Fuji Neopan was one of the first films I tried when I made my first, tentative steps back into analogue pictures some six years ago or so (you can read the full story in my Emulsive interview). Along with Ilford’s Ilfotec HC developer, it has remained a constant since because while I like a little experimentation, once I find something that works well for me, I tend to stick with it and explore its full potential.

Limiting the variables obviously helps simplification and that is definitely a good thing in photography (in my experience at least).

My friend Iain first described some of my pictures as NEOPANTASTIC and initially, I wasn’t clear what that meant. Over time, as I’ve tried the different versions, I’ve discovered the various attributes that make them unique, be it the glorious grain of the 1600 speed or the massive spectrum of grey that Acros provides. Most of the varieties have gone of course, but Acros 100 keeps the Neopan name alive.

And that suits me just fine. While the grainy, low-contrast 1600 images are wonderful, I tend to shoot things that don’t move and in low-light, making Acros perfect. For the night-time work that I do, its ability to be both under-exposed by a couple of stops, and to make exposures of a couple of minutes without having to do any reciprocity maths are priceless.

Examples like the shot below, shot on Acros in 6×9 format produce the most spectacular negatives. A digital rendering on a small screen, just hints at the glory of the real thing.

So, if it’s a stock you’ve not tried, or even if it is something you use regularly, you might want to get involved in the latest celebration of different film stocks, brought to you by @EmulsiveFilm (following FP4 and TMax Parties). Basically, shoot it next week and post the results in the last week of May. I’m on the ‘judging panel’ and look forward to seeing what other people can achieve with it.

Find @NEOPANtastic on Twitter here

And all you need to know from Emulsive here

My previous posts tagged #neopantastic are here

A Flickr album of my Neopan stuff is here