UK film retailer Analogue Wonderland has announced the release of a black-and-white film to mark the retailer’s fifth birthday.
The film – called Wonderpan 400 – is a 400-ISO black-and-white film which has been made in a limited batch of only 1,000 24-shot rolls.
The company says the film is an existing emulsion usually shot “around 100 ISO”.
“Based on a best-selling black-and-white emulsion – but with a change in ISO rendering different results to the original box speed – WonderPan 400 produces monochrome images with strong contrast, dark blacks, and moderate grain in the midrange tones,” Analogue Wonderland said in a press release.
“We have chosen to release WonderPan as a 400-speed film because we love the look when shot in this way, and we want to initiate a conversation about pushing film with folks who might not have considered it before. We want to explore the pros and cons of shooting a film at higher ISO, the aesthetic output, and what it means when you get to development and scanning the roll.”
“What we wanted to do with WonderPan is bring a technical technique (pushing) that is traditionally thought of as ‘advanced’, and package it in a way that doesn’t take itself too seriously,” said Analogue Wonderland’s founder Paul McKay. “This will allow us to demystify the process for folks, and hopefully unlock another creative option for a new generation of film pushers!”
The film has been released with an “origin story” featuring the character of Chef Ambrosia, modelled on the Nintendo computer game ‘Cooking Mama’.
The film is expected to be released in late June and will cost £8 per roll, but discounts will be offered for members of the company’s Club AW. Purchases will be limited to a maximum of 10 rolls per customer.
Analogue Wonderland has released a gallery of example shots taken on the film, which can be seen below:
(All image by Karen Freer)
I'm a New Zealander who has been living in London since the mid-1990s, shooting film seriously since the year 2000. Kosmo Foto was launched in 2012 and has since become a film brand, with the release of my first films Kosmo Foto Mono 35mm (2017) and Kosmo Foto Mono 120 (2019).
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Looks like another Orwo UN54+ rebrand 😅
So do you shoot it at 400, then have your lab push two stops? Generally the result of such handling would be increase of grain and blocking up or loss of detail in shadows. I don’t want to spoil the fun, but could we not do that with most 100 speed films?
It’s perfectly possible, as you suggest Bruce. You’d need to make sure you label the film so it can be processed differently. I think what AW are offering here is convenience.
Got it.