They keep coming! Im referring to those stocks that Ive either never shot before or not come across until recently.

Colour film will always be my main preference but I do like to shoot b&w from time to time too. However, I always seem to make comparisons to the only real b&w stock I shoot. That being Kodaks Double X.

So, how did a roll of Lucky SHD 400 stack up for me? Well, enclosed are a series of shots I took with slightly varying light levels, both inside and out and a selection of different subject matters in order to give a cross section of results.

There is an element of contrast that I do like but its simply not rich enough for me. The grain is good, but it certainly isn’t a fine grain stock which the Chinese Lucky makers dont profess to be. Overall I think its slight flat in depth and just doesn’t work for me.
Im a great believer is trying as many film stocks as I can, just for the hell of it and to see if Ive missed one that would work for me

Enclosed images are shot on my Nikon F2 and deved by those lovely people at AG photographic. Cheers guys……

I cant remember the last time I read or even listened to a new film review without someone bleating on and saying, “ its like……, and the colours are like…… The grains similar to……. Blah, Blah, Blah. Surely the whole idea of a new stock coming to the market is that it sits alone.
Its not anything else other than what it is. I judge a new stock on its own merits as to what it is, rather than what its like.

So, whats Opti colour 200 all about then? Well, its available in two formats, 120 and 35mm and I will be shooting both. Now, Im not going to witter on about stuff such as colour tones, saturation and shadows etc etc. That’s for the nerds and those who understand all that tech stuff.
Im just going to shoot it and see how it comes out and I certainly wont be making comparisons. It is what it is….

The first roll I chose to shoot was the 120 shot on my Pentax 6x7. I shot the enclosed images with a selection of mixed colours in mind. A cross section if you like to see how it stacks up on that front.

For me, there are some mixed results here. Firstly, the grain. I like it. Now for the colours. Please bear in mind that when I did shoot these the light was great, cloud free and blue skies that day. As for the one interior shot, lovely natural daylight lite up the sushi shot.

Colour. On three of the four outside shots the colour looks fine. A little flat I might say but on the automotive shot, there’s some really noticeable reddish tones creeping in there, as does the header image of the box/film shot above.

My conclusions in brief then. I like it, and I’ll certainly be looking forward to shooting it on 35mm with a certain subject or content in mind, rather than just shoot it for the sake of it. It certainly wont be replacing any of my key stocks such as Ektar, Velvia, Provia and Portra to name a few, but Im sure I’ll find another use for the 35mm roll.

As with all of my film shots, straight out of the box with no use of PS, LR, filters or presets. Dont have them, dont need them. RD

Other opinions are available and their findings might differ. Good for them