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Film and Analog

Film Review: Lomography LomoChrome Purple 100-400 (35mm, New Emulsion)

Chris Gampat
No Comments
06/11/2017
3 Mins read
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Last Updated on 06/11/2017 by Chris Gampat

A while back, Lomography LomoChrome Purple was released in 120 and 35mm formats. But earlier this year, the company updated the formula to make it more stable. With it came the major improvement of making it easier to shoot with. The current LomoChrome Purple formula allows a photographer to get great results whether they’re shooting at ISO 400 or ISO 100. Lomography states that you can rate it at either setting, as opposed to the older formula which needed a lot of light to create the best images. This new emulsion is available only in 35mm, but it provides finer grain and still very nice colors.

So if you’re the type who only wants to shoot in 120, then the size may put you off. But make no mistake, the quality is absolutely there.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Purple!
  • Lots of purple
  • Sharp image output
  • Nice color rendition overall
  • Sort of trippy look
  • One of the most unique photo looks out there. Nothing digital can copy this.

Cons

  • Expensive, but I understand why.
  • Only available in 35mm

Gear Used

I tested two rolls of the new Lomography LomoChrome Purple with the Canon EOS 33, Sigma 35mm f1.4 Art, Pentax Spotmatic, Pentax 50mm f1.4, and the Vivitar 28mm f2.5. 

Tech Specs

Specs taken from the Lomography LomoChrome Purple product page.

Features

Exciting Hues

Venture into a psychedelic color spectrum — turn blue to green, green to purple, and yellow to pink without the need to post-process!

Film Sensitivity

At the super versatile setting of ISO 400, you can get beautiful shots in various lighting conditions.

Standard Development

The new LomoChrome Purple is developed using the standard C-41 process.

Storage Information

The storage temperature for this film is 20°C. To extend the life of the film, we recommend storing it in the fridge, at a temperature lower 10°C. Don’t expose the film to temperatures above 30°C for long periods.

SKU f436lcn_10pack
Brand Lomography
Film Type Negative
ISO 100-400
Exposures 36
Pack Size 10
Categories Films, Film Bestsellers, Lomography Film, Lomography 35mm Film, 35mm Film , 35mm Color Negative, Color Negative Film, 35mm Color Negative, Film Bundles

Metering

With the two rolls I was able to test, I shot Lomography LomoChrome Purple at both ISO 200 and ISO 400. But in both cases, I gave the film a bit more light (around 1/3rd of a stop) in many situations.

When you’re metering specifically to ISO 400 you may want to shoot the film at ISO 200 but then develop for 400. You can see this in this specific image that I slightly underexposed.

In this image from the same roll, I set my Canon EOS 33 to be metering around 1/3rd overexposed. Indeed, Lomography LomoChrome Purple still likes more light but you’re surely getting more stable results.

Above is a result I got from a roll shot and developed at ISO 200 with a bit more light given to the film emulsion. And here’s where you start to see some more of the film’s characteristics.

Ease of Use

So more or less, Lomography LomoChrome Purple is designed to take greens in a scene and render them as purple. It’s influenced by Kodak Aerochrome in creation. However, there is nothing like this out there.

Here are some of the characteristics of the film:

Lomography LomoChrome Purple will turn whites to slightly purple.

Lomography LomoChrome Purple will take dark greens and make them accordingly very dark; especially in the shadows. So when you see really, super dark greens like algae and kelp on rocks, then give the scene more light but know that you’re going to blow out the blues in the scenes.

Lomography LomoChrome Purple is a very sharp film

For the most part, Lomography LomoChrome Purple leaves reds alone. It’s odd but nice.

Lomography LomoChrome Purple doesn’t really seem to affect blues very much.

Lomography LomoChrome Purple can also render a whole lot of detail and has very fine grain. It’s rather beautiful honestly.

Extra Sample Images

Conclusions

I really, really like the new Lomography LomoChrome Purple film emulsion. It’s easier to work with and it can render some truthfully beautiful moments. Plus with the way that it works with colors, it can simply just be fine to work with. I strongly recommend that every photographer give it a try to get a look totally different from everything you’ve shot digitally. I’m going to eventually purchase more and use it with a graduated ND filter of some sort.

aerochrome blue film green iso kodak lomochrome purple lomography Lomography LomoChrome Purple metering purple red review
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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