Mourning 400X

[Rodchenko]

I settled on using Fuji 400X slide film for my best cameras, as it produced wonderful colour rendition, and also worked well when chenged to monochrome in Photoshop.

But of course they withdrew it, and I've shot my last roll, adn I need to find a replacement emulsion.

Now, Fuji's fastest slide film is 100, which is a tad slow. I think I'd be happy with a 200, but I've always been happiest at 400. And I don't think there's a Kodak E6 at all these days (though I'm happy to be told otherwise, so long as you point me in the right direction for finding some).

Is there anything at all out there, however recherche, that I can use to feed my hungry rangefinders?

All suggestions welcome.

 

[Fotohuis]

There is Rollei Digibase CR200 E6 but it is old type Agfa Gevaert RSX II 200 emulsion, over 10 years old technology. But iso 200 like you asked. But in quality it can not compete with any Fuji E6 films. Price is OK, around EUR. 4,75. Also nice in cross processing.

 

[mfogiel]

If you are located in Europe, maybe we can strike a deal, as I have some of this stuff blocking my freezer...

 

[thegman]

I see you're converting to B&W in Photoshop, not projecting them as slides. This is good news in terms of your alternatives.

If you always convert to B&W, then I would not hesitate to shoot Ilford XP2 Super, an excellent 400 ISO black and white film, processed C41.

If not, then I think Portra 400 is always worth a go, it seems pretty bulletproof to me, and maybe you can get the colour you want playing with the curves.

 

[Wardor]

I have heard that Fuji's provia 100 behaves quite well when pushed to 400 iso. You may find that it's not for you though. Happy hunting!

 

[Rodchenko]

Thanks for all the advice so far.

Thegman, while I do convert quite a few of my photos to B&W, it's only about half, and it's nice to have the colour to use for the flexibility, rather than carry two cameras (well, three, really, as I almost always carry film & digital all the time). So, while I'm a huge fan of XP2, I tend to shoot more in colour. Thanks for the advice on Portra, too. I might give that a go.

Wardor, I don't do any of my own processing, and I've never had particularly good results with labs and pushed film.

Fotohuis, I've never heard of that film, but I shall try to seek it out. Maybe my local suppliers are aware of it.

mfogiel, YHPM.

 

[Fotohuis]

Fotohuis, I've never heard of that film, but I shall try to seek it out. Maybe my local suppliers are aware of it.

Pretty common in Europe. You can even order it in 30,5m/100ft. The production is from Agfa Gevaert in Belgium.

http://shop.fotohuisrovo.nl/index.php?cPath=68

http://shop.fotohuisrovo.nl/index.php?cPath=21_26_72

 

[Rodchenko]

Thanks. That's great.

 

[tsiklonaut]

European Southern Observatory (ESO) by tsiklonaut, on Flickr


Ditto here, just pity it's gone. Probably the best allround E6 film ever created, IMO the 400X grain never looked like an ASA400 E6 film, it compared to more like Kodak's ASA100-200 slide films in grain smoothness and the colors were better controlled than most of the highly saturated E6 films IMHO.

When pulled to 200 it had the "silky" Provia feel (and a high latitude for a E6 film), yet the same film pushed to decent ASA1600 or even ASA3200 if you really wanted to go to extremes.

I heard the 400X sales numbers were rediculously low for Fuji despite the high-tec, high performance and a mighty capable E6 film (add a surprisingly balanced handling of artificial light and a superb reciprocity handling to the list too), it was something the E6 market hasn't seen before emulsion technology-wise. It just didn't get the deserved marketing hype and limelight like the Velvias, Provia 100F or E100 series of their time, thus lacked this "fancy" factor among the E6 shooters, plus it's slightly higher price. Considering the amounts of R&D put into it, I don't think there will be ever something like that coming out again, unless we start to beg Fuji to bring it back!

Just found a nice video using the Provia 400X in night street photography at ASA1600 (skip the german text and just get the mood).

 

[Rodchenko]

That's a stonking shot.