Written by Jennifer Stamps
Lomography was my step into film in the digital age. Well, I should say Urban Outfiters was where I purchased my first Lomography camera, the medium format Diana+.
That was in 2012, and, since then, I’ve explored many cameras and film stocks of other brands, but Lomography’s inclusive nature and eagerness to experiment with film keep me coming back.
Lomography makes several film stocks unique to their brand. Currently, they have two black and white film stocks with a 400 ISO – Lady Grey and Berlin Kino.
Both film stocks are made for 120 and 35mm cameras, but for the sake of this comparison experiment, I’m only comparing 35mm film.
Find Lomography Lady Grey on Amazon or at Adorma and find Lomography Berlin Kino at Adorama.
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Lomography and Lomokino
Before I get into the two rolls of film, I feel like I need to introduce Lomokino. Lomo + kino.
The word “kino” in German roughly translates to “movie theatre,” so it probably won’t surprise you that the Lomokino (designed by Lomography) is an analog motion picture camera that shoots with 35mm film (not the typical 8mm film that motion picture cameras tend to shoot with).
Why do I bring this up? Because in 2018, Lomography launched a new line of film stocks… Kino!
These film stocks were inspired by none-other-than classic movie films. The first of the bunch was Berlin Kino – the 400 ISO film stock that was inspired by the New German Cinema movement. It was designed with delicate grain and soft midtones.
In 2019, they updated the formula with the launch of their Potsdam Kino 100 ISO filmstock. The new (2019 version) Berlin Kino is the film stock you can find in stores today.
Cameras, Lenses, Developing, and Scanning Used for this Comparison
For this comparison, I tried to keep everything as consistent as humanly possible.
I shot with two 35mm manual cameras with 50mm lenses. The settings on the cameras were exactly the same when shooting (although, it’s important to note that all cameras are different with different quirks). However, it’s safe to say it’s a pretty fair comparison.
The Lomography Berlin Kino was shot in my Nikon F2 (find on eBay) and the Lomography Lady Grey was shot in my Olympus OM-1. (You can read my review of the Olympus OM-1 here.)
Both rolls of film were developed with Kodak HC-110 dilution B (1 part developer + 31 parts water).
They require different development times, so they were developed separately. Shot and developed at box speed: Berlin Kino requires 7 minutes at the above dilution; Lady Grey requires 5.5 minutes at the above dilution.
When scanning, I decided not to make any edits. Typically, the only edits I make to black and white scans is contrast or exposure. But I didn’t want to edit one roll differently than the other to obtain the results I wanted.
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Click to enlarge.
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Comparing Cost
A roll of 36 exposure Berlin Kino currently costs $8.90 per roll – or 24.7 cents a frame.
On the other hand, Lady Grey currently comes in a three pack of 36 exposure rolls which costs $19.90 (USD) – about $6.63 per roll – or 18.4 cents a frame. (I loved math in school!)
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Click to enlarge.
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The Differences Between Lomography Lady Grey and Berlin Kino
I was expecting the differences to be subtle. But after scanning, they aren’t subtle at all.
From these rolls, it looks like Lomography Lady Grey has more dramatic contrast than Berlin Kino. Lady Grey photos feel richer with more depth. Whereas it looks like Berlin Kino takes the midtones and neutralizes them by making everything more gray and less black and white.
Since Berlin Kino was inspired by movie film, it makes sense that the images are a little more dreamy and less drastic.
Personally, I’d probably love Berlin Kino for portraits – you can get those soft, dreamy tones. Where Lomography Lady Grey might be better for documentary or street photography.
But regardless of what you decide, I really don’t think you can go wrong – both film stocks are fantastic and a lot of fun to shoot.
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Thank you so much, Jen! Jennifer is a regular contributor here at Shoot It With Film, and be sure to check out her other articles, like 5 Film Cameras Under $50 and Develop B&W Film with Coffee! A Caffenol Developing Tutorial.
You can also check out more of Jennifer’s work on her website.
Leave your questions about Lomography Lady Grey and Lomography Berlin Kino below in the comments, and you can pick up some for yourself here: Lomography Lady Grey and Lomography Berlin Kino.
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Blog Comments
Jerome
March 4, 2022 at 11:57 am
It looks like the exposure is off with the Berlin Kino. Were both camera meters checked for accuracy before shooting with an 18% grey card and a third device?
etienne dezutter
March 4, 2022 at 2:20 pm
hoi Jennifer … Berlin Kino is cut to 35 mm from Orwo rolls. I didn’t try my Berlin Kino , or Potsdam or Fantome or Babylon . I’m a bit confused that the tones in this film are so weak. Normally I do work with the originals ORWO 400 and 100 and they give a good tonevalue over the whole frame. It seem strange to me that the pictures are very “light”.This filmrolls can be handel with many filters. When I put my lomo- orwo in my camera I let you know about the results.I’m now veryyyy curious;
Greetings from Belgium