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 us 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

please note: other opinions are available and their findings might differ. Good for them