I don't know about you, but I love trying new film and exploring the possibilities it has to offer. Last month when I was browsing a few of my favourite Instagram pages I came across a new film I had not heard of before. Rollei CN200. I instantly Googled it and took a look at some of the examples that people had placed out there. Excited by this, I thought I would hunt some down and give it a go. It took a while to find, but eventually, #camerafilmphoto came through for me and I received 10 rolls.
So, I loaded some in my Hasselblad 500CM and took it out to try the film and here are some examples of what I got back from the developers.
Here is one of the first frames I shot, the weather was overcast and the film seemed to pick up on that and do a good job of capturing it. No Photoshop, here, straight from the developers onto this site. The one thing I did notice though is the film has a tendency to give off a warmer hue, which gives off a red tint and seemed to get stronger the closer to the spool the film got. You will see what I mean as you pan through the photographs, which are in chronological order.
This was taken on the same day on Delmar Blvd in Saint Louis. Again, the film did a great job of capturing the gloom of the day, as well as the subtle tones and colours.
Delmar Blvd, Saint Louis MO.
Taken a few days later on Route 66, Saint Louis MO. T. Hargrove Fly Fishing. This is a really cool shop and from time to time I purchase my fly fishing supplies from here. Tom is a really cool chap and there is a great ambience in the shop, with lots of characters to meet and share stories with.
This was a sunny day and the film did not cope that well with the sun. I added a haze filter on my Hasselblad too, but this did not seem to help.
American Locksmiths, Route 66, Saint Louis, MO. This was taken on the same sunny day as the previous shot. In the sun the film seems to give off a really warm rich look and tone. I actually don't mind it, but it does get funkier the further on the roll goes.
Same sunny day, shot into the sun and the film really takes on a whole new look. The yellow of the van shifted to a much more muted yellow and the lovely blue sky took on a slight magenta tone. The magenta tone kicks in the further on from here.
This one was taken away from the sun and the blue appeared a little better. I love the geometric patterns of the old building on Route 66 contrasted against the tree and electric cables.
This tree was taken in the similar direction as the last photograph, taken facing away from the sun. Now you can really see the reds and magentas appearing in the tones.
The same shot taken from the opposite direction and the hues completely shifted. Now there is a really heavy magenta tone. This was the second to last shot too, so very close to the spool if that has any significance.
Finally, the last shot. I have no explanation for what is happening here. It is at this point I would open this discussion up to the readers and ask their opinion or thoughts on what might be happening here. I did contact Rollei but was bounced around a lot from number to number. I tried calling the number they gave me in Germany, but all I got was a constant engaged tone.
All in all, I am very happy with the film, despite the hues shifting towards the end, I love the differentiation it offers compared to some of the other more established and standard films. I will definitely pack this into my kit bag for my next adventure over in the UK. Stay tuned for more posts and my apologies for not posting more regularly.
Happy shooting and please contact us if you'd like to write a guest post.
Gary