Testing Kosmo Foto’s new Agent Shadow film

by Christopher Osborne.

We test Kosmo Foto’s new ISO 400 film. Codename: Agent Shadow.

Yesterday my preview roll of Kosmo Foto’s new 400 ISO Agent Shadow film was released from captivity. The princely sum of €1.33 secured its freedom. It was time to put Agent Shadow to the test in a secret location somewhere in Germany.

The film arrived without packaging and had been loaded into plain black cassettes. When developed it proudly bears the name Agent Shadow along the edges of the negative. So no clues to those of you who thought the mystery source of this film would be revealed by developing a roll. I loaded it into a Kiev 2 with a 3.5cm Jupiter lens. I used an orange filter and so I set my meter to ISO 100 to compensate for loosing 2 stops of light.

It was a mostly sunny day, some high overcast shielding the light from direct sun. Rosie (the dog) and I set off for our Friday forced march. Our route took us along forested walking tracks and service roads in an area which was largely unavailable to civilians in the heady days of the Cold War. This seemed the perfect setting to track down Agent Shadow.

It is quite a trek up the hill, and Rosie patiently waited as I metered and framed each shot. Occasionally she felt the need to try and find Agent Shadow herself, and so you will see her in one of the frames.

I developed the film in Ilfotec HC for 7 ½ minutes, and the results befit the name. As one would expect for a 400 ISO film, there is grain. It will be more noticeable as scans than darkroom prints. The look is not unpleasant.

There is a lovely contrast between light and shadows, even in scenes where the direct sunlight was obscured by cloud. There is some halation when shooting into the sun, but this can be used to the photographer’s advantage. All in all, there is a beautiful retro feel to this film.

The arrival of “Agent Shadow” film has caused a stir. The Kickstarter campaign has almost reached its goal with a month to run, so clearly there are many photographers who are excited by this project.

I find the idea rather fun, and for those of us who sometimes find ourselves in need of inspiration from time to time, this might be just the ticket!

If you intended to back the “Agent Shadow” Kickstarter campaign, then now is the time to help bring Agent Shadow in from the cold…

Images © Christopher Osborne 2021.

Visit Kosmo Foto’s Agent Shadow page at https://kosmofoto.com/2021/06/announcing-kosmo-foto-agent-shadow-black-and-white-film/

Support the Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kosmofoto/kosmo-foto-agent-shadow-35mm-bandw-film-and-the-36-frames

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