CatLABS X Film 320 Pro
I love new films. This one came out a few years ago, from a well-known Boston all-analog camera shop called CATLabs. Cats are awesome, so I grabbed a few rolls to try out… that’s pretty much all it takes for me to try a new film emulsion, put it in pretty packaging and put a cat on it. My cat Mido didn’t seem to mind my bringing a new cat into the house. I promised her I’d be taking it right back outside again to enjoy a motorcycle photo outing.
What is it? Is it truly a new emulsion, or is it a repackaged Kodak Double-X? Or a repackaged Ilford film? I’ve heard both suggestions, but I also heard that it used to be a Kodak Double-X, but now the 320 Pro (specifically) is its own thing. The price is right, so I’m not going to fuss about it too much. It has a slightly higher sensitivity rating of ISO 320 and pretty fine grain. It makes for a good film to use in low-light settings, I shot the CATLabs 320 a full stop slower than box speed as there were some shadows in areas I was shooting and I also wanted to see what kind of exposure latitude I could expect from this film. I frequently over-expose my film a little when I shoot anyway, especially B&W. I find it fairly forgiving of many lighting situations that way.
It’s recommended that I develop this stuff in 510 Pyro film developer. Never heard of it. I’m sure it’s amazing but I have two developers in my cabinet: HC110 and D-76. Any B&W film I shoot is just going to have to deal with being run through a tankful of either of those developers. They’re fine, CATLabs! Today I used D-76 to develop a roll I took with me on a walk around the Church Hill neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia. The results were mixed, with a great many of the photos sporting a lot of dark shadows where I was hoping for better detail. This was user error to be sure, not metering every shot for the best outcome. That said, the film was very contrasty when developed in D-76. I like my B&W to be contrasty. The film grain was very sharp, even for a 320 speed film, I could almost mistake this for a slower film. Not bad results for a seven-dollar roll of film!
I purchased some rolls in 120 format as well, and I look forward to seeing what I can do with it.
