Since I have a bottle of D96 I got for my Double-X experiment I decided I should get some more bw cine films to try out with it.
So I grabbed the two Orwo films that Lomography sells, Berlin and Potsdam. Lomography Berlin is actually Orwo N74 and Potsdam is UN54.
The company behind Orwo, Filmotec, is actually selling the next gen version of N74 now called N75 but I think Lomography got a good deal on an expired bulk roll or something because there is some serious base fog on this film.
I rated the film at EI 250-320, and I think 320 is pretty close. 250 was okey but depending on metering, it was at pushing midtones slighly too high up in my opinion.
I developed the film for 8,5min at 20c. Would I do it again I would go for 9-9,5min. It was ever so slightly underdeveloped. Missing a little bit of zing in the highlights.
It was probably a fluke but I had to fix the roll a second time after washing and drying. I usually fix for 5 minutes but I had some milky residue left around the sprocket holes. 99% sure it has nothing to do with the film itself, but anyway, these blogs are my also my personal notes too about these films..
The images are very grainy for a Iso 400 film. It is much grainier than ex HP5 while being 1/3-2/3 stop slower. It has a nice acutance, the images feel sharp and crisp but they feel a little bland.. at least when scanned. I haven’t done any wet prints yet.
The price is not great if you get the Orwo films branded as Lomography. If you got bulk rolls it would be around half price which is much more reasonable. Honestly, Hp5/Fp4, Delta 100/400, Tmax 100/400 are all so much better films than this.
If you want grain, and a certain cinematic look, this could be something worth trying. But for the general bw shooter, I would not recommend Orwo N74.
Alright, here are sample shots. Take a look in the shop if you see something you like and please support my blog!
