Camera Talk

A friend of mine gave me a couple rolls of Kodak Gold 200 that had expired nine and a half years ago, so I loaded one of them into an Olympus XA4, and hit the road looking for new vistas.

The camera, which has a vignetting 28mm f3.5 zone focusing lens, goes for the middle when presented with a highly contrasting scene, so the shadows were too dark and the highlights blown out at the same time. You also capture more on the film than what is inside the bright frame lines of the viewfinder. Easy enough fix in PS Elements 10. I also got the hang of doing the macro.

Here are some samples.


Campbell Heights by P F McFarland, on Flickr




Rail Bridge over South Fork of Roanoke River by P F McFarland, on Flickr




Not Enough For A Belt by P F McFarland, on Flickr




Seneca Hollow Road Bridge by P F McFarland, on Flickr




Wearing Through by P F McFarland, on Flickr




Natural Bird Feeder by P F McFarland, on Flickr

See all the photos at https://flic.kr/s/aHskhedmLj

PF

If you hadn't said it was old film I'm not sure that I would have noticed anything off in the photos-- color is good. Gold 200 is now the only film I see hanging in grocery stores, alongside the cardboard cameras. Anyway you've got a good combination there; XA-4 seems to have a very high reputation.

Bill D.

The images have a very slight bluish tint, but it could well be because of processing or scanning. Nobody would say it is mature film.

Your XA4 shots are great. Amazing camera. And 9-year-old film -- hardly any loss from fresh!

I've been using my XA again lately and realising that when i put it away a couple of years ago I just needed new glasses. Got the glasses and the XA is great again.

Thanks, all. The sky was a very bright blue, which may have added to any color shift over the years, Julio. I like to shoot earlier or later in the day to avoid this, when the light is naturally warmer.

The only store in my area that still carries film is PhotoUSA, and they now have ColorPlus 200, which is probably just repackaged Gold 200 for overseas markets (first film boxes I ever got with Russian and Ukrainian printing).

PF