2025-09-27 (CineStill Photowalk)
I had found a 105mm Miranda Lens at Central Camera quite a while ago, but I hadn’t ever used it before. I decided I should take it out today and switch between it and my 35mm lens as a sort of “zoom”. I’m really glad that I did decide to bring it out. Because of the longer focal length, I was able to get closer up to the tops of buildings and shoot across streets, giving me much better framing and ability to capture what I see in my head. I’m also really excited about how well these photos came out. I thought I wasn’t a fan of the new Fuji 400 formula so I was kind of reluctant to use it, but I think I’ll have to use it more often now. I love the colors in these shots.
As I mentioned, in my digital album post, (see below) I stumbled upon a group of photographers participating in a photowalk hosted by CineStill and Constant Agitation (CA) film lab, a new lab in Chicago. I left this roll with the owner to get developed.
Maybe part of what I like about the look of these photos is their development/scanning process. Also, because their lab is in Chicago, they can develop photos much more quickly than Central Camera can ship them out and return them. CA also has much higher quality scans than Central Camera - even higher quality than Kitamura’s highest quality scans - and they upload the scans and send the link in an email so that I can download them from home rather than sending in a flashdrive and going to pick them up.
The one downside is that they’re pretty out of my way so getting there to drop off film or pick up negatives would be a bit of a hassle. Luckily, they do work with some local businesses and have drop boxes around the city where I can drop off film, and they can mail the negatives back to me for a fee.
As much as I enjoy my tradition of going to Central Camera and getting a Kong Dog, I might start developing film with this new place instead. It’s a bit more expensive, but given the turnaround time, the higher quality scans, and the convenience of getting them delivered to my email, it might just be worth it.
Shot on Fuji 400.
Check out my digital photos from the same day: 2025-09-27 (CineStill Photowalk)
