Black and white photography will always be close to my heart. It’s how I first learned and what I always find myself longing for. Being able to slow down, breathe, and make every frame count is a luxury. I always look forward to photographing with new film and I was excited to test the Lomography Fantome 8 film.

The ultra-slow black-and-white film stock will require users to carry a tripod if they don’t have steady hands. Don’t worry, it is worth it. Lomography boasts that it elevates your monochrome image with added contrast. Is it worth the moderate $8.90 price tag? Keep reading to find out more.

The Big Picture

Lomography Kino Fantome 8 film is an ultra-slow black and white negative film. The 35mm film stock produces high-contrast images that are ideal for flatly lit scenes. It is possible to capture images handheld, although carrying a tripod for slower shutter speeds that ISO 8 can require is always a good idea. 

The black and white 35mm film makes for beautiful portraits, excellent landscapes, and striking urban scenes in low light. The contrast may be too much on sunny and partly cloudy days. In these cases, it’s easy to crush the details in the highlights and shadows. 

Photographers who appreciate contrast and enjoy taking their time to compose a scene will appreciate this filmstock. It is an excellent choice for creative portraits, urbanscapes, and landscapes when you want a little extra contrast. 

We are giving the Lomography Kino Fantome ISO 8 film four out of five stars. Want to try it for yourself? You can pick up a roll for $8.90. 

Pros

• Excellent for overcast days.
• Plenty of contrast.
• Loads of character.

Cons

• It’s easy to crush the highlight and shadow details.
• You will need to pack a tripod for slow shutter speeds.

Gear Used

We reviewed the Lomography Kino Fantome ISO 8 film with a Leica M6, 35mm Contax G f2 lens, and personal Sekonic light meter. We sent the film to Blue Moon Camera for processing and scanning.

Ease Of Use

Most photographers experienced with film photography will feel comfortable working with this 35mm film stock. Newer photographers who are just learning to compose will appreciate the impactful tones to liven up their photography.

When looking at sample images, I knew I would need to adjust how I usually photograph. As such, I chose to photograph on overcast days with very little chance of full sunshine. I have embraced contrast in my work for a long time and thought that the result was too much for my liking.

The Fantome 8 reminded me of when I experimented with the most robust magenta filter for the first time in the dark room. Highlight and shadow detail are easily lost in environments with subtle contrast. Once lost, they aren’t easily retrievable as with other films I have worked with. Although, there were a few frames where the stark blacks added visual interest.

It takes a little time to adjust your style to accommodate that and photograph with intention. Patience and practice pays off. When it hits the way you wanted, it’s beautiful.

Image Quality

The Lomography Kino Fantome 8 produces low-grain images and plenty of details in the mid-tones. Images are rich with contrast, stark whites, and deep blacks. Highlight and shadow details can be lost, even in subtle light.

Extra Image Samples

From day one, The Phoblographer has been huge on transparency. Nothing from this review is sponsored. Further, lots of folks will post reviews and show lots of editing in the photos. The problem then becomes that anyone and everyone can do the same thing. They’re not showing what the product can do. These photos are completely unedited.

Who Should Buy Lomography Fantome 8 Film?

Any photographer who wants to create with black and white film and appreciates contrast would enjoy experimenting with Lomography Fantome 8 film. The punchy contrast is a fantastic choice for dreary days. Fantome 8 gives a lot of character to what would be an otherwise less exciting scene.

I would pick up another roll of the Lomography Kino Fantome 8 for a creative indoor portrait session or the next time I travel abroad. However, I probably wouldn’t choose it frequently for paying clients. The lost details matter in commercial work.

Any photographer who leans into high-contrast images will appreciate this film. It is a fun choice for creative portraits and street photography. You can pick up a roll for $8.90 if you’re ready to try it for yourself. And if you’re looking for a lab to develop it, we recommend Blue Moon Camera for processing and scanning.

Film Highlights

The film highlights are from the manufacturer.

The highlights are from the manufacturer.

Effortlessly evoke the theatre in your everyday life with this show-stopping black and white cine film.

