Two Perspectives, One Film: A Potsdam Kino Film Review By Social Media Testers

If you've been following our space religiously, then you're probably familiar with the Postdam Kino film first impressions series. Here, we have two more photographers who responded to our social media call-out for film testing. Let's check out their photos and insights about the Potsdam Kino!

Jimmy Mac

Jimmy McAteer (aka Jimmy Mac) is a soon-to-be teacher in New Jersey, USA. He first got into photography as a high school student, doing fashion- and product-shoots. By his own admission, he loves interacting and talking to people, so it was only natural for him to get into portraiture. When talking about his visual style, he enjoys having the model or subject interact with their environment in a natural or interesting way. He views this as a way to foster the creation of a 'moment.'

Jimmy admits that almost every single day, he's doing something that in some way relates to a future shoot. "The feeling of building something from start to finish, and then watching it come to life, is always a thrill." For his Potsdam Kino photo shoot, he says that it was actually much more toned down than his other shoots. Here, he shares a memorable story behind the shoot:

At the time that I received my test roll in the mail, I was pushing through the toughest part of my fall semester at college. Being that I was swamped with work at all times (as was everybody else at my college), and that it was the peak of a freezing winter in New Jersey, it was tough to find the time or inspiration to get out and shoot even though I was SO excited to have been chosen as a film tester. Being that I had just acquired the Hasselblad 500C, I got a little ambitious and overly excited about the shoot and decided to shoot Potsdam Kino, a 100-speed film, in a shady wooded area at f/2.8 when I was just getting the hang of focusing through a waist-level's ground glass. In retrospect, I should have used a camera that I was more familiar with (the Pentax 645 is a camera I've had for about 2 years and am very confident with), BUT, lesson learned: no matter how excited you are, always use equipment you're familiar and comfortable with lol. Despite missing some photos from the roll because of advance issues due to a malfunctioning film back, and focus being a bit off, I actually really like how the photos turned out! My friend Ryan was a perfect choice for the location and overall vibe, and Potsdam Kino rendered the lower light very, very well!

As for his impressions of the Potsdam Kino film, here are his thoughts:

My first impressions of Potsdam Kino 100 is that I really like the film! I've only used it once, but I love the results that I got back from the test roll. As I mentioned earlier, I shot Potsdam in a pretty low-light situation. Being that it is a 100-speed film, I'm very impressed with how well it handled the low available light! The film itself renders deep blacks, beautiful grays, and stark whites, creating really nice contrast. I just love the balance this film provides between the three. I also really enjoyed how this film has a very fine grain. Even shooting at box speed in a shady forest, the grain structure held up well and remained fine! Overall, I like this film a lot and will definitely be purchasing more of it in the near future. I currently have some Lomo 400 and 800 to get through, but I could totally see Potsdam Kino becoming a staple in my black and white film rotation!

Vogar Cheng

Hong Kong-based Vogar Cheng is a student who got started in photography when he was looking for something to do. He says he didn't want to waste time and, with the influence of friends, he picked up a camera and did some portraits. It was then when he realized that it was a hobby that he'd enjoy. By his own admission, he grew up listening and reading to darker themes and draws inspiration from Nobuyoshi Araki and Juno Mak.

As an advertising student, he says it's a mission to stay alert to society happenings and to at least understand what is happening in his environment. His Potsdam photoshoot is a testimonial of what is happening in Hong Kong.

The Potsdam Kino Film is really artistic, the fine grain can get more details. With it, I can easily achieve a cinematic atmosphere in my works.

Head over to our online shop to score some rolls of our Potsdam Kino film, available in 35 mm and 120 formats.

2019-08-08