Opinions on KONICA MINOLTA film

I've just got back a roll of Minolta 400 color negatives, developed by the couple 'o hours here. I'll post some of them when I get back from dinner. There were some good ones, but I noticed some seemed a bit to bright. As if they were overexposed, which they weren't.

Konica Minolta film is a lot cheaper than the others here in Taipei.
 
Here are some of my examples of Konica Minolta film.

I have posted the same photo twice, once in print-size and once in full size as I got them from the photoshop on a CD. I have not made any corrections or changes to the files, except for resizing of the smaller ones, and compressing of the large files.

Camera:
Olympia Stylus Epic (mjuII)

Film:
Centuria Super
NH-36-ISO400/27°
NH 135

Bought and developed in Taiwan. Taiwan disclaimer:
Many of the photoshops here have no idea what they are doing, problems with my examples might therefore be development issues instead of film issues with the film.

Set 1, three photos, lighting conditions:

location is the Eslite Bookstore. The first picture is taken at a location with a lot of dim, yellowish white lights. The second and third are taken at a location with brighter, white spotlights.

Photos:

1 of 3. The grain is acceptable on a standard sized print. Most noticable is the grain on the face of the man on the left. Exposure seems fine, photo seems acceptable.

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Set 1, three photos:

2 of 3. You can see the bright spots on the ceiling. Exposure seems ok. On a print there is no noticable grain, except on the bottom of the bookcase reflected in the ceiling (top of picture). Same grain is noticable to a lesser extend at the bottom of the picture.

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Set 1, three photos:

3 of 3. This is the same bookcase as in picture 2. Lights are the same, but on this one the print is very white/grey-ish. As you can see there is a lot of grain, both the bookcase, books and people seem overexposed.

Before this I have used my Olympus Stylus mjuII to shoot Fuji Superia 100 and Kodak Gold 100 and I have not noticed this much grain before. It might be that I'm not used to 400iso grain, but the difference between this picture and the one before is rather large. I blame the film or developing.

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Set 2, four photos, lighting conditions:

location is a classroom in the Mandarin Training Center of National Taiwan Normal University. These rooms have 4 fluorescent lamps on the main ceiling, and one with a metal case aimedonly at the whiteboard.

Here in Taibei I have had some bad results with indoor pictures taken with Fuji superia 100: fluorescent light would make everything greenish. I don't know whether this is the fault of the Fuji film or the developers. These pictures do not have that greenish tint, so either the film or the developers did a better job.

Photos:

1 of 4. No problems on the print, not much grain. Contrast seems good, lots of detail in the dark hair and on the white surfaces that have detail, except for the hand holding the paper. This photo seems fine.

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Set 2, four photos:

2 of 4. again, exposure and grain seem fine, contrast good, lots of detail in both black and white surfaces. Note the folds in the black shirt and detail in the hair of the man, and the white on white reflection of the drink in the folder.

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Set 2, four photos:

3 of 4. This one is taken from exactly the same position as 2/4, only a moment before. unacceptable amounts of grain, white/grey-ish cast.

I have shot before in this room with the same camera, but iso 100 Kodak Gold film. It did not have any of these issues. The room is white-lit, but not brightly lit. My Olympus actually wanted to fire the flash here (I know as it did so and I had to turn of the flash and shoot some shots again...)

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Set 2, four photos:

4 of 4. Taken only a couple of minutes later, this one too has the grain and white issue. On the print the grain is most noticable on the laptop screen and the hair. Barely acceptable.

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Conclusion:

Unless someone convinces me that the seemingly randon grain/exposure issues are not a problem with the film, but my (camera's) problem or a problem with the developing, I will not buy this Konica Minolta 400 again. It might be a bit cheaper, compared to Kodak or Fuji, but if these are the results one can expect I consider the quality unacceptable.

After I finished the other two rolls I bought (I bought a three-pack) and find that these problems are consistant, I will stay away from Konica Minolta film.
 
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Konica/Minolta VX100:

Totems4.jpg


Cliffs1.jpg


BeachHuts.jpg


RW10.jpg
 
Michiel said:
Conclusion:

Unless someone convinces me that the seemingly randon grain/exposure issues are not a problem with the film, but my (camera's) problem or a problem with the developing, I will not buy this Konica Minolta 400 again. It might be a bit cheaper, compared to Kodak or Fuji, but if these are the results one can expect I consider the quality unacceptable.

After I finished the other two rolls I bought (I bought a three-pack) and find that these problems are consistant, I will stay away from Konica Minolta film.
Perhaps you got some film that went through some rough temperature changes. Here's one frame from a roll of Konica Supra 800 (I didn't touch the image, except for resizing)
 

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Depends on the particular film. Impresa 50 was wonderful, but, like other slow-speed films, was really tight in terms of latitude – have to meter the stuff carefully (I've rated it at EI 25). Some of the faster Centuria II emulsions (800, 1600) are great, and, at least in NYC, are still widely available. (Hot tip: Willoughby's, around 30th-31st Street, just off 5th Avenue, has a lot of it, given their heavy tie-in with Konica Minolta...just look for the huge KM logo on their signage. Who knows what'll happen to those guys in the next few months, so buy now.)


- Barrett
 
gabrielma said:
It was really really great film; I discovered it too late. No longer being made, unless somebody can correct me (please?)

I bought some Konica/Minolta 200 VX Super a little over a month ago at either Shopco? or the Dollar Tree (can't remember which) in Fairmont MN for around a buck a roll. I think that is in your neck of the woods or close anyway. So there is still some out there to stock up on if you look around. Hope that helps.

Nikon Bob
 
A couple of years ago, I bought about 100 rolls of Konica 160 portrait film. It did not do well with the local Frontier developing and printing. I switched to Fuji and got much better results.
 
Brad Bireley said:
Andy,
What camera did you shoot these shots with? Nice shots & very nice color! I think I'm going to get some. You can't beat the price!
Thanks,
Brad


These were shot about two years ago now. If I recall correctly I used an Olympus OM-10 with Zuiko 50mm f1.8 lens and a linear polarising filter and all were shot at around 9.00am.
 
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