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My images journey started over 20 years in the past with black and white movie within the darkroom. One among my finest associates and I have been in command of making certain there was loads of developer and recent fixer. In change, we got a key to the darkroom to make use of every time we wished. We shot various speeds of Kodak TMax and Ilford Delta and processed them in a number of completely different developer manufacturers. I rapidly fell in love with deep blacks and punchy distinction, and I fell arduous. So, naturally I used to be thrilled when Editor-In-Chief Chris Gampat despatched some KONO Monolit 3 for evaluation.
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The Monolit 3 is an ultra-slow movie that guarantees to provide velvety, stark blacks and important distinction. Capturing with ISO 3 just isn’t simple; most exposures are between 1/eighth of a second and three seconds. The trouble of carrying a tripod in all places pays dividends once you see the completed outcomes. Seeing the deep blacks and succulent distinction transported me again to these joyous moments within the darkroom. Is the $14.99 price ticket for KONO Monolit 3 price it? We expect so. Hold studying to seek out out why.
The Large Image
The KONO Monolit 3 is an ultra-slow orthochromatic black and white movie that produces nice blacks and glorious distinction. The mix of the movie and a Leica M6 is ideal for cityscapes, landscapes, and structure. Most exposures are between 1/eighth of a second and three seconds. A tripod or a set of very regular fingers is important. Nonetheless, the effort of carrying a tripod in all places pays off in dividends. Seeing the completed consequence brings again a sense of nostalgia and an awesome sense of pleasure.
We’re giving KONO Monolit 3 5 out of 5 stars. Wish to strive it out for your self? It’s priced at $14.99 per 36-exposure roll. Additionally, there are only some rolls left in inventory for the foreseeable future.
Execs
Pretty distinction and punchy blacksWonderful gradationPlenty of detailMinimal grainISO 3 could be very forgiving
Cons
In the event you don’t have regular fingers, a tripod is important.
Gear Used
We examined the KONO Monolit 3 with the next gear:
Our Monolit 3 movie was developed and scanned by Blue Moon Digital camera in Portland, Oregon. They do a implausible job and have a passable turnaround time.
Ease Of Use
The Kono Monolit 3 was shot at field pace. A number of of the frames have been deliberately overexposed or underexposed. Nonetheless, many of the pictures on the 36-exposure roll have been captured as per the sunshine meter. A number of of the panorama frames utilized the zone technique for metering. The Monolit 3 is a pliable movie and produces stellar outcomes.
At ISO 3, KONO Monolit 3 just isn’t a simple movie to shoot. The producer recommends capturing its 35mm movie with a digicam that has a built-in meter. I discovered that my Sekonic gentle meter was greater than adequate, and the exposures got here out implausible. A tripod is important for many longer exposures, particularly once they exceed a number of seconds. You would possibly even go for a shutter launch for the longest exposures. The trouble is price it.
We did expertise a difficulty the place the movie got here indifferent from the movie roll. It felt precisely like when the strain releases when the movie has totally rewound, identical to the lots of of rolls earlier than. I assumed all was properly, and opened the underside of the Leica M6. Greater than half of the movie was uncovered to gentle in my automotive for so long as it took me to clumsily safe the underside. The opposite roll had indifferent completely and wouldn’t rewind. I needed to take it right into a darkroom, take away the movie from the digicam, and re-roll it to an empty roll.
There are a number of causes that this might have occurred. Our greatest guess is the transition from the freezer, floor delivery transit time, and a stark change within the local weather. The drastic change may have simply precipitated that to occur. KONO assured us that is an remoted case. I’ve shot movie lengthy sufficient to know that generally crap occurs even once you do all the things proper. We point out it so that you just would possibly take the additional precaution when rewinding your treasured movie simply in case. It’s by no means a foul thought to have further instruments and entry to a darkroom.
I used to be optimistic I had misplaced virtually a complete roll of movie. To my shock, most of these pictures on the uncovered ISO 3 survived. Only some of the superbly uncovered pictures look barely overexposed and a bit flat. Moreover, the sunshine leak made for an unintended impact that upped the cool issue and added to the temper. The movie is extremely pliable.
We shipped the movie to Blue Moon Digital camera in Portland, Oregon for growing and scanning. They did a wonderful job processing the KONO movie to specs. Scanned pictures have been despatched through a Dropbox folder, though you may choose one other supply technique. You too can select one other movie lab of your liking.
Picture High quality
KONO’s orthochromatic Monolit 3 produces pictures with attractive shadows, punchy distinction, loads of element, and refined grain. This movie creates the deep blacks I first fell in love with, particularly on sunny days. The Monolit 3 shines brightest when there may be loads of shiny gentle. Additionally, you will recognize the refined tonality by way of each shade of grey within the zone system on overcast days. It’s simple to barely underexpose for higher blacks on days which are particularly bleak.
The mix of the Leica M6 and KONO Monolit 3 does a unprecedented job capturing lovely shadows. Photographs captured on windy days have been sharp with loads of element. This movie is a wonderful selection for panorama, cityscape, and structure photographers. Even the photographs that have been uncovered to gentle got here out nice.
Additional Picture Samples
From day one, The Phoblographer has been big on transparency. Nothing from this evaluation is sponsored. Additional, numerous of us will put up critiques and present numerous enhancing within the pictures. The issue then turns into that anybody and everybody can do the identical factor. They’re not displaying what the product can do. These pictures are utterly unedited.
Who Ought to Purchase KONO Monolit 3 movie?
This can be a nice possibility for anybody who owns a 35mm digicam and appreciates wealthy blacks, ample distinction, beautiful grain, and loads of sharpness. In the event you don’t thoughts hauling your tripod with you for each shot, it’s a plus. A 36-exposure roll of KONO Monolit 3 is good for panorama, cityscape, and structure photographers. Need some? You may choose up a few of the remaining restricted inventory for $14.99.
KONO Monolit continues to offer unimaginable moody outcomes. We look ahead to see what they do with future iterations of this excellent movie.
Tech Specs
These specs are taken from the producer’s web site.
ISO 335mm, 36 exp., single filmOrthochromatic and ultra-slow movie stockclassic b&w processAny b&w lab can develop KONO! MONOLIT movies
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