Revisiting Film: New Classic EZ400

It's been ~3 years since I last posted on this blog, and I find it ironic that what brought me back to this website is one of the oldest photo technologies there is: Film.

Film photography has been making a resurgence as of late - fueled by a combination of factors including nostalgia for its deliberate process, the unique aesthetic qualities of film, the relatively low cost of vintage gear compared to its digital counterpart, and of course, the hipster vibes. Hobbyists on social media have also contributed to this rise in popularity, as there are now a lot of great resources on the web detailing all aspects about film photography, ranging from how to select the right film, to operating the cameras, and even developing the film at home. This has made the vintage medium accessible to a new generation of shooters, who are diving in with much enthusiasm.

The last time I shot or developed any film was over 20 years ago, when I had taken a high school class with my father's SLR from the 80s (the Nikon F3 HP).

The last time I shot or developed any film was over 20 years ago, when I had taken a high school photography class with my father's SLR from the 80s (the Nikon F3 HP). That recently changed when a work-buddy of mine, Eric Toribio, launched a YouTube channel (Doing Film Things) and an accompanying podcast (New Classic Film). We had both been a part of a photography club at work called "Shutterbugs" where he quickly established himself as one of the better photographers in the group. I noticed as he gravitated away from digital formats in favor of more vintage gear. Fast-forward a few years, and I had put my passion for photography on hold to get married, have children, and constantly fight the never-ending set of tasks of owning a fixer-upper home. Eric dove head-first into film and vintage equipment, building a thriving online community focused on producing images with film cameras. He even went as far as to launch a new film called "New Classic EZ400".

As of today, the film is completely sold out, and while haters on the internet are quick to note that New Classic EZ400 is likely re-packaged Fomapan 400, the impact of Eric's work on the resurgence of film, and others like him on the internet, cannot be understated. To date, the "Doing Film Things" YouTube channel has over 13k subscribers, and well over 100k video views on the topic of film photography.

When Eric announced New Classic EZ400, I bought a few rolls just to support his endeavor. Once I had the rolls in my possession though, I decided - "Well, I may as well shoot these." So, I went down to the basement, found my (Dad's) old camera bags, dusted off the old SLRs, and ordered some batteries off of Amazon. You can imagine my surprise when the cameras that had been in sitting in dusty bags for ~20 years turned on as soon as fresh batteries were put in, complete with functioning light metering.

You can imagine my surprise when the cameras that had been in sitting in dusty bags for ~20 years turned on as soon as fresh batteries were put in, complete with functioning light metering.

I had a blast shooting with the old cameras; there's something awesome about the whole process, manually dialing in your settings, and winding the film between each shot. There was a readjustment period, of course, and all did not go exactly as planned. I unfortunately lost an entire roll on my F3 after forgetting how to properly wind the spent film back into the canister. Not wanting to screw up the rest of the rolls, I took the film to a local camera shop to have it properly developed. Mishaps aside, I was able to get back on the analog horse.

I wasn't exactly sure what to expect when I got the film back, but I certainly wasn't expecting highly detailed, tack sharp images from a roll that is self-described as "having lots of character". To this date, however, I had never obtained high quality scans of negatives, nor had I ever created a large print from a film to be able to see the detail.

I was used to point-and-shoots that you took to the local pharmacy to be developed and printed onto small 4x5 glossy paper.

I was used to point-and-shoots that you took to the local pharmacy to be developed and printed onto small 4x5 glossy paper. I was floored when I saw the exceptional quality of the shots that came out of cameras that had been sitting in storage for decades, and wondered why I hadn't thought to go pull them out years earlier.

Comparisons to Digital

It is no wonder old movies that had been shot on film can be restored to modern 4K standards.

It is no wonder old movies that had been shot on film can be restored to modern 4K standards. The analog format always had all of the fidelity needed to produce stunning images. For the sake of comparison, however, I brought my D800 as back up on the shoots I did with the film cameras. I wanted to see how a (relatively) modern DSLR would stack up against professional gear from 30 years ago. Below are some shots that I tried shooting the same with both cameras:

There is no arguing that the film definitely holds its own against even a very high resolution pro digital camera. The film shots also have a definitive charm and characteristics that would be incredibly time consuming (and difficult) to replicate in editing. Though, probably the biggest discovery I took away from the EZ400 film experiment was that film is most certainly not a dead medium.

Though, probably the biggest discovery I took away from the EZ400 film experiment was that film is most certainly not a dead medium.

I had more fun shooting a few rolls than I have had in a long time in shooting digital. I even went on to purchase a few more rolls to continue my foray back into analog photography, and managed to develop those rolls at home as well. Though, that is the subject of a blog post for a future date. In the end, I'd like to extend a thanks and applaud Eric for luring at least one photo enthusiast back to the world of analog photography - However, I know that there are thousands of others that he has brought back into the fold, and will continue to do so with the excellent content he produces.

Looking at prices of film gear on eBay, I am most certainly late to the vintage train, though I'm happy to be back on board again!