Flic Film’s Fusion 200 - A First Roll
Flic Film may get more blog posts on Sidewalking Victoria’s Photography section than any other company and for good reason; outside of Harman Photo, they may be doing more to move film photography forward than anyone else. Flic Film is certainly at the top, when it comes to Canadian companies. Well, it would seem that to continue in that vein, Flic Film has now released a new colour film, Fusion 200. The Flic Film website says this:
“Meet Fusion 200, an all-new film stock. Blending a modern emulsion with a classic look, Fusion 200 delivers fine grain, impressive dynamic range, and true-to-life natural color.”
As you can imagine, this kind of statement coming from a small film distributor that doesn’t actually make its own film is a curious one and it has led to lots of speculation. There has been endless discussion on what it could be on Reddit and there have been a few Youtube videos as well. I thought the video by Yvonne Hanson was perhaps the most thorough. So is it Verita 200D, Lucky 200 or Orwo NC200? I don’t know any better than anyone else, but my feeling is that it would most likely be a version of the Orwo NC200. It just seems the most likely partnership that Flic Film would have of the three main options. Furthermore, with the issues that Kodak has raised with using motion picture film for stills, I think it would be unlikely that Verita would have made it to a company like Flic Film so soon.
For me and hopefully everyone else, the biggest deal in buying film is how it shoots. I took these on my Nikon FE using either my Nikkor 28mm f2.8 or my Nikkor 50mm f1.8. I shot it at 200 ISO. For development, I got them processed directly by Flic Film. (Side Note: You can get your film developed in Victoria by Flic Film if you take it down to Camera Traders and get them to send it off for you.) So the developing should be just how they would want it. Most of the photos that are not obviously downtown Victoria or along the Gorge, were taken in Campbell River and on Quadra Island.
I would say that I wish I had shot it a stop brighter or maybe taken some more shots on a bright and sunny day. I find some of the shots a little darker or maybe a little underexposed, though it really could have just been the ambient light. I would say that in comparison to some other films, the exposure latitude seems tighter than Flic Film is suggesting in their ad copy, though maybe I just need to try it a little more and maybe in more lighting conditions as shot it almost completely outside. Indoors you will obviously need to be using flash. Still, it is not as challenging to shoot as the Harman Phoenix (either iteration). For some reason, maybe it was the cooler tones in this film, it gave me some Fujifilm vibes.
I definitely think that it is a decent everyday carry film for that 200 ISO range. Have a look at the photos that I have uploaded to get an idea of how it works. And don’t worry all 36 shots worked out, it was from a family trip and there were lots of family shots that I couldn’t share. I will say that for the outdoor portraits I did, it worked really well and also provided an excellent classic film look while also capturing the people well. I really liked it and it makes me want to try it out just for that. If you are looking for a 200 speed film from Flic Film there is another option, the Street Candy Tasty 200, which has almost the exact same guesses as to what the actual film is, that said, they say that it has punchy saturated colours so it seems unlikely to be the same stuff. It would also be a little odd for them to release two 200 speed films that were the same with different names. I will have to try it out and see. I am guessing that the Street Candy one is a Kodak film of some sort.
Have you tried the new Fusion 200? If so what do you think of it? If anyone has any questions about the film, be sure to leave it in the comments below.