NEW ORWO STOCK - TEST RESULTS

[Ludwig Hagelstein]

As of yesterday, both ORWO NC 500 and NC 400 can be bought in motion picture lenghts of 122 M / 305 M and 610 M on the Orwo website. The 35mm film is BH 1866 perforated and does not have a Remjet backing. The price is very competitive. 

Here are a few takeaways from my test with the material. This will concern the NC 500 emulsion. The NC 400 emulsion will be discussed in another post at a later date. 
The tests were conducted with material cut down from long rolls with BH 1866 perforation, not with 135-36 finished material. 

I've been fortunate enough to have been able to (technically) test a few stages of the emulsion over the last months and must say, that they have come a long way. Making a color film from scratch is not an easy task - some would have called it impossible. Yet, Orwo and the engineers and emulsioneers at Innoviscoat managed to come up with a new color emulsion - in record time. I suggest to take a moment to appreciate this.

Many here and elsewhere have been very sceptical and sometimes even demeaning. If you have a problem with the brand, or those associated with it, please refrain from commenting - marketing and distribution of the product is not subject of my short review here. I want to talk about the emulsion. 

Film Speed: 

Even though the Film is called NC 500, the sensitometrically determined film speed of the emulsion, processed in a monitored ECN-2 process is close to 320. Under practical conditions, I suggest the film be exposed at E.I. 250. 

Granularity: 

Compared to 5219 and 5207, Orwo NC500 is noticeably grainier. This, however, isn't necessarily a bug, but more a feature. The film is not a Vision3 emulsion, and does not even come close. But it does not have to, in my opinion. Compared to any available modern emulsion, the NC 500 has a distinct grain structure / dye distribution pattern that resembles early chromogenic emulsions. Some will like the look, others will not. That's a matter of personal taste. 

Sharpness: 

Sharpness and especially acutance could be improved upon, but again, in this regard as well the film is distinctly not a Vision3 film. 

Antihalation:

Since the film has no remjet backing, one might assume halations could be an issue. However, I am pleased to say that the integral anti halation layer present in the emulsion works very well in surpressing both reflection and diffusion halations. 

Color Reproduction:

Color Saturation is overall on the lower end of the spectrum. Especially the yellow dye forming layer fails to form sufficient dye density, which results in muted blues, especially apparent in a blue sky. Overall color reproduction is acceptable. 

Uniformity

I still need to conduct a final (moving image) test with the material to give a conclusion here. My tests however, suggest that the film should perform as expected. 

Conclusion

Someone who only shoots on 5203 / 50D will probably not enjoy NC 500. If you like to try a new look that is distinctly not as clean as Vision3, but more in line of color negative films found in the late 1960s and early 1970s, this might be a good way to explore that route.

 

Here are a few example shots taken last weekend in the mountains: 

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rmL7xXPM7YynMUSlYk_sYALSPFZ1Yrt1/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CeWNT5hlof_1zkLFeEBvHEfPDSA06RPY/view?usp=share_link

 

[Ludwig Hagelstein]

grain structure

 

[David Sekanina]

The color of the base of the film is quite different to other color film stocks. Should scanning facilities modify their scanning procedure, and plug-in creators create a special profile for ORWO conversion to positive? Or do the current methods work well?

Edited December 16, 2022 by David Sekanina

[Ludwig Hagelstein]

8 minutes ago, David Sekanina said:

The color of the base of the film is quite different to other color film stocks. Should scanning facilities modify their scanning procedure, and plug-in creators create a special profile for ORWO conversion to positive? Or do the current methods work well?

that's a very good question. Since the film has no orange mask scanners may have a harder time. But a good operator should be able to handle it. 

 

[Paul-Anthony]

Hi. We just ordered our NC400 roll to be tested.
I'll post here the footage scanned with our LaserGraphics Scanstation

[Jefta Varwijk]

4 hours ago, Ludwig Hagelstein said:

grain structure

 

Thanks a ton for posting Ludwig. I've ordered my first few rolls, very curious about what'll come out of it.

[Tyler Purcell]

8 hours ago, David Sekanina said:

The color of the base of the film is quite different to other color film stocks. Should scanning facilities modify their scanning procedure, and plug-in creators create a special profile for ORWO conversion to positive? Or do the current methods work well?

It's gonna be exciting to figure out how to scan it, that's part of the process in my view. 

