Bantayan Island Cebu | Pentax K1000 | DK-50 | Epson V600
Emulsion Review: Kodak double X or Eastman 5222
Hello Everyone! It’s been a while since I last wrote something; I think it has been 3 or 4 years ago, when I was still an active contributor at the Lomography website. I already said in my previous post that I will make this blog a “film photography” blog. I was actually thinking about it since last year because I think in the internet, despite many sample photos and articles about films and cameras, too much will never be enough. So here it is, my first film review since 2013! Please bear with my rusty writing skills, and I apologize in advance for my occasionally wrong grammar and typos.
The film I will review is the Kodak XX, you might have heard it also as Eastman 5222, despite its contemporary sounding name this film is actually an old soul. First manufactured in 1959, this film is a cine film, was used in classic movies like Schindler’s List, and in newer ones too, a scene in the movie “Casino Royale” was shot with this film. They said that this emulsion retained its original look when it first came out. When I first learned about it I was intrigued, for I have never shot a cine film. Will it make my photos ‘cinematic’?
Of course like any other film photographers in this internet generation, I ransacked the web for samples and reviews. To be honest I am not convinced that this is something special, the film is grainy (bad kind of grainy) based on some samples that I saw but no classic or cinematic look whatsoever. But maybe it’s just me, I’m almost always skeptic about how companies advertise their films. And of course films are just mere tools; the photographer will always be the one responsible about the feel of his/her images.
I got the chance to try the film when one day a friend asked if I wanted to buy some, he found a seller, (in the Philippines, uncommon films are a bit hard to find) the price is also good at 200 pesos per roll (4$) only re-spooled rolls though, I think Kodak only sells bulk rolls of 100ft and 400ft. Here are some samples of my firsts:
Tagaytay Philippines | Pentax K1000 | D76 | Epson V600
These are shots during our trip in Tagaytay, I think around 9 or 10 in the morning, the sun is shining bright that day. I used my now dead SLR Pentax K1000 (rest in peace), and cooked it in Kodak d76. The result is quite surprising. The grain was decent in my scans, maybe it’s because I used d76 and there was enough light to expose the film well. But for me there was still nothing special about the look of the photos, I was expecting a bit more contrast and darker shadows. But maybe it’s just me, or the sun was just too giving that day, or my scans are too bright, or the Kodak d76 is just too great a developer. After that I kind of forgot about the film, it was left in my cabinet unused, overshadowed by my favorite Fuji Neopan 400.
Last July 2017 I decided to give it another chance I brought it in our trip to Bantayan Island, Cebu Philippines. I shot 2 rolls of it, almost all in sunny condition, with the same camera. But this time I used a different developer, the DK-50 film developer. DK-50 is a Large Format film developer from kodak, it is now discontinued. They say that this developer is not recommended for 35mm films for it gives more grains than normally used developers, because again it is for LF films. But I love living dangerously so I developed my rolls in it, and these are the results.
Bantayan Island Cebu | Pentax K1000 | DK-50 | Epson V600
In my opinion, these photos look more like the ones I saw in sites like Flickr. The grain is quite obvious even in the sky. There is obviously a bit more contrast than the last one. I did not like it at first but, I kind of learned to like it eventually. I really wanted to show you how unique the grain looks, so I decided to print it in the darkroom, and that’s where this film really shines. I scanned and zoomed the print to share you the experience of real grain goodness.
Printed in Ilford grade 2 pearl RC paper using Kodak Dektol
What makes the grains unique I think is how it looks unevenly spread, more organic in my opinion. Films like Ilford HP5 plus, Kodak Tri-X and Fuji Neopan 400 for me felt like its grains we’re spread more uniformly, almost as if it we’re arranged, maybe because these are more modern films, and Kodak XX is a very old formula. I can’t say that my photos are ‘cinematic’ but I can definitely say that it has a ‘classic’ feel to it.
Final thoughts
Kodak XX can be a less grainy, wide latitude film if you want it to be, just shoot it with more than enough light and develop it properly in D76. It can also be a grainy, classic looking film, just expose for the highlights and use developers like DK-50, or Rodinal. For me personally, I admit that I hated how the grain looks at first, but when I printed it in the darkroom and saw the real grains, that is when I started to like the film. Grains I think is the proud characteristic of this film. Definitely this not a favorite, but I still like it and will shoot more rolls again if given a chance.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
discoholicmusic
ellievsbear
annaxmalina