I had one more roll of Lomo’s kino films in the fridge and decided on Tuesday morning to use it to test whether or not even giving the film its whole 6 minutes at 20°C at current room temperature — 24.5°C, no time adjustment — would result in properly-developed negatives.
The answer is no. While there was a little difference in the negatives (the shadows developed a little better, allowing me to tease things out a little in scanning), it was very little and not clear to me how long I would have to invert for to get suitable negatives. 8 minutes? 10? 15? 🤷🏻♀️
Given how stubbornly curled the film was (like all the others I used from this batch), I still think that the film is significantly older than the date stamped on the boxes would have otherwise implied. I’ve only ever seen that level of curl from rolls I knew were very long expired.
Even that should not have been a problem: in 1201, I have used rolls of Potsdam / UN54 that expired 3-4 years previously with no loss in speed and with no stubborn curl. So it feels like two possibilities, neither of which are my processing.
Through all of it, however much I like Potsdam / ORWO UN54, it doesn’t really give me anything that I wouldn’t get from Ilford FP4+, save for a lower price. While less expensive film is always appreciated, it’s not really worth it if I can’t be certain that failure to obtain suitable negatives are caused by my hand.
To that end — and combined with my disappointment with its 400-speed counterpart, Berlin / ORWO N75 — I’ve decided that the time for playing is over. Whatever delight I had from finding new film-developer combinations is now outweighed by just wanting the photos I’ve envisioned.
At the moment:
| Film Speed | Film | Developer |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | Ilford FP4+ (125) | D-96 |
| 2002 | Fomapan 200 (125) Double-X (250) | Mic-X (1+1) D-96 |
| 400+ | Kodak Tri-X Ilford HP5+ | ID-11 (1+1) |
Of course, none of this will stop me from using others. I have several rolls of Ilford PanF+ and Rollei RPX25 in the fridge right now and will be using them once we get a little more reliable sunshine.
Camera
Lens
Film
Developer
Time & Temp.
Scanner
Location
Date(s)
Filing
Nikkormat EL
Nikon Nikkor-H Auto 50mm f/2
Lomography Potsdam Kino
Filc Film Black and White Cine (D-96)
6m at 24.5°C
Plustek 8200i / SilverFast 9 / Apple Photos
Ottawa, Ontario
September 1, 2026
Series 7, Roll 158
- There are five more rolls of 120 Potsdam in the fridge and I am confident that they will deliver excellent results. They will be used as light and mood permits. ↩︎
- There aren’t really actual 200-speed films out there, but I like Fomapan 200 enough and its results in Mic-X that I am unlikely to give it up, even though I expose it at 125, just like Ilford’s FP4+. I don’t know how much longer Double-X will be available for, given Kodak’s restriction, but so long as I can get it, it will serve as my middle one. ↩︎