10 Frames with CatLABS X Film 80 II

As many posts start, “so I was in my local camera shop…” The store manager Chris mentioned that they had a film I may not have tried. CatLABS X Film 80 II. And it turns out he was right. There is another CatLABS B&W film I am a fan of, but more on that later. I bought two rolls and then over some weeks I put them both through a favorite camera of mine, the Fujifilm GA645. I covered what I like about this camera in a recent 35mmc post so I will move on to the film.

The first roll was used to knock about and run errands for my family. The second roll was used on a quick walk one evening around a local downtown recently. Here are 10 sample images from those two rolls.

So how do I like the film? I am glad I imagined that you asked. It is good. Dark tones. “Moody” for lack of a better word. In isolation it is a fine film. May be a perfect match for some. The “issue”, if one could call it that, is that I prefer another CatLABS B&W film. CatLABS X Film 320. It is more up my alley. More on the sharp, crisp, and bright side of things.

Not that 80 II is not sharp also. It is. But this is more apparent with 320.

But again, this is not a ding on the 80 II variant. I just prefer 320 B&W. The good news is that like 320 this 80 II film is also very affordable. I am also able to use this at box speed. After a trial roll I found that in order to play well with Cinestill df96 it was best to use 320 at ISO 100.

Well, that about wraps things up here. In summary a great film at a great price. Especially if you are looking for something dramatic and moody.

Eric L. Woods

I shoot a variety of new and old digital and film cameras. Industrial Engineer by education, IT is my vocation, and I really enjoy using, testing, and writing about cameras. All three of the latter are very therapeutic exercises for me. If you are so inclined my blog address is ewoodsphoto.com and I can be found on Threads and Instagram. All the best to you.

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