5 "New" Films To Try This Summer

From Reto Project's new offerings to Dubblefilm's pre-exposed GLITCH, there are so many new creative options to play with...

2022 was a great year for new films, some repackaged and some new emulsions announced. So has 2023 followed suit?

So far this year, we have seen the long-awaited delivery of Orwo’s new emulsion, Wolfen NC500. I think Orwo also created NC400 and maybe one other film but their lack of clarity and mixed messages confused the heck out of me.

I tried to make sense of it in this video here:

That’s one new film. What else?

For new emulsions, I haven’t seen another color one yet but for black and white, Fompan recently brought out a new orthochromatic 400 ISO film in medium format, which is exciting for those ortho-loving photographers like me!

If you follow Lomography on Instagram, they put out a call for testers of a new film so we may see something from them in the near future…

Please let me know if you have seen anything else! I try to stay on top of it all but there are things that slip by.

While that seems to be it for now on new emulsions, there have been a bunch of companies continuing to repackage non consumer films into 35mm rolls.

These are the ones I’m trying now so let’s chat about them!

RETO PROJECT GLOW & AQUA

The Reto Project has launched a few exciting products in the past few years. They brought out the Kodak Ektar H35 which went wild. Prior to that, their Reto 3D camera was a party hit. On the film side of things, they brought out Amber and Tungsten films and disposable cameras.

Now they bring us two new films, GLOW and AQUA.

I don’t know if these are new emulsions. Reto says the films are based on an emulsion made in Germany. Hmm…

The mystery remains…

Both films are rated for ISO 400 box speed and come loaded with 27 exposures.

While GLOW emits a mild warmth, AQUA cools things down with its blue cast.

I’ve already shot Reto GLOW at a food festival and really enjoyed the results. Using a black pro-mist 1/2 filter enhanced the film’s effect in my mind. Hearing the name “GLOW” I imagined vivid summer scenes full of colors, people, and sun.

This roll was processed by me at home with the Bellini C41 kit. This is the same kit I used to process most of my expired colorplus from the Spain & Portugal trip (more coming on that soon!). It was scanned on the Plustek, giving me better color conversion than if I did it myself manually in Capture One.

What do you think? Would you try this film?

They both come with DX code stickers on and can be processed in C41 chemistry.

Retail price is 13.99 to 14.99 USD. Not sure about this though because I got a bundle at Analogue Wonderland for 30 GBP, which is more than that so the local retail price is factoring in shipping, customs, taxes, etc.

Thoughts: It’s great to see Reto bringing out these films to keep the buzz going with film photography. Their target market seems to be younger folks who enjoy a good time. While the film is great for a test, I wouldn’t look to buy more because of the price. There are still cheaper options that I’m happy with and price is a big factor for me at the moment.

I haven’t shot AQUA yet. This one is a bit harder for me to decide on the subject matter. I’d love to take it somewhere snowy and icy but at the moment there are not many options since we are in June. Maybe the beach? What are your thoughts? Where would you shoot a blue toned film?

Use these hashtags #Retocolor #RetoAqua400 #RetoGlow400 for sharing your Reto images on socials!

REFLX LAB 800

Reflx Lab was co-founded by two amateur photographers based Shenzhen, China. In case you missed it, I recently tested their 250D ECN-2 film offering which is Kodak’s Vision3 5207 cinema film. The results blew me away!

So I’m now testing their 800 option which can be processed in C41. This one is Kodak’s 5219 motion picture film with the remjet layer removed.

The cannister is loaded with 36 exposures and costs 7.99 USD, which is an excellent price in today’s market. Reto’s shipping is affordable as well at the moment.

Oddly, the listings seem to have disappeared so if this is available near you let me know!

I have already shot this and also processed it in the Bellini C41 kit!

This time, I photographed a couple of circus acts that were both frightening and thrilling to take in. Separate post or video coming soon with more photos from this roll!

With both the black pro-mist 1/2 filter on my camera lens in addition to the halation caused by removing the remjet layer, the fire images and nightlights on this roll came out extra dreamy.

Thoughts: An affordable Cinestill 800T. Cinestill pricing has gotten so high and I no longer think of them as an option on a regular basis. They are also not new so I’m not interested in testing them. Sorry CS! Maybe if my substack blows up and I become a millionaire overnight…doubtful though! Because of the price, I would definitely purchase more of this film. However, when I checked the site recently, it wasn’t listed so not sure what’s going on there, but hopefully it comes back soon.

CANDIDO 200/800

Pay for films not flights

Candido is a new company to come on the scene with their 24-exposure repackaged films for an affordable price. On their website the 200 film costs $6.99 and the 800 goes for $8.99. In GBP, it’s 10 for the 200 and 11 for the 800.

I haven’t shot these yet, but will soon!

Thoughts: Candido seems to have creating quite the buzz with their affordable pricing. The price seems low however this is because it’s 24 exposures instead of the standard 36, something I only realized after buying the film. I am looking forward to testing them though and there have already been some great results released into the webosphere.

DUBBLEFILM GLITCH

I love Dubblefilm, both the company and films. My only wish is that I could afford to play with their creative options more!

GLITCH was released recently. It’s a black and white ISO 200 film with pre-exposed effects that resemble VHS tape marks. This effect is perfect for making GIFs, which is something I’m planning on doing with my roll I picked up in Madrid!

There are 36 exposures and the film sells for 13 GBP on Dubblefilm’s website. Dubblefilm sells multi-packs where you can save about 1 GBP per additional film in the pack. So the 2-pack is 23 GBP and the 5 pack is 55 GBP. I paid about 12 euro for this in Madrid so that sounds about right.

Your Thoughts?

Let me know if any of these films excite you or if you are not a fan!

I’m planning on doing separate youtube videos and substack posts for subscribers on these in the near future so if you are interested in seeing more, then consider subscribing here on Youtube or on Substack!

Thanks so much to the folks that are already there, your support helps keep this film train going.

See you in the next one :)

Cheers,

Molly