lucky film - any experiences/comments?

[gonzalo_echeverria]

hi,

 

has anyone shot this film? ie the one available from jandcphoto?

what is it comparable to? what look does it have?

 

thanks.

[eric friedemann]

I assume you are referring to Lucky's very cheap color print film. Over the years, my store has sold this film to insurance claims estimators and real estate appraisers. It is fine for documentation of fender-bender car accidents, but I wouldn't shoot film for any of my personal or professional work.

[dxphoto]

I think he means Lucky B&W film. I think they have bigger market in Euro zone than in U.S. I used it once long long time ago and I have no comments on it. But I would like to try it. I am glad someone actually find it being sold in US.

 

anyone has used them recently?

[helenbach]

I tried a few rolls of 35 mm and 120 Lucky 100 B&W last summer. Mr CAD in the UK had just started to import it. There was too much halation for me. I guess that if you wanted halation, it could be the stuff for you.

 

Best, Helen

[frank.schifano]

Yes, I've used a bit of it recently. I have a friend who makes an annual trip to mainland China and she usually brings back a bunch of it for me. AFIK, and this is corroborated with my research on their web site, the film is available in ISO 100 and 400 speeds in 35mm and ISO 100 speed only in 120.

 

I haven't shot any of the ISO 400 stuff yet, so I'll reserve my comments to the 100 version. All things considered, it's really good stuff for the money. I made some headshot portraits under studio lighting with the 35mm film and it is very sharp with very fine grain. It looks a bit like TMX. The final prints stood up pretty well next to the same subject shot on HP5+ in the square 120 format. I've made some 11x14's from the 120 version of this film and again the results were very sharp with no obvious grain. Backlighting is this films downfall though. The anti-halation backing on this film is a bit thin and you get some fogging around the edges of backlight subjects. It's not terrible and maybe it can be controlled with altered development variables. The 120 film is extremely curly and wants to roll up into a tube along the long axis after it has dried. This never goes away and can be a real PITA when you want to make contact sheets. It's better than Forte films in this regard which curl up along the short axis making cantact prints virtually impossible.

 

There is not a lot of data available for processing this film. The manufacturer only publishes times for full strength D-76. All my work with this film is with D-76 or XTOL diluted 1+1. Development time with these developers is running about 9 to 10 minutes with 5 seconds agitation every 30 seconds at 20 deg. C. The manufacturer's recommendations are available on "The Massive Dev Chart" at http://www.digitaltruth.com. You can read about the company and its products at http://www.luckyfilm.com/eng/index.html . Be advised that the site is very slow and a lot of it is in Chinese.

[richard_ilomaki]

Gonzalo

 

I have used Lucky 35 mm and 120 film. They have 100 and HD 400 emulsions, as well as a B&W c-41 type. I got them in China but I don't know where they are available outside there.

 

The HD 400 is close to Tri X where the others are older type emulsions- not too sharp with noticable grain. Most Chinese pros and serious amateurs use Kodak or Ilford B&W, even with the large price differential. That tells you something. I used it for fooling around and fun shots.

 

Cheers

[titrisol]

jandc pro?

that is a fine film, very soft emulsion though.

[al_divenuti]

Frank - the 100 speed Lucky stuff is actually another company's film (I forget which one) that Lucky prodcues under license.

 

I've tried the ISO 400 Lucky stuff. It's absolutely terrible. Huge grain, terrible DMAX (even when I tried 2.5 times the recommended developing time in D76) and emulsion defects on both rolls I tried.

 

No bargain.

[silent1]

Pablo, he's talking about the Lucky 100 and 400 films that became available from J&C last week. These are not the same as Pro 100, which is (according to J&C) not made by Lucky, but rather coated, cut and spooled specifically for J&C on very old machinery. Lucky is partly owned by Kodak, and the Lucky 400 B&W has been reported to incorporate some Kodak technologies, though I couldn't say which.

[panmedia]

The details of Kodak forming a partnership with Lucky have little to do with Lucky's B&W products:

 

What Kodak give:

1. Kodak will contribute US$45 million in cash

2. Kodak will provide an emulsion-making line for colour products (Notice here not B&W products)

3. Kodak will be providing a total of US$54.5 million in funding and technical support to assist Lucky to upgrade its technology and production facilities.

 

What Kodak get:

1. Kodak get 20 percent stake in Lucky Film Co Ltd, the listing arm of China Lucky Film Corp.

2. Lucky will pay Kodak for the use of selected technologies.

 

According to the reports, the next agreement between Lucky and Kodak will be in the digital imaging area, which will be in line with Eastman Kodak's ongoing global strategy readjustment, under which the company will shift more investment into the digital area.

 

So Lucky's B&W products are not a major portion of the partnership. Lucky may get some helps from Kodak to upgrade its techbology and production facilities but the focus points is in color, and later in digital.

[kennington]

i purchased a brick of lucky 35mm 400 iso a few months back & it has exceeded my expectations. it takes great photos in low light conditions & it uses the kodak silver halide grain emulsion technique. i have no complaints at all with a t-max comparable film but with a budget price.

[matt_borengasser]

Everything I shoot is on Lucky SDH 100 speed black and white film. It is a bit purple compared to TMAX and rumor has it that fine details are not as fine as with TMAX, but I like it. Note: I make this choice based on $$. One roll of film costs me 65 cents (us money) as compared to 3 dollars for TMAX. On my salary that's meaningful. If I made more money, I might use TMAX or Ilford which are both available here, but that's not for sure. I like the film (Lucky). (If only I could find a squeegy to get rid of those water spots!)

[eric friedemann]

"If only I could find a squeegy to get rid of those water spots!"

 

 

1. Use Photo-Flo for spotless drying:

 

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=28196&is=REG

 

 

2. Use your freshly washed middle and index fingers as a squeege. Film squeeges trap dirt and debris that can scratch wet film.