German film lab Optik Oldschool has made the surprise announcement that it is launching a colour film – a medium format version of a film that has not yet hit the market.
The Dusseldorf lab first teased its OptiColour 200 film two weeks ago on its Instagram account, initially saying that it would be launching a 120 version of the film and eventually revealing that the film is the as-yet-unreleased NC200 emulsion from ORWO.
And over the weekend, the lab’s Instagram page ran a new post saying OptiColour 200 would also be made available in 35mm.
The surprise film announcement comes despite there not yet being a release date for ORWO’s own Original Wolfen NC200 film, which was teased last year. The Photography & Video Show in London this March included a holographic display on the ORWO stall, teasing the 35mm version of film.
(Below are two images taken on the new film from the Optik Oldschool site.)
On its blog, Optik Oldschool said: “It’s a new emulsion, created and coated by InovisCoat in Germany. OptiColour 200 is the Wolfen NC200 emulsion in 120 – only available from Optik Oldschool. This new film features natural colours, good contrast, great greens and reds and awesome skin tones, setting itself apart significantly from the other films of the NC series (NC400/500). Added bonus: The film has an orange base, which makes it easier to handle when scanning in the lab.
The blog continued: “Initially the film had a green-ish base (known from NC500), so we were skeptical for the outcome but very pleasantly surprised when we ran the developed rolls through the scanners. We provided feedback on colours and scanning performance and kept questioning why the film could not have an orange base. Additional hours of work and weeks of preparation later and voilà, the orange base was born yielding even better results when scanned in the lab.”
The blog post also said that the initial run of the 120 film suffered a setback, with the anti-halation layer being incorrectly applied.
“The anti-halation-error turns out to be really evil on a PET base while it’s ‘controllable’ with a triacetate base as used for 35mm film,” the lab’s blog said. “This means the first rolls of OptiColour 200 in 120 will have to be cut from 35mm material, with the known side-effect: fat rolls. The halation effect isn’t as pronounced as known from CineStill films, though still visible. You may also spot some red/green dots here and there.
“A new production is planned. We’re aiming for a final version in 120 coated on PET material, resulting in normal sized rolls and an even clearer orange base. We will document more on the error and how it affected the 120 material + give more insights on the making, the test rolls, light piping issues, etc.”
Optik Oldschool has said the new 120 film will be available in June, with the improved version appearing in August. The film will cost €9.90 a roll.
As for the 35mm format of the film, no release details have yet been published.
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).
I’m doing everything I can to promote film photography in the 21st Century, and help it survive and thrive. If you want to write something for Kosmo Foto, please drop me a line at foto.dowling@gmail.com.
I’m puzzled by the references to an orange base. My understanding of the construction and processing of colour negative film is that the orange appearance is created using the oxidation by-products of the development process. It is to reduce the deficiencies of the colour dyes in the three emulsion layers and is in inverse proportion to the dye formed in the image in each layer. So it is not an even layer across the film but the colour is a combination of the dyes formed in each layer to counteract the inefficiency of the image forming colour dye. It is not an orange base.