Redscale Film Reviews: Lucky SHD 200 and the Olympus Trip 35 – Good for Redscale? First Impressions

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Here’s what I learned about redscaling a roll of Lucky SHD 200 and shooting it at ISO25 with my Olympus Trip 35.

Credits: uncle_jay

In theory, overexposing a redscaled roll of ISO 200 film by 3 stops should give you a lighter shade of orange and if you are lucky, maybe even a greenish tinge in your photos. Well, that’s the theory I was led to believe. So imagine my surprise when I did not get the results that I thought I will get with a Lucky SHD 200 redscaled film exposed at ISO25, set on ‘A’ mode on my Olympus Trip 35.

Something’s missing with my experiment, no breakthroughs made

Having seen the fantastic results by other Lomographers redscaling a roll of Lucky SHD 200, I thought I could replicate the lighter washed out colours by exposing it at ISO25. Unfortunately, it did not happen.

Funny thing was that in another test with a roll redscaled Lucky SHD 200 shot with the Yashica GSN rangefinder, the colours came out muted, almost normal looking. Here’s a photo of the test.

Shot with a Yashica GSN on a cloudy day

Then I realized what I did ‘wrong’ if I wanted lighter colours.

Credits: uncle_jay

First, I didn’t fully understand the camera I was using. It was the venerable Olympus Trip 35. It is basically a point and shoot camera with only two shutter speeds available, 1/40 or 1/200. As an automatic camera, it will by default choose the greatest depth-of-field. In other words, it will try to give me the sharpest possible image it can.

Credits: uncle_jay

Second, I used it at the wrong ISO speed. Looking at my photos, it would seem that the camera was shooting at 1/200 and probably at F16 if not F22 because of the bright and sunny conditions.

Credits: uncle_jay

While I did not get the photos that I wanted, looking at it again a few months later made me realize that if you are looking to create darker and more dramatic photos, this could be the film and camera combination for you.

Credits: uncle_jay

Especially in the hands of a skilled and creative Lomographer.

Credits: uncle_jay

Yes, Lomography is about unpredictability but sometimes, the photos that you were hoping to get based on what you have seen elsewhere bombed. So what do you do? Keep experimenting and learn. Better yet, share your successes and perceived failures with other Lomographers. After all, they may be looking to create the results that you just did.

Credits: uncle_jay

written by uncle_jay on 2013-06-26 #gear #sea #forest #diy #review #redscale #singapore #olympus-trip-35 #reviews #sentosa #escape-from-the-city #iso-25 #lucky-shd-200 #labrador-nature-reserve #quiet-places #redscaled-films-requested-posts-for-june-2013

3 Comments

  1. shack_81
    shack_81 ·

    @uncle_jay nice write up on your first impressions. I have found that Fuji Superia 200 lets a few greens through, I shot with a trip down only a step in bright sunlight or two steps in poorer light and got some shots I love. All about experimenting though! I tried some Agfa and got really dark red shots!

  2. wuxiong
    wuxiong ·

    @uncle_jay ， I really like the writings you did on your different experiments...^..^ As the camera you use, From my earlier use, I think the speed tends to set at 200 when you set A openning. and the Lucky color film is usually thicker in the back film that makes a darker filter perhaps...^..^ Anyhow, I like your article and the results too, they look more dramatic and more tense too...^..^

  3. everlate
    everlate ·

    Hey there, late to the party but I was wondering on this issue, because I would like to try to achieve the results you were aiming for in this experiment with my Trip 35 and redscale film. Do you think it would have changed the results if you took the camera out of automatic mode and put it into "flash" mode by selecting the 2.8 aperture? This would have forced the camera to use the 1/40th shutter speed. I have read elsewhere that the light meter will still stop down the aperture if it detects too much light even when taken out of auto mode, so you would still get a "correct" aperture, but force the camera into the slower shutter speed... I'm just shooting in the dark here, but if anyone has thoughts on that I'd be interested to hear them.

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