Rollei Variochrome film: My test results

[Skiff]

So in the last two weeks I've done a lot of tests with the "new" Rollei Variochrome.
Well, as Maco (Rollei-Film) has clearly said: This is an old film which has been on the market for years. But it is discontinued now (no more production / coating). Therefore Rollei Variochrome is "Limited Edition" (that is also printed on the box, as well as "Made in Europe").

Here are my test results:

- the film is on a PET base (you cannot tear it)
- it is very very grainy, even more than the already horrible former Ektachrome 400
- bad sharpness
- very low resolution
- very low Dmax: there is no real, deep black like in normal, real E6 films
- flat gradation
- yellowish color cast
- I assume the emulsion is originally a C41 emulsion, and not a E6 emulsion.

I am very disappointed, and I cannot recommended this film at all.
Rollei Variochrome cannot compete at all with
- Provia 400X
- Provia 100F at ISO 200/24° with Push 1
- Provia 100F at ISO 400/27° with Push 2.

All the Fujichrome Provia options are much much superior to Rollei Variochrome.
Maybe low-fi / Lomo shooters who love crappy films will use Variochrome.
But slide film enthusiasts will not like it.

So, for all those who have missed to stock-up on Provia 400X, Rollei Variochrome is definitely not an option.
What should you do? Relax and be happy 🙂:
When you need ISO 200/24°, just take Provia 100F and make Push 1 development. It gives excellent results!
To differentiate ISO 100 from ISO 200 pushed Provia 100 shots, is extremely difficult, so similar they are!
And even Push 2 at ISO 400/27° is very good with Provia 100F.

And you can combine that with further options:
In the last years there were so much outstanding new lenses with wider apertures introduced. I am using some of them and have gained 1-2 stops more speed.
In the past most 1.4 lenses have been quite weak at f1.4 and f2.0. You needed to stop them down to at least f2.8 to get good results.
Now I have f1.4 lenses e.g. from Zeiss and Sigma which are better at f1.4 than some of my older lenses at f2.8!

Therefore I can now use ISO 100/21° reversal film in situations in which I needed ISO 400/27° in the past.

Another option would be to use lenses with image stabilisation. Gives you 2-4 stops.
And another option is using fill-in flash. You need light? Just use some light 🙂. My Nikon F6 delivers outstanding results with fill-in flash with the SB-800. It is so subtle that you mostly don't recognise that fill-in flash was used, because it looks so natural.

 

[David Murphy]

Link to the tests?

 

[Jake Mongey]

So in the last two weeks I've done a lot of tests with the "new" Rollei Variochrome.
Well, as Maco (Rollei-Film) has clearly said: This is an old film which has been on the market for years. But it is discontinued now (no more production / coating). Therefore Rollei Variochrome is "Limited Edition" (that is also printed on the box, as well as "Made in Europe").

Here are my test results:

- the film is on a PET base (you cannot tear it)
- it is very very grainy, even more than the already horrible former Ektachrome 400
- bad sharpness
- very low resolution
- very low Dmax: there is no real, deep black like in normal, real E6 films
- flat gradation
- yellowish color cast
- I assume the emulsion is originally a C41 emulsion, and not a E6 emulsion.

I am very disappointed, and I cannot recommended this film at all.
Rollei Variochrome cannot compete at all with
- Provia 400X
- Provia 100F at ISO 200/24° with Push 1
- Provia 100F at ISO 400/27° with Push 2.

All the Fujichrome Provia options are much much superior to Rollei Variochrome.
Maybe low-fi / Lomo shooters who love crappy films will use Variochrome.
But slide film enthusiasts will not like it.

So, for all those who have missed to stock-up on Provia 400X, Rollei Variochrome is definitely not an option.
What should you do? Relax and be happy 🙂:
When you need ISO 200/24°, just take Provia 100F and make Push 1 development. It gives excellent results!
To differentiate ISO 100 from ISO 200 pushed Provia 100 shots, is extremely difficult, so similar they are!
And even Push 2 at ISO 400/27° is very good with Provia 100F.

And you can combine that with further options:
In the last years there were so much outstanding new lenses with wider apertures introduced. I am using some of them and have gained 1-2 stops more speed.
In the past most 1.4 lenses have been quite weak at f1.4 and f2.0. You needed to stop them down to at least f2.8 to get good results.
Now I have f1.4 lenses e.g. from Zeiss and Sigma which are better at f1.4 than some of my older lenses at f2.8!

Therefore I can now use ISO 100/21° reversal film in situations in which I needed ISO 400/27° in the past.

Another option would be to use lenses with image stabilisation. Gives you 2-4 stops.
And another option is using fill-in flash. You need light? Just use some light 🙂. My Nikon F6 delivers outstanding results with fill-in flash with the SB-800. It is so subtle that you mostly don't recognise that fill-in flash was used, because it looks so natural.