• Take your striking high contrast shots up a notch
• Super-low light sensitivity of ISO 8
• Panchromatic emulsion with very fine grain
• Small exposure latitude and high contrast renderings 
• Great for pinhole, striking portraits and gritty street photography

Film Size: 35 mm 

Film Type: Black & White Negative 

ISO: 8 

DX Code: No 

Development Process: B&W 

Exposures per roll: 36 

SKU: f8bw35

The Phoblographer may receive affiliate compensation for products purchased using links in this blog post.

by Martin McConnell

Since she was a child, Tabatha Colombaro has been obsessed with photography. The Parma Heights resident recently opened her first brick and mortar studio, Tabatha Sue Photography, located at 7032 Mill Rd.
According to Colombaro, her passion for photography lasted into her adult years. While the urge to open a studio was strong, with minimal professional equipment she had to wait for the right opportunity to open her own place.

“When I was a kid, I, again, loved photography,” Colombaro explained. “I remember a few times being outside, taking pictures of flowers, and just loving the photography aspect. As you get older, you start to realize what you really want to do.”
Colombaro said she “dove headfirst” into the newborn photography business following the death of her mother who passed away from cancer.

“My mom and I, we were best friends. We were very, very close,” she said. “She was a single mom and I was the oldest of four kids. She was diagnosed with cancer when I was pregnant with my daughter. Three months later, she ended up passing away. The cancer moved pretty quickly.”

Weeks after she passed, Colombaro’s husband surprised her with her first professional camera. Given Colombaro’s history, her subject matter of choice was obvious, she said.
“I’ve actually been obsessed with babies since I was little,” Colombaro said. “I was one of those kids that were at the family gatherings where I’d see a little baby and I was hovering over, wanting to hold the baby. My mom (had a daycare) when I was growing up.”

After her mom passed, Colombaro said that capturing memories throughout a person’s life became an extremely important practice to her. She said that the best place for that practice to start is at the very beginning of one’s life.
“You’re only this age once,” she said. “The babies are only newborns once. You’re only pregnant with that baby one time. So, it’s important to me that they capture that. With photography, I actually went into documentary photography for a little while, because I love the lighting, and I love to be able to find the good light.”

Colombaro explained that the April move signified her first venture into a physical studio. Previously a home photographer, she felt the need to expand her business, and take on the new adventure.
“I’ve always photographed in my home and I’ve always had a home studio,” she said. “I kind of work best under pressure, so I was like, you know what, I need an actual commercial space. When (my clients) are there, they don’t do anything. I change all the diapers. I finish the session in a white onesie, so they can just put the baby in a carrier.”
The community response so far, she said, has been outstanding. Those looking to contact Colombaro for photography opportunities can reach the studio at 216-482-7969. ∞

Photo: Photographer Tabatha Colombaro has opened a new studio dedicated to newborn photography on Mill Road. Photo submitted.

Continuing the U of A collaboration with the University of Manouba in Tunis, professors Curtis Maughan (digital humanities) and David Fredrick (classics, game design) of the Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures and graduate student researchers Rachel Murray (comparative literature) and Mitchell Simpson (English) took 360-degree photographs of three historic sites in Tunisia: Dougga, Bulla Regia and Uthina.

These protected sites feature a remarkable mixture of Punic, Numidian, Roman and, in some cases, Amazigh structures, including theaters, baths, forums, temples, houses and the Uthina amphitheater.

To gain access and insight to the historic sites, the U of A team collaborated closely with faculty from the University of Manouba, including Mohamed Karim Azizi, professor of game development; Hosni Ajlani, professor of 3D animation; Ines Bouraoui, professor of architecture; and Skander Belhaj, director of the Higher Institute of Multimedia Arts.

The fieldwork in Tunisia forms part of a larger project, “Mediterranean 360,” which included 360-degree photography of sites in Sicily and exploratory visits to sites in Spain from June 16 to July 3. Captured with an Insta360 Pro 2 camera rig, the 360-degree photography will be used as the basis for producing interactive, accessible virtual tours and game-based applications to teach the cross-cultural history of the ancient and medieval Mediterranean.

Once the sites have been captured in their current condition by the 360-degree camera, spherical reconstruction drawings by a small team of artists can be layered on top of the 360-degree images to suggest how the site looked at a given historical moment. The 360-degree images and reconstruction drawings can then be imported into the game engine Unity3d, allowing the creation of interactive tours and game-based applications.

Working in collaborative teams, U of A graduate and undergraduate students will have a direct role in producing these applications, and thus “Mediterranean 360” is a significant example of HIPs (High-Impact Practices) at the U of A. The application located in Tunisia will foreground the combined expertise of students and faculty from both the U of A and the University of Manouba. Working with Ryan Calabretta-Sajder, David Fredrick has served as the creative director on similar projects in Italian that harness the Unity Game Engine to create immersive narratives with interactive mechanics set within 360-degree navigable environments.

