Advertised by WASHI as a “near infrared film”, it has a sensitivity of 400/ISO27, and it is respooled by the “world’s smallest film company”, from stock pre-existent. Never had a chance to try on this film until now; but as I manifested myself intrigued about it, a friend of mine sent me a roll, just to get an idea on what is this film about and if I like it or not.
The film is interesting enough to want to shoot some more; 36 exp is less than I would need to get a feeling about Washi Z. It is my understanding that Z stands for the type of the 135/36 negative as per Washi’s own classification; looks like this film is “Originally coated for aerial vegetation mapping, “Z” is a near infrared sensitive film, offering nice contrast and green shades separation, making it perfect for landscape photography“.
To be honest, I haven’t even tried to check if this is true or not, as the green is somewhat not present, what with this strange-looking winter. Just shot the thing as 400ASA in my Nikon F4, and processed it according to Washi’s own film datasheet: D76 stock for 10mins, stand development.
I cannot see the grain. I mean, I know it’s there, but I do not see it in the photographs. If anything, a bit too smooth, mainly in the light portions of the negative. If this is something to do with the type of the emulsion or my development, no idea. I will need some more film to understand this lack of grain.
While I am not sold, I will buy a few more rolls and try this film further. I am curious how close is this emulsion to the Rollei 80’s, which is said to be ” near infrared film” as well. Next time, an IR filter will be on, btw.