Canon EOS 1 – 50mm f/1.8 STM – Washi X
The Set-Up
I like to say that I shot my first roll of Washi X in a careful and considered fashion, that my shot selection paid full attention the to the nature of the film. This wouldn’t be true.
I loaded the film into my EOS 1, my trusty test bed for new emulsions, and shot it paying almost no mind to its peculiarities.
Canon EOS 1 – 50mm f/1.8 STM – Washi X
The Film
After enjoying Washi F, the fluorographic X-Ray film that Washi Films trim for 120 and 35mm use, I was predisposed to shoot the other films they had in their range, so when Washi X’s availability appeared in a push notification on my phone, I was buying it before I’d given any thought as to what I might shoot with it.
“[Washi] X” is a technical film with no orange mask that gives beautif [sic] warm toned and highly saturated pictures witch [sic] recall the first color negative film of the 40’s & 50’s.
Canon EOS 1 – 50mm f/1.8 STM – Washi X
eXcuses
The reason I didn’t really engage with the process is that at around the same time as I bought it, I’d foresworn film photography (I know), and was just about to borrow Hamish’s Zeiss 50mm f/2 Planar. As a result my attention was somewhat divided.
Aside from keeping an eye out for reds & oranges, I just used the film, metering as per the ISO so I’d have a collection of images that reflected the film’s look under normal circumstances. The result is that I’ve resolved to hold on on to roll two until the summer, when the heady reds, oranges and blues will be more apparent and I’ll have more time to apply to its exposure.
Canon EOS 1 – 50mm f/1.8 STM – Washi X
The pictures are detailed and attractive, but the more I look at them the more I think this is a summer holiday film. It needs the bright sunny summer, with blue sky, yellow sand, blue sea and an orange bucket and spade, or perhaps an Italian hill town, golden in the sunset to really shine.
Rockwell Moment
I don’t have affiliate relationships but it might be useful to know that I get my cameras from London Camera Exchange, this film came from Analog Wonderland, and was developed and scanned by Silver Pan Lab, my new lab of choice.