Maughan, director of the World Languages and Digital Humanities Studio, looks forward to further growing the ongoing collaboration with the University of Manouba.

“Having worked with ISAMM since 2018, I am very excited to extend this collaboration to the University of Arkansas, where we share the vision to develop curriculum and pursue research projects that promote interdisciplinary and innovative engagement with world cultures and world languages,” Maugham said. “As the only public higher education establishment in Tunis that grants degrees in game development and 3D animation, ISAMM continues to distinguish itself in North Africa by pioneering curricula and research initiatives in virtual, augmented and mixed reality — which is a research frontier of great interest to those passionate about the (digital) humanities at UA.”

The title of Sally Svenson’s third book on history in the region, “Adirondack Photographers 1850-1950,” tells it all. She has somehow managed to compile a list of everyone who toiled behind a camera during transition from the earliest days of photography through the ubiquity of the single-lens reflex camera. Researchers will make use of the well footnoted volume forever. And there’s a lot there for the rest of us.

For one thing, the author has provided a wonderful 20-page introduction on the history of photography, from the itinerant daguerreotypist, to the collodion-coated glass plate, and well beyond George Eastman’s introduction of paper film sold by the roll. She’s shown us how even small settlements managed to support a practitioner, and how professionals began earning a living via portraiture, then selling prints of scenic vistas.

Those vistas weren’t easily captured during the early days. Photographers had to lug a backpack of equipment, coat glass plates in the field, and somehow bring everything back home without breakage. One key fad that peaked a century ago, but still hangs on at least a little, has been the postcard, a mainstay of many people spotlighted in the book. It’s instructive to compare those earlier ordeals to the ease of now just pulling a phone out of one’s pocket.

The bulk of text goes through alphabetical listing of all those photographers. Granted, one can glaze over a little while reading so many capsule biographies. Most will likely look up a few names familiar to them, then take time to skim a few more pages. Another strategy might be finding one’s community in the index and reading the entries with local interest. Once exposed (like the pun?), the casual reader will want to return multiple times.

For the purposes of a review, I read the book cover to cover, a strategy that allowed appreciation of a few trends that dabblers might overlook. I saw how some were lifetime natives of the North Country, while others were immigrants, primarily from Europe and in one case Japan. Tuberculosis brought more than a few to the region. A couple were attracted by the 1932 Olympics.

Only a minority enjoyed formal training, but cross-referencing showed how frequently one practitioner became a mentor to others. As in today’s Adirondacks, many had to cobble together several skills to make a living. Photographers at times worked as hotel managers, farmers, pharmacists, taxidermists, and even jailers. One began restoring fine paintings, and there was a tinkerer who patented a corn popper.

Tourist trade naturally became critical to many of these camera people. Hotels and railroads commissioned photos. Images became central to forest preservation debates. Seneca Ray Stoddard’s season-long tramp through the Adirondacks became the nucleus of a series of travel guides. James Pursell and his wife made their living from photos taken as they rode their tandem bicycle along mountain roads.

However, the majority spent most of their time on the expected facets of community photography. Judging from quotes attributed to advertisements, infants and young children were critical to trade. Studios emphasized their dedication to “babies, children, and old people” or “house, horse, or baby.” One man bragged “am never cross to little folks” while another promised facility with “nervous children before they can move.”

The famous and important photographers are included. If you don’t know the aforementioned Stoddard or William Henry Jackson, here’s your opportunity to catch up. I found surprises, including Elias Beaman, who accompanied John Wesley Powell’s expedition down the Colorado River, and Henry Kaiser, who operated a camera shop in Lake Placid before becoming the master shipbuilder of World War II. Alfred Stieglitz, who summered in Lake George with his wife Georgia O’Keeffe, aided the transition of photography into an art form.

Some documented particular industries — lumbering, iron mining, blueberry picking — thereby producing important historical records. Others created the records of communities, with their livelihoods, traditions, and pastimes. I regularly encountered names about which I’d like to learn more.

If the author missed anyone, I didn’t know it, and believe me, I checked on a few photographers whom I thought could be easily overlooked. The short biographies are formulaic, structured around census records, career progression, places of death and burial, yet very readable.

The author has provided a definite service in putting this volume together. She has created both a useful reference work, and also an enjoyable volume to pick up and peruse from time to time. Those with interest in regional history, not to mention photography, will enjoy having this book in their libraries.