shanghai film and found it of very good quality.

Sandy

[Ben Syverson]

That's great and all, but unless they can manufacture C41 film, it's a lot less impressive. Anyone can spread some silver gelatin on a sheet of plastic.

[sanking]

That's great and all, but unless they can manufacture C41 film, it's a lot less impressive. Anyone can spread some silver gelatin on a sheet of plastic.

You are correct about this. Ron Mowery, a former Kodak photo engineer, has made the same point. The technology to make color film is much more complicated than making B &W film, and once that technology is lost it is very unlikely to come back again. It would just be too difficult to replicate, certainly lacking a reasonable financial incentive.

Sandy

[Brian C. Miller]

Sandy, I think that where we got off track is that I was referencing Lucky color paper products, and you were referencing your experience with Shanhai B&W film products. Two different companies, quite different product lines. The fastest way to find out if Lucky produces good color film would, of course, be to order some off eBay and test it. I don't see any Lucky paper for sale, so it's not easy to see if there is a problem with the RA4 paper.

Both Shanghai and Lucky produce B&W sheet film. Lucky produces 35mm color film, so I'm sure that they could also produce it in 120 and sheet format. I have no idea if Shanghai has a color product line.