We'll be doing a video all about it once we receive our test rolls. 

[Robert Houllahan]

14 hours ago, David Sekanina said:

The color of the base of the film is quite different to other color film stocks. Should scanning facilities modify their scanning procedure, and plug-in creators create a special profile for ORWO conversion to positive? Or do the current methods work well?

Modern scanners like the Arriscan or Scan Station etc. do a "base calibration" where the individual RGB lamp channels are swept through a range of intensity to find color balance and lamp output relative to the clear base. This works fine for stuff like Ektachrome that has been cross-processed and does not have the orange mask. So not really an issue with this stock I would think.

[David Sekanina]

Thank you Robert. I knew the Arriscan does it from what I've seen at Cinegrell, but wasn't sure about the other scanners.

[Robert Houllahan]

2 hours ago, David Sekanina said:

Thank you Robert. I knew the Arriscan does it from what I've seen at Cinegrell, but wasn't sure about the other scanners.

I think the Arriscan was the first to employ this technique, basically each color is ramped until the sensor clips and then the intensity is backed off. This maximized the DR of the sensor for each color to the sensor. In CFA scanners a similar set of pulses are done but then full RGB illumination because there is allot of color channel cross talk on a color sensor.

Fairly simple and a fast way to match the lamp to the sensor / film stock for most dynamic range and color balance.

[Robert Houllahan]

I thought this stock was based on the Agfa 320T color negative.

I shot some of that stock at school in the 1990's but I do not recall much about the look.

[Tyler Purcell]

1 minute ago, Robert Houllahan said:

I thought this stock was based on the Agfa 320T color negative.

I have a feeling it is. I'm gonna test with and without an 85 filter. Some peeps said its very blue/green, so that would tell me it needs an 85. 

[Joerg Polzfusz]

When the film is unmasked, could you simply soup it in E6 and use it as color reversal?

[Ludwig Hagelstein]

2 hours ago, Joerg Polzfusz said:

When the film is unmasked, could you simply soup it in E6 and use it as color reversal?

No - maskless does not mean it has a clear base. It has a dye filter layer instead of a mask. A coupler mask essentially builds density where no image information is and has no density where image information is. Contrary to that, a filter layer simply adds a dye filter to the film that sort of acts as a mask. 

 

[Ludwig Hagelstein]

2 hours ago, Joerg Polzfusz said:

When the film is unmasked, could you simply soup it in E6 and use it as color reversal?

That`s the base color. No mask, but dye filter. 

 

[Uli Meyer]

Thank you for sharing, Ludwig! I'll definitely order a few rolls. I'll be in Germany next week. Is your new scanner up and running yet?

[Uli Meyer]

Hang on, yesterday a 400ft roll of 35mm was £165. Today it has gone up to £334. That's insane!

[Giray Izcan]

Unfortunately, with these high prices, Orwo will price itself out of the competition. Especially for  longer form productions, it will be Kodak. Kodak has consistentcy and a track record as opposed to these grossly high priced products... shame..

[Piotr Wołoszyk]

I must be definitely missing something: why should I bother about this ORWO stock, when I can get Kodak 400ft roll 100€ cheaper (tax included)?

@Uli Meyer I see it's 374,54 !

Edited December 17, 2022 by Piotr Wołoszyk

[Giray Izcan]

The answer is you don't... shame. I was super excited to have a new Agfa XT 320 in a way. 

Edited December 17, 2022 by Giray Izcan

[Heikki Repo]

Someone probably got too excited about the market response. 

[Uli Meyer]

8 minutes ago, Piotr Wołoszyk said:

I must be definitely missing something: why should I bother about this ORWO stock, when I can get Kodak 400ft roll 100€ cheaper (tax included)?

@Uli Meyer I see it's 374,54 !

It shows me the price in Pound Sterling. 
Let’s hope that there’s a glitch on the website. 

[Piotr Wołoszyk]

Ok, I have price in euros ?

Exactly 100€ more than vision3 500T (as sold in UK)

Edited December 17, 2022 by Piotr Wołoszyk

[Ludwig Hagelstein]

It's insane. At the time I wrote the text above, a 400ft Roll NC 500 was available for 187.00 € net excl. shipping on their site. Now its more expensive than Vision3. 

[Giray Izcan]

I suspect, with these prices, they will not sell enough or any and cease its production all together in a few months. Really a shame..