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Film and Analog

Lomography Babylon 13 35mm Film Review: Deep, Inky Blacks

Brittany Smith
No Comments
05/23/2023
4 Mins read
Brittany Smith The Phoblographer Lomography Babylon 13 Product Image 9986

I will never pass up the opportunity of photographing with an excellent black and white film. There is something very romantic and nostalgic about seeing your images in monochrome. It immediately transports me back to my happy days in the dark room. Naturally, I eagerly anticipated receiving a roll of Lomography Kino Babylon 13 film to review.

Lomography’s Kino Babylon ISO 13 35mm film is an ultra-slow panchromatic black and white negative film. It produces images with a fine grain, gorgeous gradation, pleasing contrast, and an abundance of sharp details. Is it worth $9.90 per roll? Absolutely! Keep reading to find out more.

The Big Picture

The Lomography 35mm Kino Babylon ISO 13 film is an ultra-slow black and white negative film with fine grain. Images are sharp with plenty of detail. It creates gorgeous pictures with superb gradation and contrast in various lighting conditions. 

ISO 13 makes it possible to photograph handheld with shutter speeds of 1/125th and 1/250th of a second on an adequately lit day. The only nitpicky thing I found was the inconvenience of sometimes needing a tripod. The results were always worth the hassle of lugging it around.

There’s a lot to love about Lomography’s versatile Babylon 13 film. Images are gorgeous without the need to correct them. It is malleable on the slimmest chance your exposure wasn’t perfect when the sun snuck behind the clouds. It’s ideal for landscape, cityscape, travel, portraiture, photojournalism, and street photography.

We are giving the Lomography Babylon 35mm ISO 13 film five out of five stars. Want to try it for yourself? You can buy a roll for $9.90. 

Pros

  • Beautiful monochrome tones.
  • Pleasing contrast.
  • Sharp.
  • Excellent for any lighting condition.

Cons

  • You will want a tripod in lower light if you don’t have steady hands.

Gear Used

We reviewed the Lomography Kino Babylon ISO 13 film with our own Leica M6, 35mm Contax G f2 lens conversion, and personal Sekonic light meter. The film was sent off to Blue Moon Camera for processing and scanning.

Ease Of Use

Anyone with film photography experience will feel comfortable photographing with this film. If you don’t have much experience, it’s easy to learn. The most significant caveat is hauling around a tripod and light meter. Your digital camera’s meter will suffice if you don’t have one.

In ideal light, it’s easy to develop the rhythm of metering, setting your exposure, and pressing the shutter without needing a tripod. Those without steady hands will want a tripod for overcast days. It’s common to have shutter speeds of 1/8th of a second to 1 second.

I had a few frames of this film that were exposed to light. Thanks to the low ISO, those images are still very usable.

Image Quality

The image quality produced by Lomography’s Babylon 13 35mm film is excellent. Its fine grain makes lovely tonal images with plenty of sharpness. Contrast is excellent without being overbearing. It retains the subtle details in the deep shadows and bright highlights.

Extra Image Samples

From day one, The Phoblographer has been huge on transparency. Nothing from this review is sponsored. Further, lots of folks will post reviews and show lots of editing in the photos. The problem then becomes that anyone and everyone can do the same thing. They’re not showing what the product can do. These photos are completely unedited.

Who Should Buy Lomography Babylon 13 Film?

My favorite black and white film is from the Ilford Delta lineup. If I owned a 35mm film camera, I would stock up on a few rolls of Babylon 13 film. I would love to see Lomography extend the Babylon 13 to 120-size for medium format users.

Any photographer who appreciates black and white film photography should buy this film. Its versatility creates beautiful photographs in any light. Images are beautifully sharp with a subtle grain and incredible dynamic range.

The ISO 13 is slow enough to require the use of a tripod for slower shutter speeds on dreary days. However, there are many opportunities to capture shutter speeds of 1/125th and 1/250th of a second with a wide aperture.

It is an ideal choice of film for a variety of applications. You can pick up a roll for $9.90. We recommend Blue Moon Camera for developing and film scanning.

Film Highlights

The highlights are from the manufacturer.

Capture life’s most emotive moments in delicate detail with this intricate black and white cine film.

  • Get lost in a world of soft, alluring grey tones 
  • Super-low light sensitivity of ISO 13 
  • Panchromatic emulsion with very fine grain
  • Wide exposure latitude and sophisticated tonal spectrum
  • Great for shooting soft portraits, detailed scenes and candid close-ups

Film Size: 35 mm 

Film Type: Black & White Negative 

ISO: 13 

DX Code: No 

Development Process: B&W 

Exposures per roll: 36 

SKU: f13bw35

The Phoblographer may receive affiliate compensation for products purchased using links in this blog post.

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