This roll was my first Delta roll from Ilford. Delta filmstocks employ tabular grain, which means flatter crystals of silver halide and hence a greater absorption surface. In essence, this means tabular grain films have lower grain sizes (less noticeable film grain on the final product) and there is some evidence that rolls can be pushed / pulled more than traditional grain films. This is all moot, however, as this roll was Ilford Delta 3200 — the highest ISO film I could find. There is grain galore! On the plus side, ISO this high meant very low light requirements, which I played around with a little.

This roll also contains my first attempts at a new technique; trichrome photography. By taking an exposure with each of a red, green, and blue filter, the individual frames can be combined in post-processing to recreate a color image. The downsides are numerous:

  • Three frames for one image.
  • The filters remove a decent amount of light, requiring larger apertures or lower shutter speeds.
  • The camera must be kept very still while taking each frame, requiring a good tripod and usually a cable release.
  • Aligning the frames can be a pain, and often results in odd looking images.
  • Often the colors are wrong, as the filters are not exclusively admitting red, green, and blue light, requiring even more post-processing.
  • Subjects the move (e.g. portraits, or even flora in the wind) are not compatible.

The upsides, however, are worth it:

  • Color photography, with black and white film!

Camera: Ricoh KR-10 Super

Lens: SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2

Film: Ilford Delta 3200 Professional shot at ISO 3200

Post Processing: GIMP

My first attempt at a trichrome (yes, with the Dunedin Railway Station), came out terrifically underexposed and muddy. I also did not align the frames very well, leading to a lot of chromatic artifacts. The clouds moved quickly, resulting in a somewhat neat effect!
My second attempt was a little better, but again there simply was not enough light for this indoor shot (even with ISO 3200)… oh well, there are plenty more trichromes to come!

Here’s a shot of my guitar, with just a hair of underexposure. I was really pushing this film, shooting indoors on an overcast day nearing sunset. The fact we got any result at all is a miracle! Notice the intense film grain — just lovely!

You will find throughout this roll that there are many parallel shots to the previous roll (in which I was testing the Minolta.) This is one such shot, where I captured the raindrops on a window. I am much happier with this frame over the Minolta, mainly due to the depth of field effect achieved with the SLR.
Here’s the first attempt at shooting late into the night. Again, this is frankly miraculous given we are using film. A digital camera would handle this much better, but this was all film! The cost, of course, is the insane film grain and lack of details in the shadows, even with post-processing trickery. ISO 3200 is nothing to sneeze at!
Another shot into the dark of night. There’s zero detail in the shadow, but I kind of like it. What’s out there?

An indoor shot, in which I am relying almost entirely on artificial lighting from fluorescent tubes. Thanks goodness we don’t care much for color quality, huh? Once more, impressed by the ability to resolve anything at all given the conditions, and the grain is certainly quite stylish.
We return to the Cube! Parallel to the Minolta once more, this time I appreciate the minimum focusing distance of the SLR over the rangefinder. This composition is much more pleasing to me.
This may well be the first astrophotography I undertook! In fairness, I believe that is Venus, rather than a star, so “just” the brightest object in the sky… behind the Sun and Moon. Still, I like this photo for reasons I can’t quite put my finger on!
If you’ve read previous posts on my blog you’ll know I have been in a quest for high contrast clouds, and never quite scratching that itch. This frame, finally, has clouds I can say are high contrast enough! The technique I used here was “wait for sunset” and “use an ISO given to use by Prometheus”. The things we do for love.

A different section of river to what we’ve seen before, but even on an overcast day we froze the water nicely. Notice the duck taking on the whitewater rapids! I love watching these little guys on my commute.
He made it down the rapids in one piece. Phew!

I like this composition, it’s a strange mix of urban street photography and wildlife photography. The contrast in themes is as interesting as the contrast of this filmstock!
This was a tree, taken looking up from the base towards the sky. Unfortunately, that context is lost without anything else to ground the composition. I think a 28mm lens would have done better, but at the time I had only my trust 50mm prime lens.
Wow! A macro flower shot! That’s so unlike me!
I think this is probably my favorite shot from the roll, just because the intense grain lends itself well to gritty urban compositions, and this is the grittiest, urban-iest exposure I took!
Saint Paul’s Cathedral in the Octagon. Again, a 28mm might give a nicer composition, or perhaps I should have stood further back, but man do I love this architecture!
I tried my hand at a landscape using this film. The grain doesn’t lend itself well to this kind of composition, in my opinion, but perhaps the right scene would be nice. I’d probably stick to HP5+ or perhaps Delta 400 for landscapes, though.
Another landscape, now later in the day, and the details are starting to go missing a little too much. Is there such a thing as too much grain? Have we found it?
Okay, yes, we found it. Too much grain. Not enough detail. Not enough light. Stop shooting!
Enough! The light is fading, and these frames are lacking in detail!
STOP SHOOTING! THERE IS NOT ENOUGH LIGHT!!
I really enjoy this composition, too. The framing down the alley is lovely, and the lack of details in the shadow adds to an eerie feeling. Should I feel dread, from the unfamiliarity with the door at the end of the alley? Would familiarity even placate that fear? Or perhaps, to some, that doorway is as inviting as an open fire.
This was on the same day as the previous photographs, and the light really is fading now. But how could I say no to this beautiful flower? So I held very still and did my best.
And for the last frame on the roll, just like the first, we often find a composition abruptly cut off by whatever the camera decides. I didn’t mind the result of the camera’s cruel choice, so you may look upon it.