Lomography Color 800 – first rolls review

Everyone needs a good, fast color stock. And with Fuji(not)Film discontinuing it’s excellent Natura 1600, it looks like we’re down to 4: Cinestill 800T, Fuji Superia X-TRA 800 (but for how long?), Kodak Portra 800, and Lomography Color 800. I’m sitting on a dozen rolls of frozen Natura, but that’s my retirement fund, so I’m looking for a good, fast color stock, so I picked up some Lomography 800 and took it for a spin.

And I like it. The grain is minimal, the color is good, and it dries flat. What’s not to like?

I shot a whole roll at Monster Jam and started a second, then spent a week shooting it under a variety of conditions, and it handled everything I threw at it with ease.

It’s good at night, in the dark.

It’s good indoors under completely artificial light.

It’s good on foggy mornings (and heavily cropped to show the grain structure more clearly)…

…and on cloudy afternoons.

It’s even good indoors, in late afternoon light.

I had a bit of trouble getting the color right, but once I figured out the right levels, everything just jumped into place. Of all the Lomography Stocks I’ve shot, I think I prefer the 100 to any of the others, but this 800 is no slouch, for sure.

The grain is really quite well controlled, and the film has a nice enough palate, and for roughly 2/3 the cost per frame of the next cheapest, I can see keeping it on hand, for sure.

Grain
Character
Handling
Processing

Overall, I’d give it 4.1 stars. It’s not perfect, but it’s close enough for me.

One thing I didn’t test, but should, is pushability… I’ll try to remember to do that one day, and I’ll be sure to let you know when I do.

Lomography show it as out of stock on their store, but it’s available at the NYC superstores, a couple of my local shops, the FPP (where I picked it up), and lomography color 800, all at per-frame prices that are nothing to sneeze at.