Film enthusiasts can rejoice, as it seems the film resurgence is still going strong. Chinese film company Lucky Film released a teaser on its Instagram account announcing that it has a new color film on the way. Its bare-bones website says the offering will be a “brand new, true original C-41 color negative 35mm film.”

Lucky Film isn’t a new company by any means. The company also began production of two black-and-white film stocks in March of last year. My local film lab was sent some at the end of last year, along with a letter that provided more context on the company and upcoming film stock. It explained that it used to be the OEM factory for Kodak Gold 200 and helped Kodak produce more than 50 million rolls of film. However, its contract with Kodak was terminated in 2007 as a result of the rapid rise of digital photography. Even still, Lucky Film produced three color negative films (GBR 100, GBR 200 and GBR 400) between 2003 and 2012, but it has been on a hiatus from producing film for over a decade.

The letter goes on to say that the company had to get around Kodak’s patent and raw material control and hired a team of chemists to do some reverse engineering. It had expected the color film to be ready at the end of 2024, but it seems things took a little longer than anticipated.

Details are very slim on the new color film stock, but the Lucky Film website says it will be “at a price today’s photographers can afford.” The letter to Reformed Film Lab also promised that it would be “the world’s cheapest color film.” Given the high price of film, it would be great to have a more affordable option on the market. Unfortunately, no specific dates are mentioned on the website or Instagram account, so the wait continues for now.

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Here’s an interesting entry for Film Friday: Oliver Barnes, a 20-year-old antique camera fan, was in a Salisbury antique shop when he discovered a bag hiding in the corner. Inside the bag was a No1 Pocket Kodak, a camera that went into production in the 1920s. That would be an exciting enough find, but once he worked out how to open the camera, he discovered film inside, as the BBC reports.

“I was in complete shock; I was so worried I had exposed the film because they are very, very light sensitive,” he said.”It’s, like, 100 years old, so I wasn’t expecting the film to come out of it.”

Some of the photos show a crowd of people and television crew outside the Portcullis Hotel in Chipping Sodbury. Photo: Unknown / Oliver Barnes

The No. 1 Pocket Kodak used 6x9cm negatives, which resulted in a decent level of detail from simple contact prints for photographers at the time. Of course, developing such negatives today isn’t as straightforward as it used to be. Barnes brought the negatives to Fujifilm Salisbury Photo Centre, where Ian Scott helped narrow down some of the details related to the images. Scott knew the film inside the camera wasn’t produced until the late 1950s, providing a more precise timeline of when the images could have been taken.

Given the age of the negatives, it was surprising how well they turned out. “They’re really good quality for how old they are; I wasn’t really expecting anything,” said Barnes. The developed images revealed more mysteries, however. Some of the images show an event of some sort. Barnes did some sleuthing and figured out the photo was taken from the upper floor of a building overlooking the Portcullis Hotel and the war memorial in Chipping Sodbury. There appears to be a television crew on the edge of the frame.

The images have sparked lots of interest locally in an attempt to identify the event. “It’s caused quite a fuss on social media round here. It got shared literally everywhere,” said local photographer Richard McDonough. “We’ve had all sorts of people coming up with speculation and different ideas of what it might be.” Some have guessed a wedding, while others have proposed an event related to the American Army, which was posted nearby during WWII. “There are so many different scenarios,” said tourist center volunteer Barry Townsend.

This photo is believed to be of two students on the Swilcan Bridge at the University of St. Andrews, though the two men have not been identified. Photo: Unknown / Oliver Barnes

Another image shows two young men on a bridge who have not been identified yet. However, they are assumed to be two University of St. Andrews students. Barnes and others searching for answers hope that sharing the images may spark someone’s memory. Even if the details remain a mystery, it certainly is a fun find to stumble on. It’s also a good reminder to be careful with how you open thrifted film cameras; you never know what gems you may find inside.

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With its latest announcement, Leica is furthering its focus on mobile photography, adding a new accessory to its lineup. The company designed the Leica Lux Grip specifically for iPhones, following up on the June release of the Leica Lux iPhone app. The grip is strictly for Leica lovers, as it will only work with Leica’s iPhone app; controls will not transfer to the default iPhone camera app or any other third-party options.

Leica says the Lux Grip is “similar to a classic Leica camera in terms of its handling and feel.” It goes even further and explains that all of the grip’s “physical controls consistently express Leica’s design philosophy and conjure up the familiar experience of using a professional camera.” Any grip will make for a more camera-like experience and make taking photographs with a phone a bit more ergonomic, so users who focus on mobile photography could certainly benefit from it.

Photo: Leica

The grip relies on a magnetic MagSafe connection rather than a case-like design, which is typical in other phone grips. The magnetic attachment makes switching between portrait and landscape orientations easy while maintaining a comfortable grip with easy controls. Plus, removing the grip when it’s not needed and returning to a traditional phone form factor is straightforward. That also means that when users purchase a new iPhone, there’s no need to buy an entirely new grip specific to that phone.

The Lux Grip uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connectivity to communicate with a phone’s camera, allowing users to control camera functionality without digging into phone menus. That includes a two-stage shutter release that, like cameras, uses light pressure to focus and a full press to take a photo. There’s also a button to switch between shooting modes, two customizable buttons and a dial for adjusting settings.

Photo: Leica

For those who want to go all out, Leica also released a leather case designed just for the Lux Grip, which features an AirTag holder.

The Leica Lux Grip is available for $329 on Leica’s website and B&H. The purchase includes a year of the Leica LUX Pro subscription.

Buy now:

$329 at B&H

$329 at Leica

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