Welcome to LC-A: A History in Film!
This is a rundown of all the film I have used since I first received my LC-A camera 18 months ago. Please feel free to ask any questions that come to mind, or if I have missed anything out that you would like to know, then please drop me a comment.
I hope this post can give you an idea of what kind of results you can achieve by using different film with your LC-A, it is by no means definitive, but I hope it can help you in your choice of film.
Sensia 100 was one of the first films I ever used in my LC-A... I wanted to try out slide film, found a couple of expired rolls at the local photo lab & took my new camera out for a day. I was so impressed with the beautiful pinks, purples & blues that you get from cross processing Sensia 100. One thing I found though is that if there is a strong light source in the frame that the shadows become very strong in the photos, so it may be worth shooting it at 50 ISO to lessen the darkness.
I was blown away with the results I got from Rollei Crossbird in my LC-A, the amazing yellows & greens and rich dark contrasts. It really is a perfect match for the LC-A, along with the fact that it's packaging states that you process it in C-41, making it easier to convince your local photo lab to cross process it for you without batting an eyelash!
You can see my Rollei Crossbird review on Lomography.com
here.
Fuji's colour negative films are renowned for their colour balance & fine grain. I have to say that I was surprised with the beautiful quality these photos have, a light vignette without cross processing & lovely colours. This film is a delight to use & a wonderful choice for when you want a little more speed than a 100 film with a lovely fine grain.
Kodak T400CN 400 ISO (black & white colour negative, now sold as BW400CN)
[more photos here]
To say that I love Kodak BW400CN is an understatement! It is one film that has never let me down, and has always given me consistant results. In the LC-A it gives balanced light & shadows, beautiful details & if well focused, beautiful crisp focused images. Another reason to love this film is that it is a C-41 development black & white film, so you can develop it cheaply & easily.
Rollei Redbird Redscale 400 ISO (colour negative)
Rollei Redbird is a delight to use, if you are prepared to break the rules a little. I know it says its 400 ISO, but rate it lower, at between 50 & 200, you will find more than just reds & oranges, soft to bright yellows, lime to blue greens & beyond! I love redscale, but with higher ISO films it tends to get a little too grainy for my liking, so I tend to push these kind of films a little lower on the ISO & the light & detail they pick up are amazing & make for stunning photographs. With the LC-A especially, I find if I use the non-automatic aperture or zone focus, you can get wonderful results in portraits & close up shots.
Kodak E100G Ektachrome 100 ISO (slide processed)
Bright saturated colours? Fine grain? Excellent light expression & capture? Oh Kodak E100G Ektachrome, be still my beating heart! This is sadly a film I have not used as much as I would like too, but it is a stunning film & although I have only ever had it processed as slide film, I'm sure that you would get just as wonderful results when cross processed. I think that after the results I have had with this film in my LC-A I will continue to slide process it. The colours are truly amazing & consistant, it is an expensive film, but well worth trying.
Similar to the Rollei Redscale 400 ISO film, this film from Lomography has been promoted as a wide spectrum ISO film & is incredibly good at it! The further to push the ISO down, the more yellows, greens & blue you get. It is also a wonderful film to use in the LC-A if you want some unusual results without using slide film and cross processing. It is cheap to buy & process, from my experience once you start using it, you can't stop.
The Lomography range of slide films really are wonderful to use & with the LC-A they will give you rich bright colours, textures & vignettes. X-Pro Chrome gives your traditional 'Lomo' effect & is wonderful for using on bright sunny days. You can push down the ISO a little to capture more light, but I tend to stick to it's 100 ISO rating. You can guarantee that your results will always be quite fun & colourful.
Like X-Pro Chrom 100 from the Lomography range, the Lomography X-Pro Slide 200 will give you the traditional 'Lomo' effects, but with a little more light capture & a sea of yellows, greens & blues. A aqua blue overtone tends to be present in this film when cross processed, while with works well for many photographic scenes, it isn't everyone's cup of tea. I personally love it for street photography, where it brings out shadows & highlights, for this reason if you want to catch more mid-tones in your photographs, it would be best to go with a colour negative film in your LC-A.
You can see my review of Lomography X-Pro Slide ISO 200 on Lomography.com
here.
I had so many people tell me how wonderful Kodak Ektar was, they said that it is the saviour of colour negative films, I was doubtful... then I used it in my LC-A & discovered the slide like quality to it's colours & textures. Again I haven't used this film as much as I would have liked, but can't wait to use it more in the future. It has a beautiful blend of super fine grain & rich colours, along with the zone focus of the L-CA you could do wonders with this film.
Another tip you might find helpful is, if you own a LC-A without the +, you don't have a little window on the back door to see what film you have in your camera. If like me, you tend to forget what film you have in your camera at any given time, then you might find the
Washi Tape & Sharpie Film Discovery Solution helpful.
I have also written a
Diana Mini: A History in Film post that you may find helpful if you use the Diana Mini, Holga 135BC or similar 35mm plastic cameras.
x Mel