You talk about the deep blacks, are you viewing the slides or scanning them because iso 400 is recommended for scanning however for viewing and projecting these slides its recommended to shoot at 100-200, this could potentially influence that but I have yet to try it. cant comment on anything else that just springs to mind

 

[Skiff]

You talk about the deep blacks, are you viewing the slides or scanning them because iso 400 is recommended for scanning however for viewing and projecting these slides its recommended to shoot at 100-200, this could potentially influence that but I have yet to try it. cant comment on anything else that just springs to mind

I have used it at ISO 100/21°, 200/24°, 320/26° and 400/27°.
ISO 100/21° is overexposed, the others are usable.
The problem with the lack of Dmax and the greyish blacks is a general problem. It is not dependent on the ISO. You see it in all shots.
You clearly see it also at the film start, which is fully exposed (before number one):
A normal reversal film is so black that you cannot look through it. And if you put it on the edge of the light table, you see only a minor difference between the part on the light table and dark frame of the light table.
But with Variochrome the film start has no dense black, it is much more transparent, much more grey.

The latitude of this film is just one stop. Nothing special.
One stop latitude we also have (had) with Provia 100F, Astia / Sensia (even a bit more), Provia 400X, Ektachrome E100G, E200 Elitechrome 100 and 200, Agfa Precisa 100 and 200.

 

[bayernfan]

i appreciate the write-up, but some images to accompany it would have been very helpful.

 

[Skiff]

i appreciate the write-up, but some images to accompany it would have been very helpful.

Thanks.
My scanner is broken, and probably not repairable. Therefore no scans.
Honestly, I don't miss it.
Slides on the lighttable with my outstanding Schneider loupes and in projection with my excellent Leica und Rollei slide projectors are 100x better than even the best drum scans viewed on a computer monitor.
And not only is the quality so much better, it is also much cheaper and much less time consuming compared to scanning.

 

[Skiff]

These pictures here from Rollei Variochrome are not from me, but the examples are extremely similar to the results I've got.
They demonstrate very well the 'look' you get with this film and confirm what I have written above:

https://www.lomography.de/films/871965536-rollei-vario-chrome/photos?order=popular

Maybe the "low-fidelity" shooters and lomographers are interested in that look.
But photographers who like the outstanding quality real reversal film offers will probably be very disappointed.
But as written above, for them Provia 100F (Agfa Photo CT Precisa) is an excellent and the best option.

 

[HHPhoto]

Hi,

I have shot several Rollei Variochrome films in the last two weeks.
Today I've developed my last roll in my JOBO CPE processor.
Results:
I can completely confirm the results of the other photographers who have so far published their results here and in other forums:
Rollei Variochrome does not deliver natural colors: It has a significant yellowish (to slight brownish) color cast.
The Dmax is indeed very low and you get not real, deep blacks as with real reversal films (Variochrome looks similar to a C41 emulsion cross processed).
The pictures look flat, the gradation is low.
And this film is indeed very grainy. You see much more grain than with any other reversal film. The sharpness and resolution levels are also very, very low.
The film cannot compete at all with the alternatives Provia 400X and Provia 100F / CT Precisa with Push 1 or 2. The Provias are much much better in all respects. They significantly surpass Variochrome in all parameters.

My conclusion:
If you need reversal film at speed ISO 200/24°:
You will get by far the best results with Provia 100F with Push 1 development (or Provia 400X with Pull 1).
Provia 100F is indeed so excellent with Push 1 that it is extremely difficult to see differences in comparison to Provia 100F at normal box speed.
And if you need ISO 400/27°: Besides the outstanding Provia 400X, just use Provia 100F with a 2 stop push. Even with a Push 2 this film delivers very good quality! A quality which is much much better compared to Rollei Variochrome.

As Maco / Rollei-Film has clearly said, Variochrome is old film stock. The original manufacturer has stopped production of it some time ago. Variochrome is finished from left-over stock. Therefore it is offered as a "Limited Edition" (which is also written on the box). As soon as the film is sold out, it will be gone. No chance to get new stuff.
So you are riding a "dead horse" just from the beginning.

The simple law of economics is that you can spend your Dollar / Euro / Pound etc. only one time.
Every Dollar spend on Variochrome is therefore lost for real, current reversal film production!
But real, current reversal film production definitely needs all our support!!
Therefore it is much much better for the sustainability of high-quality reversal film production to spend your money on Provia 100F (or AgfaPhoto CT Precisa). And not on Variochrome.

Cheers, Jan

 

[NandoTheNinja]

Beeing this film an old emultion that as been discontinued, and that looks like a cross processed c41 film, could it actually be one od the fuji's xtra that hve been recently diacontinued? I think it might be fuji since ct precisa is also fuji, and isn't agfa a macodirect company?
Ps.:Sorry for the conspiracy theorys her guys hahah

 

[Spanik]

If I look at tose photos in the link, it is even worse than CR200. And that is already really bad.

 

[x-ray]

Sounds a lot like old Agfachrime 1000RS or GAF 500. Both had loads of grain with no real blacks. The color shift could be due to age fogging (cosmic bombardment).

