Shooting Expired Fuji Acros 100
The ridgeline of Mam Tor in the Peak District. Fuji Acros is a great choice for monochrome landscape photography. 1/4s 50mm F11 with polariser.
Recently I wrote a blog series on Kodak’s full range of black and white films, from the slow to very fast. Perhaps you have been wondering what the other major film manufacturer, Fujifilm, has to offer as competition. Sadly, the range is nowhere near as extensive, in fact there’s no range at all as they only produce a single variety, though one with a particularly special property – Fuji Acros 100 (II) (its full name is Fujifilm Neopan Acros). The original Acros is no longer available due to issues with sourcing raw materials and was discontinued in 2018. However, a new emulsion was released a year later in 2019 as Fuji Acros II with slight but minimal differences in its characteristics. More on the new variety in a future blog.
The many pitcher plants in the tropical house of the Treborth Botanical Garden. I feel with the smooth bokeh and backlighting it has a dream light effect. 1.6s 20mm F4.0.
A close up macro shot of this pitcher plant shows off the high levels of detail this film can produce. Though as ever with film you are battling with a shallow depth of field that can’t be overcome with focus stacking like you could in digital. You can also see how smooth the bokeh is. 2.5s 105mm F16.
Britannia Bridge - the newer of two bridges that connect Anglesey to the mainland. 1.3s 50mm F16.
As this film stock was discontinued before I started shooting film, the only way I could shoot it was by purchasing expired film. Luckily by chance I stumbled upon a seller with multiple fridge-stored rolls, five of which I snapped up at a much lower price than fresh Acros II. Having only expired in 2018 and 2019, and with proper storage, they could be used without much issue though I did shoot many images at ISO 80 to give myself a little bit of leeway.
Waterfalls make great subjects for long exposure photography and the white water really stands out from the dark rocks. 10s 50mm F16.
A stone bridge on a walking route I used to frequent when I lived in Bangor. Sadly no dippers today. 1/3s 50mm F11 with polariser.
I also tried a bit of close-up photography using my 20mm lens, with this lichen covered rock as my subject. 1/5s 20mm F11 with polariser.
The famous Lone Tree of Llyn Padarn. 30s 20mm F16 with five stops of ND filters.
Being ISO 100, Acros is a fine-grained film similar to Kodak’s T-Max 100, and well suited to capturing high levels of detail. That special property it has? Well, unlike it’s Kodak or Ilford competitors, it has a big resistance to reciprocity failure, with no compensation required for exposures of two minutes or less and only +1/2 compensation for shots up to sixteen minutes. That is nothing short of incredible when many films require compensation after even a 1s exposure, and they can balloon out of control after a single minute. This makes it ideal for long exposure photography and has always had a strong following with pinhole camera enthusiasts.
Exploring Llanberis at night yielded a few good places for monochrome photography. This closed outdoor area at a restaurant turned out to be one of the best ones. I think this image really shows off well the smoothness and fine grain of this film. 4s 50mm F11.
An attempt at photographing a subject with very little light, in this case the front display of an art shop. Looking at it, it could have done with a longer exposure. 30s 50mm F11.
The large logo of Bangor University at the Main Arts campus. 1/4s 50mm F11.
Of the five rolls, I shot three of them alongside rolls of Portra 800 (120) on my trip to North Wales and the Peak District in the Autumn of last year. Being an often-gloomy time of year, having a film that could easily handle long exposures was ideal as I was often dealing with low light. Due to this I shot them in my Nikon F100 in the same way as I would with my Bronica, on a tripod and taking my time. If you want something for street photography, unless you live on the sunny streets of Barcelona, this isn’t it.
Architecture photography is also well served with Acros and super wide angle lenses always work well with interesting shapes. 1/20s 20mm F11.
The end of Bangor Pier. 1/50s 20mm F8.
Moored Boats. the white boats contrasted really well with the background and foreground here. 1/100s 50mm F8.0.
After a rather nerve wracking wait for the images from the developer after a series of postal delays before Christmas, I was excited to see what I had captured and whether the films characteristic resistance to reciprocity failure had held up despite being a bit old. I needn’t have worried as they all came out properly exposed with the high levels of detail you would expect with an ISO 100 film.
Menai Bridge - the original bridge that connected Anglesey to the mainland and one I have walked over many many times when I lived nearby. 1/2.5s 50mm F11 with polariser.
The rocky slopes of Sychnant Pass. 1/6s 50mm F11 with polariser.
Something else I have talked about in the past is my expectations over contrast with black and white film and one of the reasons I was so keen to shoot Acros is that what it produced with deep blacks was more in line with my vision. It held true when I saw my images and it is good to have found a film that I really liked straight away. Thankfully it lives on as Acros II, though much like its Kodak competitor, it ranks among the most expensive black and white film you can buy. There also seems to be perishingly low UK stock at the moment which is ironic seeing as it is now made in the UK and not Japan. Hopefully that will change later this year.
Another demonstration on how big an impact using a polariser can have on black and white photography. Compare this image to the one below. 1/320s 50mm F1.8 with polariser.
This second image looks rather dull and lifeless compared to the first one. I find reflected light plays a much bigger role in monochrome compared to colour photography. 1/320s 50mm F1.8 with polariser.
What do you think of Fuji Acros? Is this a film stock you have used extensively in the past? If not, are you tempted to buy the new Acros II? Let me know in the comments down below.
Larch trees made for great monochrome subjects with some remaining green, whereas other had turned yellow, standing side-by-side. 5s 50mm F11 with polariser.
A hill side view in the Peak District. The contrast and tonality of Acros is just what I have been looking for in a black and white film. 1/4s 85mm F11 with polariser.
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