Analog.Cafe

753 Reviews, Guides, and Essays

Why I Built an App to Track My Film Rolls
I Kept Losing My Exposure Notes, So I Made Something About It
May 28, 2026
“I tried everything to keep track of my exposures. A pocket notebook that got rained on in Belleville. A spreadsheet I kept forgetting to open. Three different apps that each did one thing, but couldn’t talk to each other. At some point, I had a note on my phone that just said ‘f/8, maybe 1/250, cloudy?’” — In this photo essay, Imad, a Parisian photographer and a software engineer, shares his journey building an everything app for film exposure notes and the meticulously-annotated photos that it helped him create. “There’s no company behind this. No team, no funding, no roadmap with quarterly targets. It’s just me, working on it between shooting sessions, trying to make it slightly less bad each week.”
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Film Photography News — May 2026 Recap
Fujifilm Film, All Kodak Films, New Polaroid Film, New Large Format Films
May 26, 2026
Fujifilm is still making film — despite the rumours — I’ve compared all the ISO 800 colour-negative films, and reviewed Polaroid’s new Reclaimed Purple 600 film. Plus: the first large format colour-negative film from Germany, Ilford and Kodak’s new huge films, BOXX camera, and more.
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Shooting Fujifilm Fujicolor 800 QuickSnap Camera Film
Extracted and Exposed in a Much Nicer Camera
May 24, 2026
In this article, I’ll show you how I took this twenty-year-old disposable camera apart, recycled its components, and the photos I got on the very expired Fujifilm Fujicolor QuickSnap 800 film.
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The Biggest Film Test and a New Film Inversion App
A Monthly Newsletter for GOLD Members
May 22, 2026
I’ve been collecting film rolls and disposable cameras of various brands for several months. This May, I finally had the chance to load all eight of them into my Nikon F2 for an exposure test to determine, once and for all, our actual options for ISO 800 colour-negative film. In this newsletter, I’ll cover the BTS of that mega-experiment and talk about an update to the film inversion app I’ve been working on since January. This month’s member newsletter is FREE and does not require a subscription to be read in full.
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Polaroid Reclaimed Purple 600 Film Review
Review, Shooting Tips, the Original Blue Comarison, and How to "Make" One Yourself
May 19, 2026
Polaroid Reclaimed Purple 600 is an instant film made with “leftover” materials to produce a truly unique look — this time with added Acid Red dye. The film’s purple colour effect is both creatively and technically fascinating — I’ve enjoyed shooting it — but there are some things you should know before you expose your limited-edition frames. Read on for my detailed overview of these stark new Polaroid frames, samples, a few extras (including that one time I created a similar purple effect accidentally on Instax Square), and tips for getting better exposures.
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Comparing All (8) ISO 800 Colour-Negative Films
Amber, Candido, CineStill, FunSaver, Lomo, Portra/Ektacolor Pro, QuickSnap, SantaColor
May 14, 2026
Just one factory in the entire world makes ISO 800 colour-negative film: Kodak. Yet you can find it in many types of packaging, sold at various price points. This article compares eight of the most popular brands, including rolls in disposable cameras, to see if there’s a difference.
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Fujifilm Superia Premium 400 Film Review
A Rare & Wonderful Made-in-Japan Colour-Negative Film — Still in Production!
May 12, 2026
Fujifilm Superia Premium 400 is one of the last colour-negative films still manufactured by Fujifilm in Japan. In this article, I’ll reveal the colours, contrast, and resolution properties of this elusive emulsion and answer the question I had looking at my eBay total: Is it worth importing from Japan?
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F-Stop Printing: The Complete Darkroom Workflow
May 5, 2026
F-stop printing applies the same logarithmic exposure logic you already use when you shoot, baked into every shutter speed scale and aperture ring you’ve ever touched, to the one place in the photographic process where it was always missing: the enlarger. This guide will walk you through exactly how to do it, from reading your negative to dialling in a final time to dodging and burning with precision you probably didn't think was possible. If you’ve been printing with linear timing, you can start tonight.
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Bleach Bypass
A Guide for Film Photographers
May 2, 2026
Bleach bypass is a relatively simple film development technique that creates rich blacks, low saturation, and increased contrast. In this article, I’ll share techniques, samples, and recipes for better bleach-bypass results on film. You will need to know how to develop colour-negative film at home (it’s not that hard!) and have a development kit with separate bleach and fix (no blix) or an extra black-and-white fixer.
