Two New Large Format Color Negative Films are Now Available
May 4, 2026
David Prochnow
Our resident “how-to” project editor, David Prochnow, lives on the Gulf Coast of the United States in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. He brings his expertise at making our photography projects accessible to everyone, from a lengthy stint acting as the Contributing How-To Editor with Popular Science magazine. While you don’t have to actually build each of his projects, reading about these adventures will contribute to your continued overall appreciation of do-it-yourself photography. A collection of David’s best Popular Science projects can be found in the book, “The Big Book of Hacks,” Edited by Doug Cantor.
Share:
It’s not very often that a new large-format color negative film appears on today’s market. Surprisingly enough, two new, reasonably-priced color negative 4×5-format films have just been released and are now available for purchase.
First up, is the slower speed 100 ISO CatLABS x Film 100 that features fine grain, soft tones, and a warm color palette. This is a daylight-balanced film that features a standard C-41 darkroom development. You should expect the negatives to dry fast and flat for immediate scanning.
This CatLABS film has one exciting trick up its sleeve, however. You can optionally process the film with E-6 chemistry.
By using this optional E-6 cross-processing technique, the CatLABS x Film 100 emulsion shifts its color with much higher contrast. Furthermore, this color negative becomes a positive film!
CatLABS x Film 100 4×5/25-sheets 100 ISO Color Negative Film is priced at $129.99.
Deliberate and Balanced
The second new large-format color negative film is brought to you by Optik Oldschool. Delivering a fine grain with a well-balanced tonal scale, the Optik Oldschool Opticolour 200 – 4×5 film does exhibit a subtle emphasis on green and red.
Derived from the Wolfen NC200 emulsion, the new Opticolour 200 features the same classic natural coloring with a balanced highlight/shadow detail range. Recommended for art, architecture, and landscape photography, this film is processed in standard C-41 chemistry.
Opticolour 200 ISO 4×5/25-sheets Color Negative Film is priced at $96.99. You can also buy the 35mm version for $12.99.
Enjoy.
Filed Under:
Tagged With:
David Prochnow
Our resident “how-to” project editor, David Prochnow, lives on the Gulf Coast of the United States in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. He brings his expertise at making our photography projects accessible to everyone, from a lengthy stint acting as the Contributing How-To Editor with Popular Science magazine. While you don’t have to actually build each of his projects, reading about these adventures will contribute to your continued overall appreciation of do-it-yourself photography. A collection of David’s best Popular Science projects can be found in the book, “The Big Book of Hacks,” Edited by Doug Cantor.
Join the Discussion
DIYP Comment Policy
Be nice, be on-topic, no personal information or flames.