Back again with another boutique film – this time LomoChrome Metropolis. It’s a moody film with muted tones, and a nice, sharp definition. I ran across it at the Film Photography Project while ordering some deeply discounted Yodica films.
Masks outside. Let the fear own you, I guess.
I had to get out of the house. It’s been raining for the last week, but today was sunny and 82. That’s about 20 degrees cooler than when I usually take photos at the Zoo, so I didn’t want to pass this day up. For today’s run, I took the Canon F1. The last time I used this camera for serious photography was in 2018 at the Film Photography Project’s Walking Workshop, and even after it jammed on me, the images I recovered were just perfect. I’m shooting with the 50mm f/1.8 FD lens. It’s tack-sharp at f/5.6 and above, but tends to fall off below that. Mild disclaimer: I wasn’t wearing glasses so the soft focus at larger apertures could be related to operator error, but the results seemed consistently soft below f/5.6.
I’m sensing a pattern here
The film itself is unbranded; there’s no identifying markings on the edge by the sprocket holes. The cartridge is manufactured in a secondary market from the looks of it. It is a clamshell design that snaps together. The LomoChrome Metropolis logo does peel off, but it’s not a rebrand. Well, the best I can figure judging by the way it develops is that it’s probably Ektachrome. The tight grain leads me to think it’s newer film and probably ISO 100. The fact that there are no unidentified markings, the style of the film when cross-processed, and the tight grain make me think it’s probably a special deal with Kodak Alaris to supply a boutique film. Again, just my $0.02.
I did the usual path through the zoo. I normally walk in, hang a right and head for the Panda exhibit. It’s got a great set of colors to test the film with, and the landscaping designers and crew did a fantastic job. I took two photos of this, one with the bench in focus (above) and one with the tree in focus. I am still not sure which one I like better.
Butts…
I found the elephants at the right time. They were showing their butts to the crowd. This show was just brown from up to down, and the cables are irritating. I really wish they would re-do the Elephant enclosure so we can see them without it looking like an Elephant Prison.
Did I mention I tried to roll a Panderan in World of Warcraft this week ? Boring. Back to my Undead Warlock. For reference, these doors in the picture are fire-engine red. That’s what cross-processing slide film does, it really shifts the colors.
This photo is probably one of my favorites. I just happened to get lucky with the FedEx plane flying overhead. Timing is everything. This is straight out of the camera, no fiddling with the alignment or color, and just some scratch removal.
For this one, I dropped the exposure a half stop. I like the results. The sky gets a little darker, but it doesn’t effect the rocks. This was a perspective shot from the waterfall in Teton Trek.
It was good getting to hang with the Canon F1 again. I’ve been less than impressed with my Leica M3 lately and needed something else. I think I’ll throw the 135mm on the Canon and do another round of animal closeups, maybe with the Yodica film.
I can highly recommend the LomoChrome Metropolis film. It’s really nice. I’d buy it again. If you’re cheap like me, though, you’ll probably just grab some RetroChrome from the FPP Store because it’s a tad less boutique in price.
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