Experimental Film: DIY Redscale (Fuji C200)

Despite that it was nearing its expiration date, I was in no rush to shoot my last roll of Fuji C200. I've made good photos with this film stock, but its cool and sometimes muted colors were not how I wanted to capture the current summerly weather. Rather than let it expire, I decided I’d use it to test a lo-fi effect that would warm things right up.

Redscaling is done by loading film into the camera “backwards," shooting through the plastic protective base and onto the red-sensitive layer first. As you could guess, this creates a red and yellow cast over the images.

Creating the film was a simple operation. In my darkroom changing bag, I spooled the film onto one of my developing reels to prevent myself from touching the emulsion. I snipped about an inch from the end. With the plastic base facing downwards on the reel, I held the cassette emulsion side up and taped the ends together.

I then used my Olympus OM-1 to rewind the film back into the cassette. I snipped off the leader and used it to trace a new, correctly oriented one before loading it back into the camera for shooting.

Redcaling reduces light sensitivity by about two stops, so I rated the roll at 50 ISO. With my Zuiko 28mm f/3.5 on the camera and Zuiko 50mm 1.8 in my pouch for good measure, I headed to a nearby walking trail. I shot half the roll on a sunny afternoon and finished it the next day when it was overcast.

Overall, the redscale effect was more subtle than I was expecting. Reds are present in the midtones, but the drastic colors I was looking for were exaggerated in the shadows or areas of underexposure.

Redscaled C200 is definitely a film for sunny days. When properly exposed, blue skies fell between orange and magenta, making a perfect backdrop for beautiful golden tones in the highlights. Photos I took on the overcast day, however, have a yellow cast and milky textures and tones, like something ominous dripping in the corner of a basement. I don't care for how they affected this roll, but overcast conditions could be great for creating an apocalyptic scene.

My favorite photo of the roll is this one of two boys paddling across the lake. I love it’s near-sepia coloration. I cropped in quite a bit to remove a heavier section of light leak*, and the resulting grainyness adds to this warm, nostalgic feeling. Only a couple other shots came out like this so I don’t have enough data to figure out why.

If it isn’t clear enough, this DIY redscale film lacked consistency. Typically, this would be an issue, but unpredictability is part of the fun of experimentation. I have a better idea of how redscaled Fuji C200 works under different conditions and would consider shooting this or other redscaled films in the future.

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Film was hand-processed normally at standard color negative times and temperatures using the liquid Cinestill Cs41 kit.

*Some otherwise good photos were ruined by heavy light leaks. I’ll be replacing the light seals ASAP.