I recently put a roll of Arista Premium 400 through my Kodak 35, a World-War-II-era camera. I knew the 35 would be a capable shooter thanks to Mike Connealy’s review. But when my film came back from Dwayne’s, every frame was hazy and low contrast. Only seven of them could be salvaged. A Flickr comment said that these shots have a retro 1930s look about them. I agree: they look like they could have been shot with a box camera. Unfortunately, that’s not what I was going for.
Turns out I didn’t inspect the camera closely enough before plunging in: the lens was filthy. So I cleaned it as best I could and loaded a roll from my stash of discontinued Kodak Plus-X, expired but always stored cold. While I shot the Arista 400, an extended run of sunny winter days, a rarity in Indiana, delivered too much light for the shutter’s 1/150 sec. top speed. The Plus-X’s ISO 125 rating lets me shoot Sunny 16. Also, my Kodak 35 has a setting for Plus-X on its film reminder dial, so shooting it just feels right.
