p.2 #1 · Light Lens Lab: Film Project Announcement
raizans wrote:
I wonder if the Lucky factory is going to make LLL film. It can’t be a coincidence that Lucky also announced new color film.
I thought I made it very clear in the first post: "The Film Project will utilize our newly developed proprietary machine and emulsion process, allowing us to be self-sufficient in our production."
No, we arent using Lucky Film or have any relationships with Lucky Film. Coming from Light Lens Lab we are known to not outsource third party manufacturers.
p.2 #2 · Light Lens Lab: Film Project Announcement
There's an interesting video on YT about the guys trying to bring back Polaroid film. It took them a few years and a lot of trial and error and I'm not even sure they replicated it. And they knew it was possible and were backwards engineering it with all the old equipment. A lot of knowledge is being lost everyday as silicon usurps our dominance...
Or to put it another way: making a new film isn't as easy as it seems. And we should appreciate the films we have and what engineering miracles they are.
p.2 #3 · Light Lens Lab: Film Project Announcement
LightLensLab wrote:
I thought I made it very clear in the first post: "The Film Project will utilize our newly developed proprietary machine and emulsion process, allowing us to be self-sufficient in our production."
No, we arent using Lucky Film or have any relationships with Lucky Film. Coming from Light Lens Lab we are known to not outsource third party manufacturers.
Really amazing the quality and aesthetic excellence of the old lenses and films. LLL, Cosina, and even Leica and others are to be commended for keeping it all alive. It gives us a benchmark to see the progress digital is making. (Still has a ways to go in my opinion. )
p.2 #7 · Light Lens Lab: Film Project Announcement
This is phenomenal news.
I second E6 being the biggest priority. Ektachrome is good, but not great, slide film. And Fuji is for all intents and purposes, gone.
I think back to the 1950s-60s when integrated dye-coupler film technology came onto the scene with the earliest Ektachrome and Agfachrome. Kodak and Agfa showed it could be done (and there was money to be made), and then numerous companies around the world ramped up production on quality color film in short order. Ansco, Dupont, Fuji, and later Ferrania, Perutz, Ilford, Konica, Orwo. Each making in-house color films. I'm sure I've left out a few. The USSR even made their own color stocks.
What we are encountering today with these agonizing, snail's pace efforts in creating color film is a combination of factors. Perhaps (like Polaroid) there's a loss of know-how. And likely issues with raw materials. I realize it was never going to be as easy as it was in the 50s and I don't wish to blame those who've been trying. But we also must acknowledge a bit of a motivation problem behind it. It's always easy to get inspired when something is seen as new, hip, futuristic.
But if B/W film is like a building a Model T, color film is, in reality, a Model A. Just the next step. Definitely not the Starship Enterprise as a previous poster said. That's a lame excuse. Color film is not even rocket science.
After seeing what LLL has been able to pull off with lenses, I have no doubt this company has the necessary motivation! Godspeed to you!
p.2 #13 · Light Lens Lab: Film Project Announcement
geekcop wrote:
The images look great. I'm really interested in the peel apart 4x5 film. I would love to buy a bunch of that stock!
Desmolicious wrote:
That is the stand out! I'd take up 4x5 photography just for that!
Hmm, maybe a good thing I kept the Sinar 4x5 camera from back in the college days..
If peel apart equivalent to Polaroid Type 55, the one with the B&W negative, would be very cool. But will LLL also produce the film holder? I don't know how difficult, or easy it is to source operational Polaroid ones.
What I thought was way more 'off the wall' was the following:
"We are also researching, developing and producing colour reversal films that consist of a dye-incorporating development process, commonly known as K-14, for 135 and 120 formats in 2026."
K14 = Kodachrome.
OK, this would be very, very interesting except for the fact that Kodachrome had to be shipped to a handful of dedicated labs for processing... Curious what LLL has in plan to address that aspect.
p.2 #14 · Light Lens Lab: Film Project Announcement
rscheffler wrote:
What I thought was way more 'off the wall' was the following:
"We are also researching, developing and producing colour reversal films that consist of a dye-incorporating development process, commonly known as K-14, for 135 and 120 formats in 2026."
K14 = Kodachrome.
OK, this would be very, very interesting except for the fact that Kodachrome had to be shipped to a handful of dedicated labs for processing... Curious what LLL has in plan to address that aspect.
I’ve watched Breaking Bad. If they can figure out how to cook meth in an RV, I can figure out how to develop K14 in my bathroom.
p.2 #15 · Light Lens Lab: Film Project Announcement
The appropriate film holders for Type 55 are readily available on the used market though, if this is a viable product, that may change!
rscheffler wrote:
Hmm, maybe a good thing I kept the Sinar 4x5 camera from back in the college days..
If peel apart equivalent to Polaroid Type 55, the one with the B&W negative, would be very cool. But will LLL also produce the film holder? I don't know how difficult, or easy it is to source operational Polaroid ones.
What I thought was way more 'off the wall' was the following:
"We are also researching, developing and producing colour reversal films that consist of a dye-incorporating development process, commonly known as K-14, for 135 and 120 formats in 2026."
K14 = Kodachrome.
OK, this would be very, very interesting except for the fact that Kodachrome had to be shipped to a handful of dedicated labs for processing... Curious what LLL has in plan to address that aspect.
p.2 #17 · Light Lens Lab: Film Project Announcement
What's great about LLL producing film is that it gives film shooters a bit more security. It's one more source to rely on in case other brands decide to stop making it in the future.
p.2 #18 · Light Lens Lab: Film Project Announcement
You can still find Provia and Velvia (50 & 100) in Japan, but that might just be old stock. Ektachrome E100 is the last transparency film available in the U.S. from a major manufacturer. Provia & Velvia in Japan in 35mm are $35/roll and E100 in the US is less, but prohibitively expensive. In my opinion, these films provide a unique look that isn’t easily duplicated in digital. If LLL brings back K-14..great and maybe I’ll develop my frozen K64, but take the easier route. Please find a way to bring back the Provia/Velvia/E100VS look at a price point where I only need to sell one of my cars and not my cars and house.
Last week I ran into a young Scottish traveler and his girlfriend on the Shinkansen. I noticed that he was shooting film on an old Nikon. He told me that he brought three rolls of film for his three weeks in Japan. He wasn’t sure why he was shooting film and he didn’t seem to know anything about photography, but he proudly told me that film was what people his age were doing..and undoubtedly spinning LPs in the evening. There is a market out there if someone knew how to leverage such passive interest, but this market doesn’t do $35 per roll of 35mm film.
And we should appreciate the films we have and what engineering miracles they are. 