 

[HHPhoto]

Beeing this film an old emultion that as been discontinued, and that looks like a cross processed c41 film, could it actually be one od the fuji's xtra that hve been recently diacontinued?

No. Absolutely not.
Because
- Fujifilm Superia X-Tra 400 is not discontinued
- Fujifilm is not selling raw film (master rolls , pancakes) to companies like Maco
- the Fujifilm Superia films are coated on triacetate base, but the Variochrome is coated on PET base.

I think it might be fuji since ct precisa is also fuji, and isn't agfa a macodirect company?

No, Agfa is of course not a macodirect company!!
Agfa in Belgium is one of the biggest film materials (for industrial applications like PCB film) manufacturers in the world.
And Maco is a very small (less than ten employees) distribution company.

And then there is AgfaPhoto, a German distribution company (also much bigger than Maco).

Cheers, Jan

 

[HHPhoto]

Sounds a lot like old Agfachrime 1000RS or GAF 500. Both had loads of grain with no real blacks. The color shift could be due to age fogging (cosmic bombardment).

No, definitely not the old Agfachrome RS 1000.
Because
- Agfachrome RS 1000 was coated on triacetate base, but Variochrome is coated on PET base
- RS 1000 was never sold as jumbo-roll or pancake roll; but the Variochrome is finished / converted from such a roll by Harman (you immediately see the Harman converting)
- RS 1000 was discontinued so long ago, there are no leftovers anymore for years of this film.

Cheers, Jan

 

[HHPhoto]

If I look at tose photos in the link, it is even worse than CR200. And that is already really bad.

Exactly.
It is even worse than the crappy Rollei CR 200.

Therefore:
Don't worry, be happy 🙂:
Just use Provia 100F / AgfaPhoto CT Precisa at ISO 200/24° or 400/27° and Push 1 or 2 and be happy.
The results are excellent and much much better in all parameters compared to Variochrome.

Cheers, Jan

 

[Spanik]

Still got a decent load of Provia 400x in the freezer 😀

 

[farlymac]

From what I've seen of examples elsewhere, it looks like old Ferrania to me, which always seemed to go to the yellows when it aged too much.

It would be interesting to see some developed as C41. And maybe it looks better converted to b&w.

PF

 

[Axel]

Sometimes I´m wondering about the attitude of some comments here.
..worse than.. ...not as...
What the hell should a new film like the Variochrome should be?

Like Provia? - Buy Provia...
Like Precisa? - Buy that!

Sharper, faster, exact colours? - Digital has made the race years ago..

In my opinion the variochrome is a special film for people who like its look. A bit grainy,
some old-fashioned colour tones and useable with lower light as some others.

And so I would like to read some constructive comments here. Experiences, samples of what can be done with this new special kind of film.

 

[Spanik]

Sometimes I´m wondering about the attitude of some comments here.
..worse than.. ...not as...
What the hell should a new film like the Variochrome should be?

Like Provia? - Buy Provia...
Like Precisa? - Buy that!

Sharper, faster, exact colours? - Digital has made the race years ago..

In my opinion the variochrome is a special film for people who like its look. A bit grainy,
some old-fashioned colour tones and useable with lower light as some others.

And so I would like to read some constructive comments here. Experiences, samples of what can be done with this new special kind of film.

While you are a bit right, I find it funny that you think these colours are "old fashioned". For someone with a Kodachrome box as personal image you should know how well exposed old-fashioend Kodachrome looks like. The ones I have from my father exposed before I was born are stellar compared to this.

The problem with the film is not what it looks like, but that it is sold as something remarkable while it has all the characteristics of a very thick marketing layer over some bottom-of-the-freezer-find for a premium price. This at the time that there are less and less slide emulsions available and people are looking at "new" emulsions to replace those binned.

 

[Axel]

... For someone with a Kodachrome box as personal image you should know ...

For someone that knows Kodachrome only from his fathers images you must know that there were much other films than Kodachrome. Films that produced "fail colours" more or less and that is the historic which I call "old fashioned".

This at the time that there are less and less slide emulsions available and people are looking at "new" emulsions to replace those binned...

And which emulsions should that "be to replaced" in your opinion?

 

[NandoTheNinja]

No. Absolutely not.
Because
- Fujifilm Superia X-Tra 400 is not discontinued
- Fujifilm is not selling raw film (master rolls , pancakes) to companies like Maco
- the Fujifilm Superia films are coated on triacetate base, but the Variochrome is coated on PET base.



No, Agfa is of course not a macodirect company!!
Agfa in Belgium is one of the biggest film materials (for industrial applications like PCB film) manufacturers in the world.
And Maco is a very small (less than ten employees) distribution company.

And then there is AgfaPhoto, a German distribution company (also much bigger than Maco).

Cheers, Jan

hooooo, i was verrrryyyyyyyyyyy wrooonngggggggg, totally wrong, i am sorry guys, and thanks for correcting me and sharing that knowledge.
cheers!