This roll of CatLABS X Film 100 Color film was a part of my Father’s Day/Birthday film haul a while ago. From that post: Who is to blame? 35mmc. I ordered it so fast that I had forgotten about it by the time it arrived. Why? It was reasonably priced and the sample photos on 35mmc and their website pretty much did me in. I developed at home with Cinestll CS41. For a camera to run it through I chose to reduce human error as much as possible by using the nearly bulletproof Pentax 645N and 75mm f/2.8.
A great camera and lens. Will cheat and copy my ramble from another post because it applies here as well. While being one of the simplest and most consistent cameras I have ever used it is also capable of creating fantastic images. AF is spot on in my experience as well as auto exposure. On top of that, you can take full manual control of the camera. All of the lenses I have used with it are great. That being said the 75mm f/2.8 is so good that I eventually sold on my other lenses. And the 645N is so good that I kept it even after selling off my digital 645D. I could go on for a while. It takes plain old AA batteries. It is relatively small and light considering that it is a fully automatic medium format camera. It is so easy to use I can hand it off to anyone with minimal instruction and they can use it. That cannot be said for my Hasselblad 501c, Yashica MAT LM, or some of my 35mm film cameras. I can also bring it along on family outings without having to bring proceedings to a halt while I meter and focus a scene. It also squeezes out 16 exposures instead of the usual 15 for a 645 camera. Ok, I will stop there.
On this day I was just roaming about capturing images of my usual haunts and trying to find some new things to capture.
Here are my favorite 5 from the 16 exposure (Rather than the typical 15 courtesy of the 645N.) test roll with some thoughts afterward.
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 twitter and Instagram. All the best to you.
Gosh, so sharp and lovely colors! I have an old Zenobia 6×4.5 folder, but it’s not capable of such results!
Gil,
I am sure the Zenobia would create great images with its own look.
Eric
I enjoyed the results from the 35mm rolls of CatLABS X FILM 320 Pro I exposed last year. Your results with CatLABS X FILM 100 have convinced me to order a few 35mm rolls of that as well.
Khurt,
Cool. This film was really a pleasant surprise.
Eric
Wow! Just a nice, somewhat neutral, color film. So, that’s Ektar, Santa, and Cat in the 100 ISO category. That’s not too many. Lots of dumb stunt film in there too, but I prefer the grown-up stuff. Nice article.
Paul,
I agree with your assessment of the film. I rather like it.
Thank you for the kind words.
Eric