I just bought a new GoPro Hero 7 Black for POV street photography videos and tested it for the very first time in this video while out taking pictures with my trusty Leica M6 and a roll of Kodak T-Max 100. It’s the middle of tourist season, so conditions were difficult, but I’m happy with the outcome anyway. I‘m not the biggest fan of T-Max 100 for street, because skin tones get easily lost in the greys of the street, but it‘s what I happened to be testing at the moment and I still had a roll in the camera after our trip to Barcelona for Revela T.
This kind of information like the problem with skin tones with T-Max 100 is exactly why I‘m working on all these film tests in the first place, so that I and maybe others know what to expect and can use each film in a suitable way. These are not scientific tests, since those are useless out on the streets. Rather the tests are just me using the film for shooting in real world situations, often with sunny 16 estimates and suboptimal lighting rather than accurate metering in a studio. That doesn‘t always go according to plan, so sometimes results might bring me to tears when some downside of an emulsion ruined a shot that might have otherwise been great. No risk, no fun though! I‘ve tested most black and white ISO 400 films now, only Orwo and a couple of expensive ones like JCH street pan and Bergger Pancro are missing, but I also still have many to cover in the mid and low ISO range or even in colour!
By the way, if you feel like it you can support more street photography videos like this one and also my film tests by buying me a roll of film for it on kofi. Every roll helps, since I shoot around 20-30 rolls for each emulsion test and that kinda gets very expensive! I’ve already done around 10 emulsions, maybe more, so you can kinda do the math there on how much I already spent (I refuse to engage in that kind of depressing math myself 😂😭). In any case I’ll soon start making videos on each of the emulsions with my results and experiences. And yes, I do take requests for which film I should test next! I really have no clear preferences for ISO 100 film yet, although I do have a soft spot for Rollei Retro 80s despite its challenges when printing it in the darkroom!
Also, please get in touch if you would like to donate rolls directly. The only requirements are that the rolls should be not expired and still in production to work for these tests. You can of course send other stuff too if your fridge is overflowing, but it would probably have to get used for other projects or only as an honourable mention.
You can also support me by using one of my Amazon links at no additional cost to you. For example, you can pick up a GoPro here. I‘m really impressed with it myself, especially the stabilisation and I will probably use it in almost all my videos now! Or you could follow the link and then buy whatever you actually want, it still helps me out that way, you really don‘t have to buy the specific thing I link! And of course, only if you feel comfortable, no pressure at all! I‘ll keep going with my tests whatever happens, but without additional support it will probably take a lot longer, because I will have to go in 5 roll bursts to keep it affordable alongside other projects due to the ever increasing cost of film!