If you were to ask me my favourite emulsion, I’d have to say it was Velvia. This slide film has such a rich, saturated pink-red colour palette, it’s ideal for sunny days. It’s not massively suited to Berlin in December, but I had a roll that had been in my Olympus XA4 for well over a year, and it needed using up.
It turned out to be perfect for bright graffiti shots, and for moody night photography (at only ISO 50, it needed to be placed on a flat surface to get anything good). The XA4 has a lovely sharp lens, with a bit of vignetting, which to be honest is no bad thing. The photos below are almost straight out of the camera, and more can be seen here.
I’m planning on taking the XA4 out a lot more, especially on nights out with some higher-sensitivity film in it. It’s small, unobtrusive, and has zone-based focusing which means it can be popped on a pub table and used for candid shots of friends. Watch this space!