Tales on Film

I noticed in the search results of this site, that there is a huge interest in the different film types you can find. I’m only reviewing the film I have used till now and keep in mind that these are my personal opinions

Let me start with the film I shot the most. About a year ago I acquired about 50 rolls of 120 Kodak VPL 100 or vericolor II. Let me first state that all vericolor you can find nowadays is expired and that they have been discontinued since the late 90′s. However if they have been stored correctly, meaning in a fridge below 13°C the emulsion should be fine. But your milage may vary.

This film was a medium speed film at 100 iso and was optimized for skin color under natural light. The grain is pretty small.

Although you’ll be strapped for a usable shutter speed, I find the skin tones and overall color inside also very acceptable with natural light.

However, it’s a fairly saturated film, so when the light turns a bit warmer, everything tends to get a bit of an orange/golden cast.

When shot in backlight or overexposed, the photos get a purple/pink cast. Overall I find this to be a very pleasant film to shoot during the daytime from spring till fall. I like the smooth transitions between the colors and the kind of purple cast when overexposing. I have about 10 rolls left of this film and would love to find some more.

For me it gives a perfect look with uncoated lenses, like in my Rolleiflex standard 622. Just look at the photo above, taken at Rock werchter 2010. The flare is just gorgeous

At the moment in Aalst, where I happen to live, there is the famous carnival going on. Yesterday during the parade, I got dressed up as a 1920-1930′s photographer, as I have some cameras from that period I took them with me. I went all out and shot 3, almost 4 rolls of film. I shot 2 rolls of 120 and 1 roll of 35mm, the other 35mm is still in the camera. I shot with the Rolleiflex standard 622 and with the Canon AV-1 (I know, this one is not really from the same period, but I needed a 35mm camera too.)

It was a challenge to shoot a moving parade, with people dancing, with a completely manual camera. So I metered a couple of times during the parade, which took about 8 hours to complete the tour, and just set the aperture and shutter time, cocked the shutter and focussed at a certain distance and waited for the subject to hit the spot. I got some hit and miss in between, but I also made some quite good pictures.

During the following days, I will post more photos as they come along.

If you want to see all the photos, go checkout the Flickr-set

If you like our website and you are on facebook, become a fan of the Tales on Film fan page. Every once in a while we give away one roll of film among our fans.

Also if you want your analogue work to be featured on the website, join the Tales on Film flickr group and post your analogue photos, every week we post several photos from this group on the website. This is a great way to showcase your work outside flickr and have some other film enthusiasts see and critique your work.

The above photo was taken by PitsLamp photography with a rolleiflex standard 622 on Kodak VPL 100 film

by PitsLamp Photography with a Rolleiflex standard 622 on Kodak VPL 100 film