Hi everyone, happy Tuesday! 👋

This past weekend was a first for me. I finally shot some Fujifilm. The weather was great, and so I took the Yashica Mat 124G out around Brooklyn. Hopefully, you were able to get out and take some photos as well.

Before we get into things, I have some quick housekeeping. 🧹

I’m going to change the cadence of this newsletter to once a week. It will be Tuesdays 🌮 going forward. I think this frequency will allow for a better, richer newsletter.

Alright, with that out of the way, here is what we’re talking about today.

1. 👀 First look at Fujifilm Neopan 100 Acros II

2. 🧪 Developer report

👀 First look at Fujifilm Neopan 100 Acros II

As much as I love the Ilford Deltas and Kodak Tri-Xs of the world, I was interested in branching out. Like I said in the intro, I’ve never shot any Fujifilm before. So why not start with the film that Fujifilm resurrected from the dead? 💀 

That’s right! This film was actually discontinued in 2018 and then Fujifilm brought it back in 2019. Hence, the Roman numeral II.

So how does it look? 🤔

Overall I really like it. It is a very fine grain film. It’s also less contrasty than Delta or Tri-X. In fact it almost reminds me of CineStill BWxx. Obviously, this was 120 film. I’d be curious to see how it looks in 35mm, but this is a nice B&W film. At 100 ISO, it does need a good amount of light. I was shooting during the middle of the day so it wasn’t too much of an issue. Now that it’s getting darker soon, I might try shooting this at ISO 400 and pushing it 2 stops. It would be interesting to see what that does to the contrast.

If you’re looking for a B&W other than Ilford or Kodak, give Acros II a try. I will definitely be shooting it again.

🧪 Developer Report

With this being a B&W film, it’s always useful to see what recipe was used.

• 🎞️ Film: Fujifilm Neopan 100 Acros II

• 🧪 Developer: Rodinal

• 💧 Dilution: 1+50

  • 9.5ml developer + 475.5ml water

• 🌡️ Temp: ~68º F

• ⏱️ Times:

  • 🧪 Dev: 13:30

  • ✋ Stop Bath: 1:00

  • 🔧 Fix: 5:00

  • 🧼 Hypo Clear: 2:00

  • 🚿 Final Wash: 10 fill ups

• 👋 Agitation: 1 continuous minute then 10 seconds every minute.

Alright that’s going to do it for today. I’ll see you next week. 🫡

Go turn a negative into a positive.

Ben Henschel

📷 Mamiya RB67 / 🎞️ Kodak Portra 400