First impressions of the Luminar ISO100 135mm film on the Leica MP

Introduction

In this era of ridiculous photography film prices, I sometimes wonder why I ended up shooting films more seriously. However, I do find the process of film photography an excellent emotional and mental detox from digital photography. And today, let us look at samples from the Luminar 100, an ISO100 135mm color film stock.

Spending on a Leica MP also means that I do want to maximise the return on this investment, leading to an impetus to do film photograph more often.

Note: not sound investment advice.

So, what is Luminar 100?

*I know it reads Luminaire 100 on the box, but it also reads Luminar on the film roll, so I will go with the shorter name.

Luminar is a 35mm color film released by Montreal-based Popho Camera Company in late 2022. And unlike other re-spooled rolls of film where the manufacturer isn’t always ‘honest,’ Popho Camera Company is refreshingly honest that the Luminar 100 film stock is re-spooled Kodak Aerocolor IV 2460, historically used for aerial surveillance.

According to Popho, Luminar 100 is a daylight-balanced color negative film stock that provides ‘medium saturation and contrast’ with ‘warm tones, enhanced red sensitivity, and a wide dynamic range.’ Popho notes the film stock is ‘well-suited for landscape and other general photographic applications.’

And so, of course, noting the part where ‘the film stock is ‘well-suited for landscape and other general photographic applications.’ I simply went ahead for a shoot with a roll.

If you want to know more about the Leica MP, my review is here.

For this roll of Luminar 100, it was shot at box speed. Being an ISO100 film, it meant that it wasn’t the most versatile film (unlike say, an ISO 400 film). Luminar 100 is a C-41 process film, making it easy to develop.

The shot below was one of my favorite shots, with the shadow of the tree and the flowers forming the imprint of a tree on the wall. Grain is pretty fine in my opinion, and I can really see how Luminar 100 can be an everyday film with its warm tone.

Personally, I do like the warm tones of the Luminar 100, especially in how the reds seem to be more saturated, too, making it a palate suitable for portraits too.

One thing I did notice, though, is that the cassette that came did not come DX-coded hence do take note of manually setting this on your film camera, but I guess this is something Popho will add later too.

Lastly, Popho has shared that the Luminar 100 will not be a limited-release film, which is good news since I hope this film stock will be available for years. I do plan to go back to photographing with Luminar 100 once a while as I work my way exploring different film stocks.

Thank you for reading.

Disclaimers:

1. All product photos and samples here were photographed by me. I believe any reviewer with pride should produce their own product photos.

2. All images were shot with the Leica MP and the Leica Summcron-M 35mm ƒ2 ASPH. The scans were done at the shop where I developed them, and these are standard 16-bit scans, and obviously, the digital file quality can be much higher.

3. This review is not sponsored.

4. I do not do affiliate purchase links to keep myself neutral. I write as a passion and a hobby, and I appreciate that photography brands are kind enough to respect and work with me.

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