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Film Photography News — April 2026 Recap
New Kodak Film (Not for Us), WideluxX, All the Films, & Analog Renaissance
April 28, 2026
Kodak announces a new Euphoria-inspired colour-negative film — but only for motion picture productions; I made a list of all the film stocks and a list of all the film factories in the world, Daren and I recorded a new podcast episode, a new guide on lighting ratios offers tips for scientifically-proven mood settings, the WideluxX camera is now for sale (it’s not cheap!), and major investments into film production at the Harman factory in the UK are underway.
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“Hurry Up and Wait”
A Monthly Newsletter for GOLD Members
April 24, 2026
I made fewer posts on Analog.Cafe this month, but I’m excited about them all, and I also can’t wait to tell you about the work I’m doing behind the scenes! New guides, reviews, and photography app updates coming soon.
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Lighting Ratios & Styles for Film Photographers
The Science and the Techniques for Effective Storytelling on Film
April 23, 2026
Light has been used as a storytelling device long before photography was invented. Its significance is even evident in writing where no image, other than what the mind paints, exists: “a bright sunny day” carries a different mood than “a dark alley.” Several scientific studies even link lighting in photography to measurable mood changes, suggesting that their effects are universal and innate. In this guide, I’ll focus on fundamental techniques for using lighting ratios as a storytelling device, observed on sets and in the field by movie studios and hobbyist photographers alike.
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InvisibleFilm
Building a Digital Home for Analog Photography
April 13, 2026
Gonzalo is making the InvisibleFilm: an app for logging film stocks and cleverly connecting those logs to the negatives via printed QR codes. In this article, Gonzalo explains his project, the motivations behind it, and a few advanced features, such as lab services.
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Harman Switch Azure Film Review
Blue Halation
April 10, 2026
Harman Switch Azure 125 is a colour-negative film with reversed blue and red channels. In this review, I’ll demystify this film’s properties and origins, share lots of high-res samples, and offer a few tips for making better photos.
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Film Photography News — March 2026 Recap
Eastman Kodak Switcharoo, Harman Switch Azure, WideluxX, and Spring Blossoms on Film 🌸
March 31, 2026
Harman (a.k.a. Ilford) now sells Switch Azure — an experimental film with swapped colour couplers; this newsletter explains its origins — Eastman Kodak released six (not really¹) new films, Jeff Bridges made a WideLuxX camera, plus an early start to spring with this year’s cherry and magnolia blossoms on film!
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‘26 Spring Blossoms on Film
March 31, 2026
A photo essay in which I express and explain my deep affection for the flowering trees through photographs of the early 2026 spring blossoms, made with various new films and old cameras. Shot near Vancouver, BC, with stories from Thailand, Japan, and Russia.
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March of Film 2026
A Monthly Newsletter for GOLD Members
March 27, 2026
Guys, it’s been a crazy-busy month. Harman released a new colour film following the slightest of leaks in February, and Kodak redesigned its Portra and T-Max film lines to become Ektacolor and Ektapan. I did my best to get all those films into the studio as soon as possible, study, photograph, and write up something useful. It’s been like that almost daily as I prep for several more film reviews, camera reviews, and film comparison articles to be published in the coming weeks. Let me break down those plans for you below, along with updates to the apps for film inversion and more.
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My Addiction to Film Photography
An Opinion From a Novice Analogist and Seasoned Digitalist
March 26, 2026
After years of shooting digital, I decided to try film. What I found pleasantly surprised me. There is far more to this community and practice than I originally thought.
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Leica Sofort (Original) Instant Film Camera Review
The Cheapest Leica Money Can Buy. Is It Good?
March 24, 2026
This camera is closely related to Fujifilm Instax Mini 90 — but it’s not the same. In this review, I’ll discuss Leica’s image quality — with lots of samples — ergonomics, features, and direct film exposure (which the new Sofort 2 cameras lack). Plus, I’ll pepper a few tips for taking better photos on film.
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Harman Switch Azure vs. Lomochrome Turquoise
March 12, 2026
Harman Switch Azure and Lomography Lomochrome Turquoise photographic effect films switch blue and red colours, making faces appear blue and skies orange while keeping greens green. Up until last week , Lomography was the only maker of this type of product. But a few days prior, leaked photos of Switch Azure made a few readers and me wonder if Lomochrome Turquoise will finally have an alternative. And so as soon as it dropped, I ordered a few rolls and focused on the shiny new thing for the entirety of the past few days. In this article, I will compare both films in my small home studio using a daylight-balanced light, a calibrated colour chart, and a few props. These films look very different — and one of them is much harder to use than the other. Can you tell which is which?
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