☞ This is the 71st edition of the monthly Analog.Cafe Newsletter, featuring the latest insights on film photography. Subscribe to receive it via email on the last Tuesday of each month (it’s free). What’s new? This month saw the release of new color film from Harman (also known as Ilford), a decrease in film prices to levels not seen in years, the launch of two new instant film cameras by Lomography, hacking incidents affecting both their and Ferrania’s social media accounts, and ONDU Pinhole’s decision to discontinue pinhole camera production to focus on larger formats. 💛 GOLD members can learn more about film pricing trends for 2025, utilize the new Chem Log app to save money and enhance image quality in their home labs, and find out about two “top-secret” projects mentioned in this month’s newsletter. 🎁 Try GOLD for free for 14 days! In this newsletter: What’s new? Optimizing your film development chemistry. New color film: Harman Red 125. An opportune moment to buy film. Two new instant film cameras from Lomography. Hacked Lomography and Film Ferrania social media accounts. ONDU Pinhole ceases pinhole camera production to scale up. Latest updates from Analog.Cafe. Support this blog and gain premium features with GOLD memberships!
How to optimize your film development chemistry. If you use multiple developers or want to prolong the life of your C-41 chemistry, you might encounter issues. Chemicals expire like yogurt and lose effectiveness like an open soda. Using expired solutions can result in loss of images or underexposed film. Keeping thorough notes is crucial for ensuring good image quality and preventing mishaps. While paper records may suffice, they are prone to being lost, damaged in a lab environment, and can be challenging to organize. Chem Log is a new app that automates and systematizes your film development notes in a user-friendly interface designed for efficiency. It tracks all your mix dates, calculates extended development times for your color-negative film, and features a dilution calculator. Chem Log is compatible with all devices and integrates with Film Log, ensuring you never forget which roll is in which camera or which chemicals were used for each film. You can even export your data to your spreadsheet software. Recording a note in Chem Log takes mere seconds and can save you significant hassle in your home lab. Get Chem Log, along with more premium apps, exclusive photography guides, and monthly secret features with your Analog.Cafe GOLD membership.
New color film: Harman Red 125. Harman, the manufacturer of Ilford-branded black-and-white films, has introduced a new color film just in time for Valentine’s Day this February. Redscaling an existing emulsion isn’t overly complicated — it simply involves reversing the film strip in the canister before loading it into your camera — but not all labs can process it if you do it at home. Harman's new offering, Red 125, features their Phoenix 200 emulsion but with reversed layers, mirrored edge markings, and a new DX code. This means the canister is compatible with point-and-shoot cameras, avoiding confusion with older lab equipment. Since Red 125 is a redscale film, which doesn't have a natural color balance, it should scan correctly no matter the lab or software used, resulting in the expected red hue. You may have also noticed that the ISO has changed to 125, as this redscaled film requires more light for accurate exposure. My favorite aspect of this product is the new datasheet released by the company, which illustrates how the color layers respond due to the new orientation, along with an impressive spectral sensitivity graph.
A great time to buy film. Film prices often pose a challenge for photographers. While there are certainly ways to save money — from bulk loading to developing and scanning at home — it’s a rare pleasure to discover that the cost of shooting film has actually decreased. Having been involved in film photography for over a decade, I often find it difficult to ascertain whether I am paying a fair price. With over a hundred different film brands available, prices can vary significantly. For instance, Harman Phoenix is listed at $21 on Amazon in Canada but only $11 at B&H! Knowing the average price of a film is beneficial. For Phoenix 200, the average is $14, revealing that Amazon charges $5, or 36%, more than usual. However, when I started, there was no reliable source tracking film prices — hence, I decided to create one. I have been gathering prices from various stores globally and monitoring over thirty popular film stocks since 2018. The resulting seven-year average timeline shows the impact of supply chain disruptions from the early 2020s and the growing fascination with film photography — a 60% increase for color film by early 2024 compared to 2019. Yet, in 2025,
Harman has launched a new color film, and film prices are at their lowest in years. Lomography has introduced two new instant film cameras, while both their accounts and Ferrania's have been hacked. Additionally, ONDU Pinhole has ceased the production of pinhole cameras.