Shooting and Scanning Expired Fujicolor C200
I recently shot a couple rolls of Fuji C200. Thought I’d write about it.
Can you even still buy Fuji C200?
Yeah, but take note of where it’s manufactured. If it’s ‘made in the USA’ then you have the new Kodak flavour and it just isn’t the same.
The couple of OG ‘made in Japan’ rolls I’m sharing here are expired, and were kindly gifted to me by ghiribizzo on IG. IIRC there was no indicator of exactly how old they were so one I rated at 100 to give it an extra stop of light, and the other I kept it at box speed.
Both shot on my trusty Leica M6 + Voigtlander Nokton 35 1.4 MC lens.
How were they scanned?
A Fujifilm Noritsu HS1800 and a Fujifilm Frontier SP-500 took a roll each. I’ll specify which beneath the photos.
Any post-production work?
“ehh, aCtUaLLy, an uncorrected scan of a negative is the TRUE FILM LOOK. You are only a photographer if you get it RiGhT iN CaMeRa” that ignorance fucking riles me. None of that here. Look, anyone can claim what they want, their headache. Power to them being so happy with their perfect photos all the time. Whatever.
I do like to tinker with my photos in post. Nothing I consider extensive… generally just colour stuff, dodge/burning bits sometimes. Whatever feels good. And now being in a position where I can scan for myself while learning how the scanners work I’m able to get the files closer to my tastes at the initial scan level. (Orrrr, just fuck it through as a tiff and get around to it later!)
I’ve made a couple of before/after’s to demonstrate what I’ve done with these rolls specifically…
The shadows were a bit fucked on the roll I shot at box speed, and assuming both rolls were equal, then giving it an extra stop of light was the way to go.
With this roll I mostly just brought the blacks down a touch, and with a bit of colour noise reduction and some low effort masking I was able to desaturate the prickly greenish noise in the shadows somewhat. Other than that, I was happy with the little adjustments I made in the scanner, so they remain mostly untouched!
The above applied for the whole roll, so here’s another example:
That’s not one of my dogs, btw. I don’t even know their name. I just find photos of dogs having a poo in scenic places extremely funny.
So that’s the Frontier roll covered. Now for the Noritsu roll.
So, the roll that I over exposed by a stop looked better from the top. And the adjustments I made after the scan was a little bump on contrast, and I pulled the blacks back a little.
This one of Marshall was also similar, except when scanning I made it a little too warm. It was a particularly cold and grey day, so just dialling back the temperature brings that across a little more.
Marshall’s pointy head with a bowtie and those pijamas. There’s no other source of dopamine quite like it.
And that’s it for the adjustments. Here’s some more photos with the relevant deets below each!
shot at box speed, normal dev || Fujifilm Frontier SP-500
In doors, lit by candlelight on Robyn’s birthday. Honestly, my heart sunk when I’d realised I was making my way through a 100 speed roll. Didn’t even have a flash as it is currently lost and never to be seen again. Fuck it, I set the lens wide open and the shutter down to 1/15th and just hoped for the best. It turned out way better than it had any right to, and I fucking love how Axl is just eyeing up those donuts…
shot at 100, normal dev || Fujifilm Noritsu HS1800
shot at 100, normal dev || Fujifilm Noritsu HS1800
Me, by Robyn.
shot at box speed, normal dev || Fujifilm Frontier SP-500
shot at box speed, normal dev || Fujifilm Frontier SP-500
shot at 100, normal dev || Fujifilm Noritsu HS1800 (straight out of scanner)
shot at 100, normal dev || Fujifilm Noritsu HS1800
shot at box speed, normal dev || Fujifilm Frontier SP-500
shot at box speed, normal dev || Fujifilm Frontier SP-500
shot at box speed, normal dev || Fujifilm Frontier SP-500
shot at 100, normal dev || Fujifilm Noritsu HS1800
shot at 100, normal dev || Fujifilm Noritsu HS1800
shot at box speed, normal dev || Fujifilm Frontier SP-500
shot at box speed, normal dev || Fujifilm Frontier SP-500
shot at box speed, normal dev || Fujifilm Frontier SP-500
shot at box speed, normal dev || Fujifilm Frontier SP-500
shot at box speed, normal dev || Fujifilm Frontier SP-500
shot at box speed, normal dev || Fujifilm Frontier SP-500
shot at box speed, normal dev || Fujifilm Frontier SP-500
shot at box speed, normal dev || Fujifilm Frontier SP-500
Wee disclaimer: This isn’t meant as a Noritsu VS Frontier shoot out. Just sharing a little insight behind how I scanned both films quickly to taste, your taste may vary. x
All film developed and scanned at Gulabi in Glasgow.
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