Any information on new Lucky color negative film?

[Kotobukicat]

Does anyone know anything or have used the newly introduced Lucky color negative film from China? In the middle of 25 there was a large media presence of Lucky speaking about their new post Kodak agreement color film. I have not been able to find any from the usual suspects. Is this real or is this vapor ware? I'm not keen on buying Chinese products, but I do like to try different emulsions. I have read that Kodak favors the yellows, Fuji the greens and traditionally Lucky favors the reds. I have only seen one shot (on my computer screen) of an image made on the new lucky emulsion, and the subject was holding a color test chart. The colors seemed subdued, and not over saturated. This might be a good film for portraiture. The test subject's skin tone was very natural. Of course I do not know what kind of post processing had been done on that particular image.

I would like to get my hands on some of this. The only place that I found any is on e-bay, dated 2005, long before the introduction announcements. I never, ever buy film from e-bay.

Thank you for any comments!

Joe

 

[cgw125 150]

Try photrio.com
Ever use Google? Buy direct from the PRC.

 

[webestang6418]

I only can comment on what I see at the lab.

But first off these reviews where peeps say, Kodak this color better or Fuji this color better is a crock. In my 40 years of developing every film every made (save for K-14) I have never seen this to be true. There were/are some films made for that reason such as Fuji Reala that has an 4th layer. tech sheet.... https://125px.com/docs/film/fuji/superia_reala_datasheet.pdf
Or Konica "Baby" film that had a extra magenta layer. Top right in photo.

But on to Lucky color film. IMO it's just OK. Color rendition seems close to other "off" brands and is slightly more contrasty. It does not handle under or over exposure well so shoot it right on or expect bad results.

 

[cgw125 150]

I only can comment on what I see at the lab.

But first off these reviews where peeps say, Kodak this color better or Fuji this color better is a crock. In my 40 years of developing every film every made (save for K-14) I have never seen this to be true. There were/are some films made for that reason such as Fuji Reala that has an 4th layer. tech sheet.... https://125px.com/docs/film/fuji/superia_reala_datasheet.pdf
Or Konica "Baby" film that had a extra magenta layer. Top right in photo.

But on to Lucky color film. IMO it's just OK. Color rendition seems close to other "off" brands and is slightly more contrasty. It does not handle under or over exposure well so shoot it right on or expect bad results.

Amen.
Practically, though, what you see online is a poor guide to what a film looks like.
Lucky product has never in my experience been even a close second to major brands' consumer grade materials. Their b&w 120 isn't a patch on Kodak or Ilford films. Labs hated it and friends with decent home darkroom chops did, too. Guess I shot maybe 8-10 rolls of it. It slid through some film backs(Mamiya 645 Super and Bronica SQ-B) but Mamiya RB backs choked on it. Backing paper was really thick.
Can only say if you like film, buy good stuff and cook your own presets for post.
That's late 2025 reality.

 

[Kotobukicat]

I wondered about the exposure thing. When I am "making memories" or document things in the field, I live by the light meter, and will probably die by the light meter. But when I am being contemplative behind the camera, I do tend to bracket, and take risks with lighting and color balance.

Thank you for the response. I do like to try out new (to me) films and I have been reading a lot of things about the Lucky color film release that was supposed to happen this summer.

Thanks again,

Joe

 

[webestang6418]

I wondered about the exposure thing. When I am "making memories" or document things in the field, I live by the light meter, and will probably die by the light meter. But when I am being contemplative behind the camera, I do tend to bracket, and take risks with lighting and color balance.

Good to hear. Most of our customers over/under their film as they do not meter correctly. Which I do not understand. Other than a studio setting I use the in-camera meter and it works just fine. And I do bracket as well, cool thing about my 90's Canon A2E, it has a bracket setting and will shoot 3 shots with one image at setting and one over/under from 1/2 to 2 stops.

 

[cgw125 150]

Good to hear. Most of our customers over/under their film as they do not meter correctly. Which I do not understand. Other than a studio setting I use the in-camera meter and it works just fine. And I do bracket as well, cool thing about my 90's Canon A2E, it has a bracket setting and will shoot 3 shots with one image at setting and one over/under from 1/2 to 2 stops.

That was a cool feature. Yup still pack a little Sekonic 308(sooo tiny, why not?)in my Fuji/Ricoh street bag. Old habits...not all bad--hah!