North Carolina State Fair

I’ve lived in North Carolina all my life and this is the first time I’ve been to the State Fair. It was much like the county fair I would go to when I was a kid, just a lot bigger. A lot. A big thanks to Luke and Greg for hosting us in Raleigh for the weekend. We ate way too much fried food (fried Oreos are a blessing and a curse), watched some racing pigs and the only ride we went on was the lift that carries you across the grounds.

This was also the first time I’ve ever shot Kodak Vision 3 film. Kodak Vision 3 film comes in a variety of color balances and ISO's. This particular one is Kodak Vision 3 5219 , or 500t. 500 is for the ISO, and “t” is for tungsten balanced. This is the same stuff they still use to shoot movies with today, and someone in the biz told me it’s pretty much the best color negative film you can buy. It’s also very affordable. You can get “short-ends” (about 100 feet) from some places online. I spent less than $60 which is amazing considering Kodak Portra 400 is around $55 for just 5 rolls at the moment.

Now, best looking color negative film and affordable come at a bit of a catch. This stuff is kind of a pain to develop. It has what is called a remjet layer that needs to be removed before developing. Messy stuff, remjet. Once it’s removed you have two choices; regular ole C-41 chemicals or ECN-2. You want to go with the latter to get the best colors from Vision 3 films. It really is incredible how good the colors look. It definitely makes it worth the hassle.

There will be more Kodak Vision 3 posted here in the future, for sure. I don’t think I’ll buy another color negative film at this point.