Review of Rollei Digibase CN200 Color Film for Street Photography

By Eric Kim

Hong Kong, 2014

Recently I hooked up with my buddy Vishal from Hong Kong (he runs Camera Film Photo) and he hooked it up with some Rollei Digibase CN200 film. I was quite excited about the film (as it is new) — and decided to have a go. I shot around 2 rolls of film, and wanted to share some images and share some thoughts about the film.

First of all, I find ISO 200 a bit SLOW for me personally– (prefer Kodak Portra 400for the speed). However I can imagine when you’re shooting in a brighter environment (and want to use a flash) having ISO 200 film might be preferable.

I got the film developed and SCANNED at Dot Well Photo in Hong Kong — and here are some of my example photos (if you’re interested to see how the film looks).

I shot the film in a variety of lighting examples, some with flash and some natural light.

I actually really like the look, grain, color, and feeling of the film. Also the reason they call the film “Digibase” is because it is designed to SCAN very well.

These aren’t the best photos in the world, but I’m uploading them here for you to get a taste:

Urban Landscapes

Street Scenes

              

Portraits

I really like how sharp the photos are, the rich and deep blues (especially of skies), the highlight control, the accurate color reproduction (not too warm, not too cool).

The film is almost like a in-between film from Kodak Portra 400 (very warm, and saturated reds/oranges/yellows) and Fujifilm ProH400 (cooler images, with nice green/purple/blues).

Overall the photos have a rich color reproduction, and they make me feel damn good looking at them.

Considering I still have around 150 rolls of KODAK Portra 400 (I haven’t developed yet) and 75 rolls of Kodak Portra 400 (chilling and waiting to be shot) I don’t plan on switching my film anytime soon. In addition, I prefer having a consistent look.

However down the line once I decide to start new photography projects (or go back to Hong Kong), I will highly consider switching to Rollei Digibase CN200 (especially if Kodak discontinues Portra).

A lot of people ask me: What will you do when they stop making film?

Well, I don’t think film will ever die out. People like Vishal from Camera Film Photoand Bellamy Hunt (Japan Camera Hunter) prove there is still a lot of love, passion, and interest in shooting film. They are kind of like Vinyl’s and other “retro” stuff– coming back into fashion (I think a lot of young people are frustrated with everything digital, and want to go back to analogue).

I still shoot both digital and film (depending on my projects) — but ultimately I prefer shooting film for the SLOW process, the “beautiful mistakes”, as well as the zen and happiness I gain from it.

Viva la film!