Agfa special at Walgreens

[paulfitz]

Bill - ever listed to a DTS encoded music DVD? Diana Krall and David Benoit have one out each. Makes the stereo seem like am radio.

Still don't know what the difference would be scanning with or without the line conditioner.

 

[paulfitz]

Curious about all the talk on Walgreens Agfa film, I got a 4 pack of 200 (for $4.99) and shot a roll, processed at Walgreens (develop only) and scanned some sample images with Coolscan III and Vuescan set for Optima 200. These are straight color from Vuescan, no correction in Photoshop other than curve and USM. I was pleased with the results. Samples are below, all shot with a Canonet 17. We have some subtle and some bold colors here in South Florida. These are taken about 3PM today. I will post comparison on Kodak 200 similar subjects shot with a Leica Mini. I think this would do well for portraits, sometimes the slide films and Fuji color print is too harsh for my taste.

Pink house has very subtle color. Blue tarp on roof is bright (courtesy of Hurricane Wilma)

Red jeep is a lot brighter in real life, this is less saturated

Buildings are more earth tones

last picture is white. Seems white picks up a little magenta, easy to fix with selective color correction.

Not bad for a total of US$3.83 including tax, film & processing.

 

[bmattock]

Curious about all the talk on Walgreens Agfa film, I got a 4 pack of 200 (for $4.99) and shot a roll, processed at Walgreens (develop only) and scanned some sample images with Coolscan III and Vuescan set for Optima 200. These are straight color from Vuescan, no correction in Photoshop other than curve and USM. I was pleased with the results. Samples are below, all shot with a Canonet 17. We have some subtle and some bold colors here in South Florida. These are taken about 3PM today. I will post comparison on Kodak 200 similar subjects shot with a Leica Mini. I think this would do well for portraits, sometimes the slide films and Fuji color print is too harsh for my taste.

Pink house has very subtle color. Blue tarp on roof is bright (courtesy of Hurricane Wilma)

Red jeep is a lot brighter in real life, this is less saturated

Buildings are more earth tones

last picture is white. Seems white picks up a little magenta, easy to fix with selective color correction.

Not bad for a total of US$3.83 including tax, film & processing.

Very nice, thanks for posting! I hadn't tried the 400, just the 200. Isn't it a shame that we 'discover' the Agfa house brand film just as it becomes unavailable?

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[paulfitz]

Here are the same 4 subjects shot same time as the Agfa film using a Leica Mini. The pink house is not pink! I think these colors are quite different from the Agfa film, and may be less accurate. The Kodak does have finer grain since they are both 200 speed.

In this case, I prefer the Agfa film, since I was after capturing some of the subtle as well as bold colors around here.

Got to love the Leica mini - very sharp. No controls, but who needs 'em! 🙂

 

[paulfitz]

Last post from the mini - here are some more subtle colors. Taken with the Mini in late afternoon sun. This shots shows some vignetting, probably shot wide open. I have not seen that when the sun is full.

 

[dmr]

Very nice, thanks for posting!

Yes, thanks. It's good to have a comparison like this.

I think that this shows that the Agfa can compare very favorably with brands K and F.

I hadn't tried the 400, just the 200. Isn't it a shame that we 'discover' the Agfa house brand film just as it becomes unavailable?

I'm glad the people here talked me into trying it. I was so soured on their 800 film from a bad experience that I was very uneasy about it. Now that I gave the 200 a good shot (I am trying the 400 also) I'm glad I found it and stocked up. (47 rolls to go.) 🙂

 

[Aardvark Aallen]

I like the Konica products , make me think a little of Agfa colour rendition. Not Kodak or Fuji like that is for certain.

 

[ch1]

Here are the same 4 subjects shot same time as the Agfa film using a Leica Mini. The pink house is not pink! I think these colors are quite different from the Agfa film, and may be less accurate. The Kodak does have finer grain since they are both 200 speed.

In this case, I prefer the Agfa film, since I was after capturing some of the subtle as well as bold colors around here.

Got to love the Leica mini - very sharp. No controls, but who needs 'em! 🙂

Well you certainly make a case for the Walgreens/AGFA! Thanks for the side by side test frames.

While beauty is in the eye of the beholder - the reality seems that both sets of pics are of such good quality that it just about comes down to "preference".

Not unexpectedly, actually, and as Bill M. said - "losing" AGFA is a loss for all of us.

Not to be a rabble-rouser, but do you think you could take either side by side image into PS and make it a dupe of the other? I'm curious about the idea of using film as the analog input to a digitized image (assuming a TIFF/RAW level of scanning) such that are the "unique" aspects of different film emulsions "negated" by the ability to manipulate the image's characteristics with PS?

Just a late night speculation - time for bed.

After all, the Canucks have already branded me a troll tonight! 😎

 

[paulfitz]

I tried to make them interchangeable, but it would involve a lot of work on selective color correction. Basic color adjustments and color balance make one part match, then the other parts are off.

It might be possible to do this at the scanning stage in Vuescan by changing film types which adjusts the orange mask correction. The pink house looks almost yellow on the Kodak film. So much difference that I have to go and look at it tomorrow!

 

[ch1]

I tried to make them interchangeable, but it would involve a lot of work on selective color correction. Basic color adjustments and color balance make one part match, then the other parts are off.

It might be possible to do this at the scanning stage in Vuescan by changing film types which adjusts the orange mask correction. The pink house looks almost yellow on the Kodak film. So much difference that I have to go and look at it tomorrow!

What I did notice is that your K version of the pink house is straight on (i.e. has much more of the house's siding) whereas the AGFA shot is of the corner and includes shade from the large tree (and also the "blue" from the adjoinig street's asphalt).

It's real tough to do exact shots - espescially outside.

What I find interesting is that I would have thought the AGFA would "favor" the blues and the Kodak lean to the reds - but your shots show otherwise.

Perhaps I am still stuck in the Kodak=Kodachrome mode where the reds were "over the top".

Regardless, you make a great case for the AGFA and it's too bad that it is going the way of the dodo. I certainly will grab a bunch of rolls at W-greens if I can before it disappears altogehter!

 

[ijohnnyz]

Bonus Twin Pack - 8 rolls ISO200 24exp
It was marked as $5.99 but it rang up to be only $4.99

I bought all 3 packs they had left (24 rolls total). I hope that's not being too optimistic. I've never shot with this film before but I was so tempted by all the good reviews here and it was a bargain.

Also, Costco has Fuji Superia X-TRA 400 36exp 6/$7.99

~johnny

 

[dmr]

I've shot several rolls of it now and I do like the color rendition. It's definitely more grainy that either the Fuji or Kodak, but for $.70-some per roll ...

41 rolls to go, I think. 🙂