Listen now | The unexpected beauty of a film designed for function, a Leica Valentine's kiss on the concrete, and the lessons learned from a winter NYC photographic bike ride.
For a not-a-photographer reader, I can empathise and appreciate the storytelling in your artistry, Raf. 'Gut-wrenching realisations' and all! Thanks for your photo-stories, of life through your lens! (I appreciate your captions).
Lovely article and understandable frustrations! I haven't shot Santacolor 100 but I have shot Elektra 100 (and wrote a review!) and absolutely love it. (It's the same film - Kodak Aerocolor IV 2460.)
Thanks for the shout-out. Always happy to support and grieve with other photographers! I have definitely dropped a camera or two in my day .... 😬
Great! Pro review right there! Is that your website? Very nice! And yeah, people here on Substack really made me feel better with the Summicron episode. I still didn’t hear back from Leica yet, they shipped the lens to Germany for a factory repair. Something tells me it’s gonna be costly…
Hi Liam! Thanks for your comment! I really like the vintage tones as well. Whenever I show the picture with the bridge and the street sign, everyone say something like, “Whoa, this looks like it was taken in the 80s!” That said, I’m seriously considering venturing out on the streets and attempting to capture these “timeless” moments, devoid of modern elements like cars, touchscreen phones, screens, etc. I believe this is a cool challenge and is an enjoyable thing to do with this film stock!
Keeping it simple. Amazing article and amazing photographs. Your passion for the art is absolutely contagious and inspires me to just get out and do it. It is an honor for you to mention me much less call me a friend. Keep it up, consider me a big fan. Great work!
Thanks for the super kind words! Means a lot to me! And it’s incredible to see someone recognizing my passion for art and photography! Have an awesome weekend my friend! Any photo plans for the weekend?
It will be mostly high school baseball shoots for me this weekend. I always try to drive to a town or two and explore but being a father of 3 it doesn’t always happen.
First of all, I want to say that I am really sorry to what has happened to your beautiful lens. A similar thing happened to me a few years ago but it was also a Summicron 50 mm. Fortunately enough it landed in a moist patch of grass which might sound horrible to some, but compared to the cold asphalt your lens has hit, it feels like heaven.
I really like your trip reports. It’s a bit of a journey that you can easily join and follow every step you do. Please don’t stop doing this.
Here is my take on Santa colour after having shot a few roads myself: I really like the colour, in fact and only in some situations they come pretty close to Kodachrome and I from my side have not detected any noticeable grain considering that this is an ISO 100 film. But maybe that is because I got it scanned at a lab and the guy who runs this lab used to respool aerocolor himself for quite some time. I frequently have had issues that the first two or three frames had light leaks some sort of.
Other than that, I really like the skin tones, especially when using a flash indoors.
I’d like to add some photos to this comment, but I think that this is not possible so I can send you some via DM .
Thanks for taking me with you on your bike tour. It was a nice time.
So nice, Hans! I’m curious to see the pictures you mentioned, please send me via DM, I love seeing pictures from fellow photographers! And yeah, it absolutely rocks with skin tones and flash! Thanks for such a nice comment!
Do I recommend the SantaColor 100? Yes, it’s a good bang for the buck. It’s a little hard to scan, as suddenly some shots are VERY grainy and you think it’s your scanning config when it’s not.
White balance is easy to setup. It presents cold colors without being a Tungsten film (like the CineStill 800T).
Brings a VERY 80’s look. No halation at all. Some landscapes are good and some others are not. I noticed a high amount of dust, perhaps because it’s a respool? I don’t know, but noticeably I had more dust in the emulsion.
Loved the Santa 100 pics! I really like the cold colors not to mention the scenes you capture. The writing is nice too. I could imagine what you felt along the ride, the thrill and the frustration after the accident with your lens. I hope you can fix it soon!
On my last trip to NYC, I decided to take pictures of people in museums. It was nice not only to enjoy art; watch people’s reactions to art seemed another kind of art to me at that moment. Well, I was having fun. And while I was reading you, I thought what if I had done that in a film camera rather than my iPhone. Maybe it wouldn’t be possible since people would see me photographing them. But I think that the result would me amazing with the depth of colors that you present to us here.
For a not-a-photographer reader, I can empathise and appreciate the storytelling in your artistry, Raf. 'Gut-wrenching realisations' and all! Thanks for your photo-stories, of life through your lens! (I appreciate your captions).
💗💗💗 you value the captions!!! I thought people ignored that! Thanks for your kind words, Vic! (Can I call you Vic?). cheers!
