Lucky SHD

M

mark-b

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Jan 30, 2009
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Whatever happened to Lucky SHD film? It reminds me of film from the '30's and '40's, with its lack an anti-halation layer.
 
I buy lots of that stuff on eBay... 35 and 120. Just click and pay. It'll be at your door in five days.

BTW: If you're into 120 try Shanghai. It's got a thinner base and re-spools great on 620 spools.

Yeah, that non anti-halation base is a trip for that bloomy vintage look... I like it a lot.

Stock up !!! Before it's too late.
 
Its still around, at least here in Asia. We still see it in Manila.

When I was in Beijing last month, I saw lots of them (along with Era Panchromatic and Shanghai BW) in the Beijing Photo City Mall.

The current version is still marked SHD, but marked "new". Still no anti-halo, and has extended red sensitivity. Reds and Yellows come out in lighter shades of grey compared to the renditions of these hues by other "pans".

I use Luckypan 100 a lot. This photo was shot on Luckypan 100, developed in paRodinal:

naz-09-37.jpg
 
George Bonanno said:
I

BTW: If you're into 120 try Shanghai. It's got a thinner base and re-spools great on 620 spools.
Click to expand...


Luckypan and Shanghai 120 are hard to use in cameras which utilise red-windows for film positioning. The backing paper on these films is black. And the numbers are printed in white, which more often is faint and grey, and unreadable through dense red lenses.
 
Book Antiqua Verdana, Lucky me...

Book Antiqua Verdana, Lucky me...

I gotta make a comment here and there... when Lucky or Shanghai is developed in Rodinal the grain structure sort of defeats the "look". However, if developed in HC110B the soft bloom comes through visually in all its glory. In my opinion even D76 is not an effective developer choice for taking advantage of the bloom "look". It can't be duplicated through crappy lenses, soft filters or software. The "look" is very special typically seen in finished prints. Most of us don't do that anymore, do we ? Ya know, the print thing.

I've never noticed that extended red sensitivity mentioned but I will be more observant during my next processing session. If that's the case I'll tape a blue filter in back of the lens for dark lips and exaggerated character lines. On second thought I guess I never notice because I take most of my Lucky pics at night with blue colored flashbulbs.

I haven't found Lucky or Shanghai 120 numbers unreadable through red positioning windows. I shot two rolls (Shanghai) this evening at an event in NYC's lower east side using a Brownie Bull's Eye with flashbulbs. Dark, dingy and damp but I saw the numbers... all eight of them per roll... I think... maybe.

Good Lord... I'm screwed ! My Zorki 4 shutter just died again below a 30th. It must be my karma and or the luck of the draw by owning a 50th Anniversary model loaded with Lucky film. They must call it Lucky for a reason. You're lucky if the pictures come out.

BTW: All of my Lucky film is also marked "NEW". Whatever that means ?
 
George Bonanno said:
I gotta make a comment here and there... when Lucky or Shanghai is developed in Rodinal the grain structure sort of defeats the "look".

I've never noticed that extended red sensitivity mentioned but I will be more observant during my next processing session. If that's the case I'll tape a blue filter in back of the lens for dark lips and exaggerated character lines. On second thought I guess I never notice because I take most of my Lucky pics at night with blue colored flashbulbs.



BTW: All of my Lucky film is also marked "NEW". Whatever that means ?
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The "old look" isn't just about blooming . There are highlight "burns" in my Luckypan + paRodinal combinations. Traceable to Lucky's emulsion since this sort of burning doesn't show in my non-Luckypan photos.

Rodinal types also put out a grain structure reminiscent of the sharp-grained 35s from half a century ago, the type which Willi Buetler (the famous Leica educator) promoted for 35mm photography. Lucky produces grain with enough snap to emulate this sort of grain look.

The extended red sensitivity would explain why complexions turn out paler than usual. I noticed that red objects always turned out brighter with Luckypan.

The faint marks on Lucky and Shanghai roll-film backing papers is a prevalent problem. I first noticed it with the Era and Xiamen films I used 20 years ago. I thought that it had been relieved when the new batches would have newer backing papers. The backing papers still look the same as they did with the old Era rolls. A lot of us here have had a bad time using Lucky and Shanghai with cameras which use red windows- we often skip frames or sometimes have half of the roll pass through before we can even recognise that it's already frame #7. I had this happen with my Ansco Cadet B2.

