☞ This is the 73rd edition of the monthly Analog.Cafe Newsletter, featuring the latest in film photography news. Subscribe to receive it via email on the last Tuesday of every month (it's free). What’s new? The new Polaroid Flip instant film camera is launched, Fujifilm announces price increases, I interview Sissi Lu about her DO NOT X-RAY pouch, Bad Film Simulator and cannabis-infused film developers are now available, a new article series on redscaling, bluescaling, and greenscaling color film has started, there’s a spring photo dump, and updates to Analog.Cafe’s negative inversion tool — film Q. Plus, ORWO may introduce multiple new films this year. 💛 GOLD members have the opportunity to invert 12 GiB of film negatives each month with film Q, discover how to achieve rare and unique colors on film by bluescaling Lomochrome Turquoise and greenscaling Aerochrome, and check out my spring photo dump. 🎁 Try GOLD for free for 14 days! In this newsletter: What’s new? Redscale, greenscale, bluescale. Sissi Lu’s DO NOT X-RAY. Polaroid Flip. ORWO’s upcoming films for 2025. Fujifilm announces film price hikes. Bad Film Simulator. Techniques for developing film using cannabis. Spring photo dump. App updates. Latest from Analog.Cafe. Support this blog and access premium features with GOLD memberships!
Redscale, greenscale, bluescale. You won’t see much green in images taken with Aerochrome — unless you apply greenscaling. This color-infrared emulsion, created for the US military in the 1940s, emits red hues when exposed to infrared light, particularly when reflecting off green plant foliage. Kodak Aerochrome with Hasselbland XPan. Kodak Aerochrome is priced in the hundreds per roll as it’s the only color infrared film, and it has been discontinued since 2009. Shooting this film can be challenging due to its narrow dynamic range and the difficulty in predicting the capture of invisible light. However, the hurdles can enhance the sense of accomplishment when achieving successful results, and the colors produced are extraordinary. Nonetheless, every photo taken on this film and shared online tends to appear similar: red or pink foliage with blue for most other subjects.
Now, what if I told you that another array of colors is hidden within Aerochrome that has gone unnoticed (until now)? Greenscaling Aerochrome results in images dominated by green with red infrared highlights. To my knowledge, this method had not been previously attempted or recorded until I tried it this month. The greenscaling process mirrors that of redscaling any color film, but specific exposure settings and a filter are required to achieve the desired outcome. You can read about the steps, view more greenscaled images, and discover exposure tips for doing it yourself in this month’s premium article: ‘Greenscaling’ Aerochrome.
Additionally, bluescaling can also be performed by reversing your roll of Lomochrome Turquoise. This technique is akin to redscaling typical color film or greenscaling Aerochrome, but it doesn’t require a filter, operates within a specific exposure range, and involves some editing afterwards. Check out the bluescaled photos and learn how to do it yourself in this month’s other premium article: ‘Bluescaling’ Lomochrome Turquoise.
Sissi Lu’s DO NOT X-RAY. This week, I spoke with Sissi Lu regarding her new product, the DO NOT X-RAY film pouches, which appear to be quite popular. I inquired about her minimalistic design that emphasizes language and respect, as well as the journey from a personal necessity to a product now available in most shops across the US and Canada.
Polaroid Flip. This month, Polaroid unveiled a brand new film camera, marking their first remake of the classic 600-series cameras. If you’re familiar with Polaroid, you may know their current Go and I-Type cameras: the Now and the I-2. The Go and the Now are entry-level models priced below $200, while the I-2 is nearly $600. So, where does the Flip fit in? Priced just under $200, the Flip is Polaroid’s new mid-range camera that claims to produce better photos than the Now. It achieves this largely through retro technology from forty years ago used in its lens.
Instead of Lidar, which is common in many contemporary cameras, the Polaroid Flip utilizes sonar to determine the distance to the subject. To set the focus, it adjusts one of four corrective lens elements, akin to the functioning of the Polaroid 600 — allowing for one of the four predefined focus distances (this may yield results that are less sharp than your SX-70 or I-2, but sharper than the Now, which contains only two lenses, or the Go,
The Polaroid Flip instant film camera has been launched, Fujifilm reveals price increases, I speak with Sissi Lu regarding her DO NOT X-RAY pouch, Bad Film Simulator and cannabis-infused film developers are available, a new article series focuses on redscaling, bluescaling, and greenscaling color film, a spring photo collection, and updates to Analog.Cafe’s negative inversion tool — film Q. Additionally, ORWO might be introducing several new films this year.