Vicky or Victoria - thanks (Vic is too close to the vapor rub!)
You're welcome, take a look at Karen Davis' work https://karendavis.substack.com/p/drops-of-beauty-268 (hope its ok to share the link here)
Hahah, got it! Thanks for sharing Karen’s work! Let me check it now!
Lovely article and understandable frustrations! I haven't shot Santacolor 100 but I have shot Elektra 100 (and wrote a review!) and absolutely love it. (It's the same film - Kodak Aerocolor IV 2460.)
Thanks for the shout-out. Always happy to support and grieve with other photographers! I have definitely dropped a camera or two in my day .... 😬
Great! Pro review right there! Is that your website? Very nice! And yeah, people here on Substack really made me feel better with the Summicron episode. I still didn’t hear back from Leica yet, they shipped the lens to Germany for a factory repair. Something tells me it’s gonna be costly…
Ah my friend, disaster can strike at any time. I’m just so glad it didn’t deter you!! Keep up the great work 💗
Thanks thanks! 💗💗
I'd not head of SantaColour before, it's a got a real vintage vibe by the look of it, I like it
Hi Liam! Thanks for your comment! I really like the vintage tones as well. Whenever I show the picture with the bridge and the street sign, everyone say something like, “Whoa, this looks like it was taken in the 80s!” That said, I’m seriously considering venturing out on the streets and attempting to capture these “timeless” moments, devoid of modern elements like cars, touchscreen phones, screens, etc. I believe this is a cool challenge and is an enjoyable thing to do with this film stock!
Yeah that is really cool, I like the idea of having no clues when an image was taken
Keeping it simple. Amazing article and amazing photographs. Your passion for the art is absolutely contagious and inspires me to just get out and do it. It is an honor for you to mention me much less call me a friend. Keep it up, consider me a big fan. Great work!
Thanks for the super kind words! Means a lot to me! And it’s incredible to see someone recognizing my passion for art and photography! Have an awesome weekend my friend! Any photo plans for the weekend?
It will be mostly high school baseball shoots for me this weekend. I always try to drive to a town or two and explore but being a father of 3 it doesn’t always happen.
Haha, I know how it is!
First of all, I want to say that I am really sorry to what has happened to your beautiful lens. A similar thing happened to me a few years ago but it was also a Summicron 50 mm. Fortunately enough it landed in a moist patch of grass which might sound horrible to some, but compared to the cold asphalt your lens has hit, it feels like heaven.
I really like your trip reports. It’s a bit of a journey that you can easily join and follow every step you do. Please don’t stop doing this.
Here is my take on Santa colour after having shot a few roads myself: I really like the colour, in fact and only in some situations they come pretty close to Kodachrome and I from my side have not detected any noticeable grain considering that this is an ISO 100 film. But maybe that is because I got it scanned at a lab and the guy who runs this lab used to respool aerocolor himself for quite some time. I frequently have had issues that the first two or three frames had light leaks some sort of.
Other than that, I really like the skin tones, especially when using a flash indoors.
I’d like to add some photos to this comment, but I think that this is not possible so I can send you some via DM .
Thanks for taking me with you on your bike tour. It was a nice time.
So nice, Hans! I’m curious to see the pictures you mentioned, please send me via DM, I love seeing pictures from fellow photographers! And yeah, it absolutely rocks with skin tones and flash! Thanks for such a nice comment!
friend 💚
🥰
Do I recommend the SantaColor 100? Yes, it’s a good bang for the buck. It’s a little hard to scan, as suddenly some shots are VERY grainy and you think it’s your scanning config when it’s not.
White balance is easy to setup. It presents cold colors without being a Tungsten film (like the CineStill 800T).
Brings a VERY 80’s look. No halation at all. Some landscapes are good and some others are not. I noticed a high amount of dust, perhaps because it’s a respool? I don’t know, but noticeably I had more dust in the emulsion.
Loved the Santa 100 pics! I really like the cold colors not to mention the scenes you capture. The writing is nice too. I could imagine what you felt along the ride, the thrill and the frustration after the accident with your lens. I hope you can fix it soon!
Ughhh. So sorry about dropping your precious gear. That’s the worst!! (I’ve been there…) Happy to see your shots, though…
On my last trip to NYC, I decided to take pictures of people in museums. It was nice not only to enjoy art; watch people’s reactions to art seemed another kind of art to me at that moment. Well, I was having fun. And while I was reading you, I thought what if I had done that in a film camera rather than my iPhone. Maybe it wouldn’t be possible since people would see me photographing them. But I think that the result would me amazing with the depth of colors that you present to us here.