As such, we've even replaced the red windows of our Seagull and Great Wall cameras with yellow-green gels to make the numbers more visible. No fogging happened though, since with panchromatic films, I don't think the colour of the filter would ever matter in preventing fog.
 
ZorkiKat said:
Luckypan and Shanghai 120 are hard to use in cameras which utilise red-windows for film positioning. The backing paper on these films is black. And the numbers are printed in white, which more often is faint and grey, and unreadable through dense red lenses.
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I confirm that, the numbers are difficult to read except under strong direct light. In adition the Lucky 120 paper is not as light-proof as it should be, the only roll I have used ended with the frame numbers visible in the center of the negative - this did not happen so far with any of the several Shanghai 120 rolls I have used. Another inconvenient of these films is their tendency to curl immediately after drying - it is difficult to keep them perfectly flat in some scanner film holders. In spite of these cons, I really like the Shanghai 120 and intend to keep using it.
Regards
Joao
 
According to their web site, they still produce film, paper and photo chemistry. "Shifting the core business" does not imply that they are dropping any other branches.

Sevo
 
How much is the Efke film? Lucky film (and ERA for that matter) is very very cheap. I love the bloom look in bright sunlight.
 
sevo said:
According to their web site, they still produce film, paper and photo chemistry. "Shifting the core business" does not imply that they are dropping any other branches.

Sevo
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Mitsubishi, Agfa, and a number of defunct players still have websites that say they make film. Websites mean nothing.
 
dfoo said:
That article is a year out of date. There is still tonnes of lucky film in the shops here in Shanghai. Next time I'm at the market, I'll ask the vendors whether they really have stopped making it.

Lots of the film available on taobao also.

http://item.taobao.com/auction/item...baba23c45b56f396f0e101f8.jhtml?cm_cat=0&pm1=2
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I can vouch for this. In the large camera mall in Beijing, almost every shop that sells film has lots of Luckypan and Lucky color film, along with brands like Kodak and Ilford. Shanghai pan film not as many, and Era Pan, a few.

Even in Tiananmen square, there were vendors who sold Lucky film along with batteries, memory cards, and ice cream sticks.
 
Believe what you want. I've been through this with ERA, not playing silly buggers games with you lot again. I have spoken to the Shantou ERA folks - they no longer manufacture film. Yes, there is lots available, just as there is with AGFA, because they made lots of surplus and cold-stored it and every so often they cut up a bunch and release it with a new expiration date. But it is no longer 'manufactured'. If you want to say it is still 'made', then fine, but you're playing word games.

I suspect this is the same situation with Lucky, but like I said, I'm not going to play this game anymore. Believe exactly what you want.
 
Bmattock, there is nothing in the page you linked that says Lucky is quitting the film/paper business. Lucky Baoding is bigger than Era Shantou, BTW. Have you also "spoken" to the Lucky Company?

Not because you 'believe' that Lucky has quit making films, not because you don't see them in America, and not because you think that if Era Shantou quit, Lucky Baoding will also do so, mean that the situation is how you say it is.

For instance, we don't really find EFKE here. So would we be correct to assume that EFKE is no longer available?
 
Lucky SHD is still manufactured, I sent an email to a B&W print shop in Beijing last week asking if they were OK and how that funny B&W film was - the dude there is not stupid say it is if he does not know.

This thread gave me the impetus to load up my first roll of film this year - 120 Lucky 100 in my Autocord. The look of the film can be nice, the hideous curl is another matter :)
 
AFAIK, ERA hasn't stopped manufacturing either. When I was here last year there was no ERA film to be found, now there is loads of it in all of the stores. What does that say?
 
dfoo said:
AFAIK, ERA hasn't stopped manufacturing either. When I was here last year there was no ERA film to be found, now there is loads of it in all of the stores. What does that say?
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Era pan is more expensive than Luckypan in the Beijing shops. They were there, but not as many as Lucky film. The Era pan I saw was mostly 35mm in on shop. But in one stall, Era was available in 35mm, 4X5 and even 5X7.
 
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