Retrochrome 320 Slide Film at Rattlesnake Trail, WA

There’s nothing more fun for me than finding and shooting a weird vintage or expired film on my cameras, and I recently shot and developed a few rolls of a super cool slide film called Retrochrome 320, a 35mm film custom rolled from the folks at Film Photography Project. According to their website, the Retrochrome 320 is a government surplus film that was originally made for industrial and government applications, most likely stored in a deep freeze and then subsequently purchased by FPP for repackaging. Kodak describes the film as “…intended for daylight illumination.. among its many applications such as news photography, sporting events and industrial photography.”

I shot this film in a vintage Minolta SR-1S with a fixed but relatively fast 55mm lens that belonged to my girlfriend’s dad in Japan in the 70’s. I had the film processed at Dwaynes photo and scanned the strips myself here in my studio on my Epson V800. The combination of this film, that lens, and that camera produced photos that have the exact look and feel as slides shot in the 1970s! I was surprised at how “retro” these shots actually are. Getting back photos like is the reason why I still shoot film. You just can’t replicate the film aesthetic on digital equipment. I’ll definitely be buying and shooting more of this film.