This week has been an amazing one for film photographers, and we are not just talking about the weather. At the start of the week Kodak announced the return of Kodak Gold 200 in 120 format, and that it will be 25% cheaper than the famous Portra and Ektar emulsions the company offers. Later that day CineStill announced its campaign project to bring CineStill 400Dynamic, a daylight-balanced film to market, which they did with over 7,311 backers, raising $426,360 - with still 17 days of the campaign left as we write this.
So, after all that news, analogue shooters where overjoyed, but they didn't expect this, a brand new emulsion film was teased by Bellamy Hunt, AKA Japan Camera Hunter, known for providing insightful YouTube videos and later being the main source of finding immaculate cameras in and around Japan and providing them to clients around the world.
This new film is an ISO 400 color reversal film or slide film as it is better known and takes the name Fugufilm 400. This E6 process film is brand-new, built from the ground up film that has been launched in the last two decades.
Bellamy and business partner Horatio Tan have been secretly working on this new slide film in 2009, 13 years later, with three solid year of testing under their belt, they are now at the stage to announce to the world their new development and that Fugufilm 400 will soon be out of beta testing and be reasonably priced and available at all major retailers.
It has been an incredible week for film photographers around the world, many were concerned that they would have to “switch to digital” due to the increased film prices announced earlier in the year. However, now that these three new films have been announced from three different manufacturers, the analogue renaissance looks promising with more affordable options becoming available.
For nearly two decades Sebastian's work has been published internationally. Originally specializing in Equestrianism, his visuals have been used by the leading names in the equestrian industry such as The Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), The Jockey Club, Horse & Hound, and many more for various advertising campaigns, books, and pre/post-event highlights.
He is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts, holds a Foundation Degree in Equitation Science, and is a Master of Arts in Publishing. He is a member of Nikon NPS and has been a Nikon user since the film days using a Nikon F5 and saw the digital transition with Nikon's D series cameras and is still to this day the youngest member to be elected into BEWA, The British Equestrian Writers' Association.
He is familiar with and shows great interest in street, medium, and large format photography with products by Leica, Phase One, Hasselblad, Alpa, and Sinar. Sebastian has also used many cinema cameras from the likes of Sony, RED, ARRI, and everything in between. He now spends his spare time using his trusted Leica M-E or Leica M2 shooting Street photography or general life as he sees it, usually in Black and White.
