Konica Color Professional 160 Film

[barry_bloch]

I have never seen anything about this film posted. Due to its

slightly lower price and claimed greater stability, I am considering

taking this film with me on an extended trip. (I will test a roll or

two first.) Has anyone had experience with this film? If so any

thoughts on using a film designed for "studio portraiture and wedding

photography" as a general all purpose film?

[scott_walton1]

This stuff is GREAT!!! I've used it for years. It is a lower contrast and softer color palette than any film on the market. HIGHLY recommend it for portraits (both in and out of the studio) and weddings!!!

[william_baguhn1]

Had a friend who shot his entire vacation (Hawaii) on Kodak 160NC. He loved the results. Given that Konica 160 is better yet, you should be fine.

[scott_eaton]

Konica 160 pro is a bit grainy compared to the other 100-160 speed portrait films, but it's neutral and does a respectable job with skin tones which tend to be on the cool side with this film. It also prints decently on Fuji Crystal Archive paper because Konica 160 doesn't have very dense color saturation.

 

Konica has been the historical dark-horse when it comes to print films, and their emulsions are occasionally better than Agfa and Kodak's. The problem is finding a lab that has a clue how to print Konica film, and pro labs will bounce it into the "amatuer category" when it comes to package printing. Luckily, Konica films tend to have a lot of "guess tolerance" when it comes to lab printing.

 

Give the film a try, over-expose a bit (shoot at 125), and don't be surprised if you like it.

[tak_ming_leung]

Konica makes some stunning films in its Japanese home market including the Sinra (and a newer version called Sinbi) and Centura lines. My Japanese girlfriend sent me some Sinbi and Centura last month for tests. I was very impressed with the results - very tight and smooth grain structure, clean and realistic colors, bright contrast, subtle and rich gradation. I think the Centura 800 is even better than Fuji's NHG II 800 in terms of grain and color. On the other hand, Sinbi reminded me of Kodachrome 64 - an amazing slide for landscape. If anyone is interested in testing these films, please send me a email. I got a year's worth of supply in my fridge.

[jimmy_rhyne]

I like Konica films but I am not that impressed with Professional 160. I have had it processed by pro labs (both Fuji and Kodak) with less than stellar results and my local Konica lab did not do any better with it. It was too cool for me and the skin tones were decent but nothing like Portra NC or NPS 160.

[trooper]

I've had a bit too cool of a look from this film, also (160). Admittedly, it was a couple of years ago since I last tried it, though. Konica had sent me a defective repair piece for a 35mm camera and when getting it straightened out, they sent some rolls of their newest emulsions (in 35mm) as appeasement for my patience. I was extremely pleased with this new film! I didn�t use it for anything very important or serious but in the snapshots I took, it gave me stunning results off of a Frontier 390.

 

It convinced me to at least wring out a few rolls of the newer offerings. I haven�t even checked to see what they�re currently doing in 120/220 and have made a personal agreement with myself to work down some of the accumulated inventory in the freezer before adding to it! Their film line appears to be a legitimate alternative these days.