If my memory doesn’t fool me this interesting stainless statue of a globe is on State St looking due south. The windows in the background belong to the State/Lake “L” station. The statue is located within the boulevard median separating State St, just north of the “L” station. Judging from the shadows, this must have been high noon, with the sun directly south of where I was standing.

I was testing the Arista EDU 200 film on this roll. If I ignore the Kentmere, the cheapest film available on B&H website, this Arista comes close second in price. Aimed at education and students of photography (hence the EDU name, this film is not only reasonably priced, but also quite forgiving. Many commenters in various photo forums claim this is a repackaged Fomapan 200. I’ve shot Foma extensively decades ago, recently started again, and have to say people may be right. The grain, contrast, the overall look and feel are very familiar. Even the halo is there – you can see it as this milky overlay the film produces on and around very bright areas. In this particular photo, the halation is very visible around the very top brightest edge of the globe where the halo effect blurs the actual edge of the globe as the radiance spreads beyond it and onto the windows and walls of the “L” station.

I think this is a good film for beginners and pros alike. I developed it in CineStill DF96 at home, scanned on a flatbed and processed in Silverfast 8. What I like about this emulsion is simple: the grain is much more controlled, yet speed is still decent enough to use on a cloudy day. It’s a good compromise between the grainy Foma 400 (which I love, but it is a very acquired taste for some people) and the slow but very sharp 100 speed film. For six bucks a roll of 36, I’ll buy a whole bulk of this…