Film for a Dollar.

[scott_mclaren]

Has anyone heard of "Likon" brand film? I picked up a few rolls

recently (a dollar per roll) and used them. They looked kind of dull

and a little too magenta, but overall not bad for 100 cents.

 

Anyone else ever used this stuff?

 

smc

[stephen hazelton]

Right now, Walmart is selling Polaroid 200 speed film 24 exposure for $0.97. I figure why pay the extra 3 cents for that dollar film?

 

Actually, the "too magenta" is liable to be the processing as much as anything. The old "I don't know how to print this film so I'll pretend it's Kodak Max" trick.

 

I've used a number of bargain films. They aren't usually bad, just not anything especially good, either, and no real reason to use them. I'm paying about $10 a roll for processing and scanning onto CD, so I can't see a whole lot of reason to get worked up about saving a dollar or two on the film.

[mark feldstein]

Years ago, there was a place called Seattle Filmworks and they offered free film but you had to use their processing. The film was Kodak motion picture negative stock, #5725, I believe, and the processing was a modified C-41. It could be, Scott, that Likon is doing the same thing these days. Dunno for sure. Just a thought because if you processed 5725 incorrectly, as I recall, you got all kinds of bizarre results, including color shifts and dullness.

 

But, IMHO, film (and processing) is the cheapest commodity a photographer has.

Take it light.

Mark

[keith_slater]

Our dollar store has ferrania solaris 200 speed film, I have used it and like it. I see they have konica 200 speed film now, I have not tried that yet. I also have used the Walmart Polaroid film. I think the solaris film is better.

[rustys pics]

Wal-Mart "Polaroid" film is really AGFA Vista. They are very good emulsions.

Solaris used to be Scotch/3M film. That stuff was pretty horrible....

[stephen hazelton]

If you got it processed, it's not the Seattle Film Works stuff. I understand that stuff had a coating that had to be taken off in the prewash, and if you didn't do it, you'd gum up the works on a C41 machine.

[25asa]

Yes the rem jet coating to prevent scratches on the film in motion picture cameras. Yes that coating can be nasty in C41 machines.

[Matthew Currie]

Whatever the Solaris is now, it's reasonably sharp and not too bad, but the colors seemed a little garish or artificial. This may be because the local minilab lacked a channel for it and the operator guessed. My guess is that he got a little too much saturation in the prints, and that it wouldn't look too bad if the colors were a bit more muted. I haven't tried scanning it yet to see how it performs that way.

[daniel_devine]

have you not tried any of the ilford range

[escu]

Two years ago, I received for free with processing a "Life 100 ISO" film, which was made in Japan. It proved to be the Konica VX 100, the film with the highest number of pastel colors ever made, the film that will never switch the turquoise to cyan, the only film that sees the salmon pink or the duck egg green. Well, as the 100 ISO films are disappearing from the market, I couldn't buy other VX100 or Life 100. Recently I've seen in Loblaws the home brand "Everyday Essentials" and inside was the Konica VX film (made in Japan, as usual). Unfortunately there was no 100, but only 200 and 400. Fogg it!

 

Today I bought a roll of this Likon 100 (made in China) film for $1, just to see how it works. I was surprised to see that the plastic canister is just like the Fuji's ones, only more transparent, and what you say about the magenta makes me think it really should be a Fuji license made film. I'll mark "Fuji?" on the lab's envelope when I'll send it for processing, or I'll look for a Fuji lab.

 

The canisters never lie, I've learned this with Konica, store labeled films, I hope it is the same with this Likon. But I still am looking for the Konica VX100 at an affordable price, not at 4$CA as it sells in Japan Camera or in Canadian Tire (if you're lucky).