By Douglas Adams’ long-lost cousin who majored in camera geekery
Introduction: The Camera That Defies Logic (And Gravity)
Imagine if a toaster, a spy gadget, and a Stradivarius violin had a baby. That’s the Rollei 35. It’s smaller than your smartphone, heavier than your regrets about buying film in 2024, and somehow still the most charming mechanical contraption this side of the Milky Way.
TL;DR for ADHD Humans:
Size: Fits in a jeans pocket (if you ignore the fact that it weighs like a brick of nostalgia).
Vibe: “I’m not a Leica, but I’ll steal your soul anyway.”
The ISO 400 film from Fujifilm, also known as Superia X-Tra, was considered a universal high-speed film during the era of film photography. It performed exceptionally well in many compact cameras with smaller apertures, and was versatile for both indoor and outdoor settings, whether for street photography or everyday gatherings. Fujifilm emphasizes that the X-Tra film has an extra layer of light-sensitive emulsion, which greatly improves its latitude and produces more natural color transitions.
Generally, color films have three emulsion layers – cyan, magenta, and yellow. However, the X-Tra film has an additional blue-sensitive layer, which significantly enhances its tolerance and allows for more delicate images in both bright and low-light conditions.
Compared to Fujifilm C200, the Superia X-Tra 400 film has an advantage in latitude and color reproduction, but its overall contrast is not outstanding since it is a high-cost performance film. It is positioned for family use, with a focus on natural skin tone reproduction. Personally, I really like its indoor performance – the colors are especially natural, and the film captures images with great precision.
The Fujifilm Superia X-Tra 400 is a high-speed film that produces fresh and natural-looking images, making it suitable for shooting situations that focus on people. Unfortunately, Fujifilm recently announced that they will stop producing this film, causing its stock prices to increase significantly.
Film photography has become increasingly popular due to the ability to choose from a variety of films to achieve unique tones, grain, and contrast. Many beginner black and white film photographers tend to prefer a high-contrast and bright approach, which can still yield impressive results. However, Rollei RPX400 takes a different approach by reducing contrast.
Rollei films have earned an excellent reputation within the same format, particularly for grain control and latitude. RPX400 has medium to low contrast, making it suitable for use in high-contrast environments such as sunny outdoor or indoor lighting. Thanks to its excellent latitude, RPX400 provides ample room for post-processing and contrast control.
RPX400 is an easy-to-develop film thanks to its excellent latitude, making it difficult to produce a bad image. However, to achieve more dramatic contrast, it’s important to carefully study the developing process. Additionally, dramatic lighting during shooting is also necessary, as the film cannot increase contrast on its own.
Among ISO 400 films, RPX is relatively fine-grained, and no significant noise can be detected whether overexposed or underexposed.
RPX400 is highly versatile when used with the Rollei 35 camera, as it can produce good results regardless of whether it is day or night. Nighttime shots are surprisingly clean and sharp, and even in strong sunlight, RPX400 can avoid unpleasant overexposed whites thanks to its low contrast.
