My pictures journey started over 20 years in the past with black and white movie within the darkroom. One in all my finest pals and I have been in control of guaranteeing there was loads of developer and recent fixer. In change, we got a key to the darkroom to make use of every time we needed. We shot various speeds of Kodak TMax and Ilford Delta and processed them in a number of totally different developer manufacturers. I shortly fell in love with deep blacks and punchy distinction, and I fell onerous. So, naturally I used to be thrilled when Editor-In-Chief Chris Gampat despatched some KONO Monolit 3 for evaluation.
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The Monolit 3 is an ultra-slow movie that guarantees to provide velvety, stark blacks and important distinction. Capturing with ISO 3 just isn’t straightforward; most exposures are between 1/eighth of a second and three seconds. The effort of carrying a tripod all over the place pays dividends while you see the completed outcomes. Seeing the deep blacks and succulent distinction transported me again to these joyous moments within the darkroom. Is the $14.99 price ticket for KONO Monolit 3 price it? We predict so. Preserve studying to search out out why.
The Large Image
The KONO Monolit 3 is an ultra-slow orthochromatic black and white movie that produces nice blacks and glorious distinction. The mix of the movie and a Leica M6 is ideal for cityscapes, landscapes, and structure. Most exposures are between 1/eighth of a second and three seconds. A tripod or a set of very regular arms is important. Nonetheless, the trouble of carrying a tripod all over the place pays off in dividends. Seeing the completed end result brings again a sense of nostalgia and an amazing sense of pleasure.
We’re giving KONO Monolit 3 5 out of 5 stars. Need to attempt it out for your self? It’s priced at $14.99 per 36-exposure roll. Additionally, there are only some rolls left in inventory for the foreseeable future.
Execs
- Beautiful distinction and punchy blacks
- Fantastic gradation
- Loads of element
- Minimal grain
- ISO 3 could be very forgiving
Cons
- In the event you don’t have regular arms, a tripod is important.
Gear Used
We examined the KONO Monolit 3 with the next gear:
Our Monolit 3 movie was developed and scanned by Blue Moon Camera in Portland, Oregon. They do a incredible job and have a passable turnaround time.
Ease Of Use
The Kono Monolit 3 was shot at field velocity. Just a few of the frames have been deliberately overexposed or underexposed. Nonetheless, a lot of the photos on the 36-exposure roll have been captured as per the sunshine meter. A number of of the panorama frames utilized the zone methodology for metering. The Monolit 3 is a pliable movie and produces stellar outcomes.
At ISO 3, KONO Monolit 3 just isn’t a simple movie to shoot. The producer recommends taking pictures its 35mm movie with a digital camera that has a built-in meter. I discovered that my Sekonic gentle meter was greater than enough, and the exposures got here out incredible. A tripod is important for many longer exposures, particularly once they exceed a number of seconds. You would possibly even go for a shutter launch for the longest exposures. The effort is price it.
We did expertise a problem the place the movie got here indifferent from the movie roll. It felt precisely like when the strain releases when the movie has totally rewound, identical to the a whole bunch of rolls earlier than. I assumed all was properly, and opened the underside of the Leica M6. Greater than half of the movie was uncovered to gentle in my automotive for so long as it took me to clumsily safe the underside. The opposite roll had indifferent fully and wouldn’t rewind. I needed to take it right into a darkroom, take away the movie from the digital camera, and re-roll it to an empty roll.
There are a number of causes that this might have occurred. Our greatest guess is the transition from the freezer, floor delivery transit time, and a stark change within the local weather. The drastic change may have simply brought about that to occur. KONO assured us that is an remoted case. I’ve shot movie lengthy sufficient to know that generally crap occurs even while you do every part proper. We point out it so that you simply would possibly take the additional precaution when rewinding your valuable movie simply in case. It’s by no means a nasty concept to have additional instruments and entry to a darkroom.
I used to be optimistic I had misplaced virtually a complete roll of movie. To my shock, most of these photos on the uncovered ISO 3 survived. Only some of the superbly uncovered photos look barely overexposed and a bit flat. Moreover, the sunshine leak made for an unintended impact that upped the cool issue and added to the temper. The movie is extremely pliable.
We shipped the movie to Blue Moon Digicam in Portland, Oregon for growing and scanning. They did a wonderful job processing the KONO movie to specs. Scanned photos have been despatched by way of a Dropbox folder, though you’ll be able to choose one other supply methodology. You can even select one other movie lab of your liking.
Picture High quality
KONO’s orthochromatic Monolit 3 produces photos with beautiful shadows, punchy distinction, loads of element, and delicate grain. This movie creates the deep blacks I first fell in love with, particularly on sunny days. The Monolit 3 shines brightest when there may be loads of shiny gentle. Additionally, you will respect the delicate tonality via each shade of grey within the zone system on overcast days. It’s straightforward to barely underexpose for higher blacks on days which are particularly bleak.
The mix of the Leica M6 and KONO Monolit 3 does a rare job capturing lovely shadows. Photographs captured on windy days have been sharp with loads of element. This movie is a wonderful alternative for panorama, cityscape, and structure photographers. Even the pictures that have been uncovered to gentle got here out nice.
Further Picture Samples
From day one, The Phoblographer has been large on transparency. Nothing from this evaluation is sponsored. Additional, numerous of us will submit critiques and present numerous modifying within the photographs. The issue then turns into that anybody and everybody can do the identical factor. They’re not displaying what the product can do. These photographs are fully unedited.
Who Ought to Purchase KONO Monolit 3 movie?
It is a nice choice for anybody who owns a 35mm digital camera and appreciates wealthy blacks, ample distinction, pretty grain, and loads of sharpness. In the event you don’t thoughts hauling your tripod with you for each shot, it’s a plus. A 36-exposure roll of KONO Monolit 3 is good for panorama, cityscape, and structure photographers. Need some? You may decide up a few of the remaining restricted inventory for $14.99.
KONO Monolit continues to supply unbelievable moody outcomes. We sit up for see what they do with future iterations of this excellent movie.
Tech Specs
These specs are taken from the manufacturer’s website.
- ISO 3
- 35mm, 36 exp., single movie
- Orthochromatic and ultra-slow movie inventory
- traditional b&w course of
- Any b&w lab can develop KONO! MONOLIT movies
