I decided to spend much of 2019 shooting the stock of 36 various films I have in stock and hope to shoot all of them before the end of the year.

#1
The first film was already loaded in my Voigtländer Prominent (currently fitted with the Ultron 50mm 2.0 lens) and was the Fuji Pro 400 film.
I decided that as I was heading to the West of LA anyway for an evening get-together with Cameras and Beer, I would spend an hour or two at the Getty Center. They were running an exhibition of Sally Mann that I was keen to visit and also I love the architecture around the Getty.

Empty tables
Images were mostly okay but I am thinking this camera could do with a CLA as I get some flaring here and there in bright conditions and the focus might be slightly off.

I have used this film a few times and it can be great but I find it doesn’t respond well if the conditions aren’t perfect.

#2
Second up was the Kodak Portra 400 in the 120 format. This film came as part of a batch of exposed film I bought last year and there was no date on this one. It was a fine day and I just went with my best guess and hoped that the Portra would handle it.

My camera of choice for this film was my 1936 Voigtländer Superb; partly because I want to become more familiar with this camera and partly because I need to trace a light leak (a post on that coming soon).

As with film #1 I took it to the Getty as a second camera for my afternoon/evening out shooting.

Unfortunately my exposure settings were well below what the film needed so film number 2 in this challenge was a bit of a disaster. On the positive side I am getting closer to resolving the leak issue.

#3
Next was Kosmo Foto 100
Decided it was about time to try this 35mm film as I have had it a few weeks. Camera of choice here was the Miranda Sensorex with the 50mm 1.9.
I happened to be passing the Hollywood area of LA on my way back from a customer visit and the sun was out so I made a lunch stop.


I finished off the roll in the rain a few days later where a tree had fallen

Wow this is grainy stuff particularly in the light areas! Not sure I quite like it (sorry Steve). I need to learn how to get the best from this film (I have a couple more rolls) I think it’s better underexposed or inside away from the California Sun; it crushes the dark areas beautifully and maybe I’ll keep it for that kind of shooting.

I have to say this year is not starting well photography-wise. Apart from the expired film everything seems to be a little over exposed; I will pay better attention going forward and also check my metering app; it used to be accurate but maybe I should re-compare.

Well, onto the next film…