The analog photography world was shocked this week when Light Lens Lab, a design and manufacturing operation located in China announced that they would be working towards the production of new photographic and cinema films. Light Lens Lab has been producing affordable reproductions of Leica lenses for a while and this move into film production was unexpected. Light Lens Lab mentioned that this new venture was made possible by the development of a new machine that they had developed that could apply the emulsion to the film in a proprietary process that would make them “self-sufficient”. They listed several types of film that they are planning to produce. Here’s the list:

• Black and White film with T-Grain Structure, with speeds ranging from 100 to 1600

• C-41

• E-6

• Instant Peel-Apart Film

• ECN-2 for cinematography

• And more in the future

What the Lens Light Lab Announcement Means for the Future of Film?

The photographic film industry has been struggling for years. Even after the pandemic brought about a revival in shooting film, the industry has been slow to catch up and even declining in some cases. Photographers and photography hobbyists have been buying more and more film with each passing month but companies like Fuji Film has been discontinuing extremely popular product lines.

2024 brought us some promising news from Kodak as they are making additions to their production facilities and similar news also came from Ilford who is also adding production space. Ilford’s parent company, Harman released a new color film under the Phoenix name in 2024 as the first beta test in their venture into color film. Lucky film company out of China along with this venture from Light Lens Lab means that for the first time in decades, film scarcity might not be a problem has it has often been in the past several years.

This announcement ultimately means a wider variety of products available and competition that will hopefully keep prices in check.

Lens Light Lab is Bringing Back Peel-Apart Film!

Something that caught everyone’s attention was the mention of bringing back peel-apart film. The beloved instant photography format was discontinued by Polaroid once, and then by Fuji. I never got the chance to shoot Polaroid Peel-Apart film, but I absolutely loved Fuji’s FP-100C and FP-3000B. Both were amazing and combined with a Polaroid Land Camera could produce some absolutely beautiful images. I’ve written about Peel-Apart Film before, you can can check that blog post out HERE.

There have been rumors for years that different companies were bringing back peel-apart film. One-instant has an offering out there that works, but is a tad messy and sloppy. A new peel-apart film on part with what Fuji was making would mean the world to all of us photographers out there holding on to our Polaroid Land Cameras in the hopes that someone would one day resurrect the format.

A New Cinema Film from Lens Light Lab!

Right now, Kodak is the only company manufacturing cinema film. And thanks to an agreement between a group of amazing directors, studios are still buying lots of 35mm and 65mm film for movies. Photographers also actually love using cinema film. It has a different feel and look to you. Cinestill has been selling cinema film without the remjet for years now. And until recently, a lot of photographers were buying cinema film directly from Kodak in 400 and 1000ft rolls and bulk-loading the film ourselves. I was one of these photographers and I absolutely LOVE shooting with Kodak 500t. It’s honestly one of my favorite film stocks. But sadly, Kodak has began restricting the sale of cinema film to non-production companies. We’ve been cut off from our cinema film supply, so a new cinema film from Lens Light Lab would give all of us cinema film shooters a new chance to shoot it again.

The big difference with shooting cinema film directly from Kodak rather than from Cinestill is that the remjet layer has been removed in the Cinestill products to make it possibly to develop it using the C41 process. I actually prefer to use the ECN-2 process, which is what cinema film was designed to be developed in. I’m really excited about the possibility of having a new cinema film to shoot with!

Lens Light Lab is Planning to Develop an E6 Film!

Over the past decade, we’ve seen slide film disappearing from manufacturers catalogs left and right. Kodak had even at one point cancelled its Ektachrome film. As the demand for film began to increase, Kodak brought a slightly different version of their beloved Ektachrome back, just as Fuji was completely getting out of the slide film business. Ektachrome is an amazing film but it’s very expensive, the possibility of having another option of E6 film to shoot is exciting! While E6 film is not nearly as popular as black and white or color negative film, it’s still considered one the most appealing films to shoot. I can’t wait to see what Lens Light Lab is able to produce.

Now the Hard Part… We Wait

The excitement is almost overwhelming, but we are probably a good ways away from having products in hand. Lens Light Lab didn’t give us a timeline for product release, but they did let us know that these products will definitely be sold under a new brand name, not under the Lens Light Lab moniker. The good thing is that they have been a very innovative and consistent company so we at least know there’s something in development. If you’d like to read more, go check out their original blog post HERE.

And check back here and their website often to stay up to date on any future announcements!