Fun with Film: Ultrafine Extreme 400

Choice can be a wonderful thing, even if the details of some choices can be troublesomely obscure. One need only look at Ultrafine Online's "Extreme 400" film in 35mm format to get a good example of this.

A private label film of uncertain origins, Ultrafine Extreme 400 is a film option available in 35mm format in both long and short rolls for a very reasonable price.  I was generously bequeathed a small number of these 12 shot rolls by my buddy and fellow camera buff Mark who features his collection at The Gas House, and have really come to like this film.

Questions linger, most notably "who makes this film?" One might presume it is Ilford Private label film, which may make sense.  As I seem to recall, a known Ilford product marketed as "Kentmere" has similar dot-matrix style film edge markings.  Still, I've tried Kentmere 100 before and found it didn't have quite the contrast that I've noticed in the Ultrafine product.

Below is a test roll, shot on the Darth Vader camera, the Konica Aiborg, showing this film in action in various lighting.  

In bright light, highlights can be hard to tame on the Ultrafine Extreme 400.  However, in this case, the result is a very nice glow to this swan at Hagerstown City Park. 

I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing: The Konica Aiborg

May the Fourth be with you!

The glittering black camera sat on the nearby shelf, awaiting its first use by me.  A generous loaner from Mike Eckman, it awaited a roll of film for an initial trial. And as I glanced at it, the tag line above from the classic space trilogy kept ringing in my head.

Where does one buy an Aiborg?  In the Darth Maul (sic) of course! 

Normally, the benevolent gift of a loaner camera is one met with great excitement, but my excitement was tempered by a large dose of skepticism.  Not only had I read Mike's excellent review in which he candidly shared his frustrations with this camera, but as I took my initial glances at the form factor of this camera, I could only seem to feel confusion regarding its operation.

In a film camera world where we often lament the degree of sameness evident across different models from different makers, the Aiborg does stand out as truly unique, but it is this uniqueness that helps make it feel intimidating.  Add in the "Death Star" styling and dizzying array of buttons, and the result is a "point and shoot" camera that feels like a far more complex and challenging machine than most of its genre.