Old Aerochrome Film

[Andrea B.]

LINK: https://mike-makes.com/2021/08/09/aerochrome-a-year-long-journey/

 

At that link there are (digitally scanned) film photos shown made with Kodak Aerochrome III Infrared Film 1443 which the photographer sourced from Russia. The $100 film was of course expired as would be any most Aerochrome film still in existence. The shots were made with an orange 056 filter. He cross-processed with C-41 rather than the suggested E-6.

 

The photos are weirdly cool. For many photos the original digital scan is shown together with a slightly edited alternate color version.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

[Andrea B.]

More Aerochrome Film work: LINKIE

This photographer shows some (digitally scanned) film photos made with a variety of filters which produce foliage which is very magenta, sort-of-magenta, red and orange-red. These were processed with E-6. 

[Andrea B.]

And here's one more:  LINKER. These photos were made with a Rolleiflex (square format), how cool is that! (Well, to me anyway...). There is still a source for 120 Aerochrome mentioned on the page.

 

Apparently Kodak recommended using a Wratten #12 yellow filter. This photographer used a yellow filter, but not Wratten. I kinda don't think that the results are quite like I think Aerochrome photos should look, but they are beautifully composed and processed. 

 

As a side note, the photographer mentions that some film cameras also have an "IR censor" having something to do with auto advance, electronic frame counting and/or DX code reading. Looks like the IR fogging problem from some electronic light/sensor is not a new one.

 

 

---

 

 

Apologies if any of these pages have been linked before over the last few years. But I was having fun  and wanted to pass along the links. And there are lots more out there.

[Andrea B.]

One last remark. Really. I promise!!

 

Aerochrome film is selling for the most outrages prices you can imagine !!

 

Here is a link to 12 rolls of 120 Aerochrome for AU$6500 = US$4500. DO_NOT_BUY_THIS

Seriously? Who would ever......??

 

Here's a much better price (not really): One roll of 120 EIR for US$279. STILL_TOO_MUCH

 

Here is a roll of 120 Aerochrome for US$260 featuring photos of guys with assault weapons.

Seriously? Is there some army out there which is still relying on IR film surveillance? I don't think so.

But look at those lovely magenta trees!

EBAY_AD 

ADDED:  I learned from our member Gary (next post) that the photos of armed soldiers in the Ebay ad were made by photographer RIchard Mosse who documented the conflicts in the Dem. Rep. of Congo using Aerochrome film. Holy wow!! Photographers who document wars are very brave to get those photos which illustrate the stories which need telling. The photos are very scarey to me! 

 

That seller is also offering a Zeiss UV-Sonnar 105 for US$25,000.

Sure guy, good luck on that one. Geez.

Rare though it may be, the price is about $17000 too high and even US$9000 is too high really

for such a big old clunker which is hard to adapt and only ok and not super-great like you think it should be.

Do not ask me how I know.

 

 

[GaryR]

I'm quite surprised that there's any sources of Aerochrome left.

That's a lot of money for expired film!

 

In 2007, Dean Bennici had huge stockpile of discontinued Kodak EIR color film and sold it for years on his site, for reasonable aftermarket prices. All of that seems to have dried up, but he does have some very nice work on his site.
https://www.aerochrome.shop/shop

 

The photos of "guys with assault weapons" were originally taken by Richard Mosse in 2010. Mosse is well-known for documenting the conflict in the Democrate Republic of Congo, with Kodak Aerochrome III infrared film.

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/12/16/magazine/congo-color.html

[Christoph]

What always surprises me is the variety of looks. Even with the same film variants and filters, you often see striking differences in terms of the colors of the sky, vegetation as well as the color cast. The color cast is almost always present, sometimes more magenta, sometimes more cyan. 

[Andrea B.]

Gary - Thanks for the link to Dean Bennnici's site. Yes, good work there!

It was really good to have a clarification about the scary weapons photos. There's a lot of sensitivity these days about that stuff. (However, we shall avoid any political discussions here on UVP.) I'll refer to your comment in my original post. Thank you!

 

---

 

Chris - Yes, I've noticed that also. I had thought for a while that there was one basic "look" to the Aerochrome style. But of course that cannot be given the differences in lighting across the day, in light and shadow. And the different ways the scene and its subjects reflect light. And the nuances of chemical development.  

Seems like we could say the same thing about digital Aerochrome too - changing light and reflections, nuances of conversion and processing, etc. All that does not produce one uniform "look". Not to mention the finer details of the filter glass and stacking shifting the colors in one direction or another.

 

---

 

BTW - I was trying to get an Aerochrome tag going. (It takes time to hunt down all the topics which need it.) But it occurs to me that we could have a mini-Aerochrome-subforum here on UVP. One section could be for the filter discussions and one section could be for showing photos and portfolio work. Hmmmmm......let me think about this.

 

 

[OlDoinyo]

The last link repeats the recommendation to load in total darkness but then amusingly blames UV light for any fogging damage if this advice is not followed. This is obviously nonsense: many films are UV-sensitive but carry no such recommendation and UV is not known for leaking into places where visible light does not reach. But IR is, and daylight and most incandescent lights contain/emit a lot of IR. It is possible to load such films by the light of a blue LED if the light is not too bright and such a "safelight" does not emit enough IR to cause leakage and fogging trouble.

 

I have shot this film with a Minolta Autocord, which is vaguely analogous to the Rollei in the third example.

 

 

[photoni]

 

 

.

 

IR Kodak is gone, if you want strange colors there is the LomoChrome Purple in 135 and 120 format

.

 

https://www.macodirect.de/en/film/color-negative-films/5318/lomography-lomochrome-purple-2019-100-400-roll-film-120?c=621

[OlDoinyo]

Lomochrome is exceedingly easy to imitate (to a first-order approximation.) Just swap the green and blue channels on any conventional image (RBG.)

[robwalwyn]

I stumbled upon this forum when searching for Aerochrome and info about some older filters (like the B+W 099 special false colour infrared filter) so thought I would join and say hi!

 

I just posted a little introduction of myself elsewhere but also wanted to chime in and share a link to a recent blog post I wrote about shooting Kodak Aerochrome which hopefully contains information that people find useful/interesting (and I have a lot of examples of my shots up there too). If you're interested can check it out here: www.robwalwyn.com/aerochrome

 

I find this film and all its various iterations so fascinating and beautiful, and will be very sad when the day arrives that I run out of my precious frozen stock. So many factors can influence the results of the Aerochrome shots you see: time of day, latitude, chemical development process used, filter chosen, film age, exposure used, season, etc.

[ulf]

Thanks Rob.

 

That aerochrome-article was very interesting.

This is the first time that I really grasped how cross processing works.

 

I have completely left the film photo.

The remaining film related stuff I have is a Canon EOS 1v, a Nikonos V and several frozen cartons of film that takes up too much space in my freezer.

None of the films are for IR.

 

If I remember the film name correctly it is Fuji Reala.

I liked, that film for the colours and resolution.

Are there any market for selling film like that, maybe on eBay, or should I just liberate the freezer space?

[robwalwyn]

Hi Ulf!

 

Glad you liked it - I have plans for a lot more detailed of a post with all my test images and learnings, plus to record the full history of the development timeline of this film (as information online is pretty scant).

 

Definitely a market for your old film, especially if it's been frozen and is somewhat rare (like your Reala is given it's been discontinued and was a lovely film). I'd do a quick search for sold items on eBay but you'll probably have better luck and results selling it locally on something like Facebook marketplace / analogue film buy, sell, swap groups on Facebook (and not have to pay eBay fees).