Get Lucky
This is an ode to my latest film obsession. It's not a review, and it's definitely not a technical breakdown of latitudes, emulsions, or pushing and pulling. It's just love. Plain and simple.
I used to be a Fujicolor C200 guy. That was my go-to, my safety net, the roll I'd grab without thinking twice. So when I found out they discontinued it, I was heartbroken. Why would Fujifilm kill my one and only? It was the first film stock I ever shot back in November 2018. I still remember that roll. I still remember getting the scans back from RGB Pixellab and I still remember how blown away I was with the results, considering it was my first time ever shooting film. I still remember the light leaks from that Ricoh KR-5 I shot that roll with. I lost those scans and the negatives, but I still remember all of that.
So you can imagine my face when I learnt about Lucky C200 earlier this year. Same name, same number. Coincidence? Maybe. I thought, or maybe just hoped, that it was rebranded Fujicolor C200. But it wasn't. It was something new. Something cheap and something for me to fall in love with.
In my humble opinion, cheap film is the best film. Not because it's technically perfect, but because it frees you up. I have no pressure of taking out a loan to afford some Portra 400 just to shoot flowers or portraits and rave about the tones and grain. Cheap film drops the "pro" prefixes and it allows me to be, and to experience. I'm not guarding every frame like it owes me money. I just shoot. And Lucky brings that back for me in a way I haven't felt since Fuji abandoned us to focus on Instax. No disrespect to Kodak or Fujifilm, they make great stuff. But my heart runs red now, and it runs Lucky.
So anyway, I learnt about Lucky C200. I learnt that Lucky is actually not a newcomer to film, but that they stopped making it sometime in the early 2010s. And they're Chinese, so this was an even more exciting revelation. A "new" player in the game to take on Kodak. But I'm not out looking for competition. I'm just a guy looking for a film stock that won't leave me. I hope it's you, Lucky, because I feel Lucky.
I watched some reviews on YouTube, Reddit, Instagram, you name it. I couldn't contain the excitement so I imported as fast as I could. I ordered 5 rolls of Lucky C200 (colour) and 5 rolls of Lucky SHD 400 (black and white) and they were delivered to me in Gauteng in exactly 13 days from placing the order.
By this point I'd seen enough reviews and sample images to know what people were saying:
Lucky C200 has warm tones and reds that lean orange.
Lucky SHD 400 is gritty, has blue defect lines and isn't exactly loved by reviewers.
But reviews are just words. I wanted to see for myself, so I loaded up, went out and shot.
I won't sit here and tell you about grain structures or contrast curves. That's not what this is about. The photos down below will do the talking.
I've found my favourite film and I'll be importing the recently launched Lucky C400 too. I've even read rumours that Lucky is working on slide film as well. Exciting times ahead! Get Lucky!
