Oriental Seagull 100, 400 test.

Hi all! I have thought a lot of what to write about in my first blog entry. Should I write about my self first, or jump right into an experiment with developer and film, or do a little test of a film for you. Since I wanted to get something up quick, I decided to write a short text about testing out a film. One of my sons was on holiday in Japan recently, so I asked him to bring with him home some rolls of Oriental Seagull 100 and 400. There aren't any photo stores here in Europe that has Oriental Seagull, and buying it online from Japan including tax and shipping was too expensive. The price for two rolls of 100 and two rolls of 400 ASA films is about 25 EUR. I didn't know anything about this film or its origin, and even after doing some google search I couldn't find much on it, but it seems its manufactured exclusively for the Japanese market by Harman Technology in the UK. The films are described as having a traditional grain structure, and there seems to be speculations about them being rebranded kentmere films. Unfortunately I dont have any Kentmere films to compare it with, but I've had some experience with Kentmere film in the past, so I think I can judge by just looking at the picture. I know you have to take my word for it this way, but I encourage you to do you own experiment and judge for yourself.

The 400 version is shot with a Nikon F801s and a 50/1.8 lense, the 100 version is shot with a Olympus XA, a beautiful compact camera for street photography. The films was scanned with Epson V850 pro, and Silverfast software. I consulted the Massive Dev Chart for developing times. I only find developing times for Oriental 400 in Rodinal at dilution 1+25, 7.5 min at 20C. There is no Rodinal times for the 100 ASA version. The developing times for Oriental 400 is the same as Ultrfine Extreme 400, which seems to be Kentmere 400 film.


I developed the 400 version in Rodinal 1+50, 7.30 min at 23C. I only agitate two times through the developing process, with 2 inversions. The 100 version was developed in Rodinal 1+73, 14 min at 23C. Oriental 400 was exposed at 320ASA, and Oriental 100 at 80ASA.

Orintal Seagull 400 in Rodinal 1+50.

I have not edited these images. This is how it looks in Rodinal. The grain is larger than what I am used to, its definitely larger than tri-x, and not as distinct. The way the shadows are handled resembles Kentmere 400 or ilford hp5+ for that matter. I can say the same about how the film renders highlights. Its not as "contrasty" as tri-x is, more like ilford hp5+. But I kind of like this look! Its griny with somewhat bleek, but inky shadows and smooth highlights. The midtones are spot on.

Orienatl Seagull 400 in Rodinal 1+50.

Ilford HP5+

When it comes to Oriental 100, it kind of looks like a Kentmere 100, but im not sure. What I know is that it has some of the qualities of Ilfords traditional grain films, its larger than modern 100 films, and not as contrasty. It definitely has a old school look to it! I like this film as well.

Oriental Seagull 100 in Rodinal 1+73

Oriental Seagull 100 in Rodinal 1+73

                                                            Final thoughts.

The developing times are not spot on, its my first test of these films, but I am quite happy with the results. It may not be right to describe these films as old school if they are based on Kentmere films, since they are suposed to be modern films. But my subjective impression is that they are old school looking. For many photographers the 400 version may be to grainy and lack deep shadows, but its good at compressing the highlights. The 100 version has a finer grain obviously, and it has the same inherent qualities as the 400 version. Since these films look just like Kentmere film, I would by Kentmere instead, or AgfaPhoto APX 400, Fotoimpex CHM 400. These films are cheaper to buy in this part of Europe.


Here is a link to the photos taken with the Oriental Seagull films. They are slightly edited.



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