Lucky SHD100...not so lucky.

[CliveC]

A while back I bought a 10 pack of Lucky SHD100 off eBay off a reputable seller.

The other day, I finished shooting the first roll in a Nikon P&S camera.

1. The film tore on the auto-rewind and only a small amount returned to the canister. This spoiled the roll. Note to self, use on manual cameras only and be careful on the advance and rewind.

2. When I examined the canister, it seemed to be a reused can from a roll of Fujifilm Superia 200, with DX encoding to match. They affixed a Lucky SHD label on it, and not well because I saw the Fuji green beneath. I would've expected Lucky to at least change the DX coding somehow, but I guess they consider one stop to be within acceptable difference.

At roughly $3 a roll, it's cheap, but not THAT cheap. Will be paying a bit more going forward.

Ah well, lesson learned. Will be using the rest as test films only I guess. Test film on non-DX cameras that is.

 

[Steve M.]

I'm not sure that the words "ebay", "Lucky SHD100" and "reputable seller" go together in the same sentence. There's always Ultrafine film if you like lots of fogging and circles and numbers on your pics. But then they may be the same "films".

 

[filmtwit]

I feel your pain.

I've spent the last few months shooting a 150' roll of Lucky 200ASA B&W aerial film.
POS stuff to say the least. It's old, it was stored badly before I got it and had decent base fog. I have to shoot it at about 80asa, soak it for 5 minutes in 68* water and mix in a wee bit of potassium bromide to deal with fog every time I develop.

 

[Fotohuis]

Lucky SHD 100 I can not recommend. It is pretty crappy film and the A.H. layer is maybe even not there.

For cheaper films I can recommend:
ORWO Filmotec UN54 and N74+, available in bulk, 30,5m/100ft or 122m/400ft. In fact cine film and available in 35mm perforated only. Fomapan 100/200/400 if you can live with a bit less real speed of the iso 200 and iso 400 films. Available in all formats, also sheet film. Ordering in the Netherlands or in Germany you will have the best price, even cheaper then in the Czech Republic itself.

 

[Spicy]

It's great when you want "character," basically faking people out and taking shots that look like they've faded over 30-40years. It's not an all-purpose film, but it has its own special place. It is a bit garbage, but it's much nicer to be able to use whatever you want than be forced to shoot lomos or holgas.

The B&W is pretty awful, but I feel the color is awful in a way that is pretty unique, and occasionally adds to the content of the photo (whereas the B&W doesn't have that redeeming quality).

Helps that it's quite cheap, as well.

I don't/wouldn't want to use it all the time, but it's fun to screw around with a bit.

 

[kully]

I shot 10 rolls of this in 120 through a Seagull TLR when I was Beijing back in 2006. I quite liked the 'old school' character when shooting in soft light. Not a fan for everyday use.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I have Nikon P&S. As most of them, if no code, it will default it to 100.
I BHed bulk roll of Kentmere 100 here. Works perfect in all cameras for b/w scans and prints and about same $3 per roll.

Currently testing my new to me J-3 with it. Instead of wasting entire 24/36 frames roll, I load only ten frames for test shots.