In this installment, we’ll take a quick look at the results of shooting with Kodak Vision 3 500T film.
In July, I shot a roll of this unique film. Like many other rolls I’ve shot this year, it came from the Film Photography Project. This type of film was originally created for movie production, but the fine people at FPP hand-rolled a bunch of it for us regular photographers to run wild with.
Something I learned from earlier rolls of film that I’ve shot this year is that (at least for me) it is ideal to shoot an entire roll in a single location. This way if something is a bit off, you’re not shooting a few frames here and there and spreading the problem. I should also note I’ve been shooting many of these same locations with digital as well, just to be sure I’m coming away with some photos regardless of how the film turns out. I decided to use this roll in one of NYC’s long abandoned hospitals. This is actually the same place I shot with Tmax 3200 in April.
Enough gab – here are some results from shooting this roll of Kodak Vision 3:
Pro: There’s something dreamy about these shots. I like the grain.
Con: There are fuzzy waves without any grain, creating a ghost-like effect. I’m not 100% sure if that was a result of processing, the unknown age of the film, or the intent of the film.
Regardless, the film did this building, with all it’s interesting textures, the justice it deserves.
This building is rather unique in how almost completely monotone it is. Where there is color, the film again did a great job capturing it.
I can see myself shooting this film again, though I’m not entirely sure it’s my favorite.
One important note here, if you’re thinking of trying this film out: It requires ECN-2 processing. Chances are pretty high that your local lab will not able able to process it (Hilariously, the guy at Kubus in North Brooklyn practically yelled at me just for asking if he could. “ECN-2 – that ruined my chemicals!”). I sent mine out to Boutique Film Lab in Tennessee. I’d totally use them again. Another footnote here is cost: between the film itself and the shipping and processing, this roll set me back around forty bucks. That’s quite a bit of money in today’s practically-free world of digital photography, and much lower cost Lomo style C-41 process specialty films. I foresee creating a rubric at some point to grade whether or not the juice is worth the squeeze for the various films I’m reviewing.
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You can find 400ft rolls of this film on Ebay and elsewhere, often at pretty good prices since it’s produced by the mile for the film industry and many still shooters are put off by the remjet and attendant processing issues. I just process it myself to avoid getting screamed at.
You’re welcome to some of my 400ft can if you want 🙂
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Looks good Joe.
Billy G
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very interesting.
Look into CineStill film, namely their 800t: it’s Vision 3 with the Remjet backing removed. It causes a halation effect with strong lighting, but you can process it C-41. Much cheaper, and it can be pushed up to 3200.