Konica Minolta Centuria 400: A Nice Film I May Never Get to Try Again

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One of the very first films I tried after getting my Nikon FE2 was a curious one called Konica Minolta Centuria 400. Performing close to both Fuji Superia 400 and Kodak Ultramax 400, it was one of the very first films whose results I really liked. Unfortunately, I am not sure if I will ever get my hands on some rolls again.

Around three years ago, shortly after I began with my journey rediscovering the wonders of analog photography, I found myself searching madly for 35mm color negative films to try with my Nikon FE2. While it was not my first time shooting a film SLR, shooting color film with it was kind of new to me.

A friend and photowalk buddy holding a piece of the film box. That portion had some tips on using the right aperture and shutter speed settings according to lighting condition.

One day, I found some rolls of expired Konica Minolta Centuria 400 (expired 2003, if I remember correctly) for cheap in a photo shop near my place. However, turns out I made one of the most regrettable decisions in my film photography career: I bought just one roll.

I was thinking of testing it first and buying some more later if I liked the results. After shooting around with it and having it processed, I actually liked them. Here are some more of my snaps with this film:

Credits: plasticpopsicle

And my favorites:

Credits: plasticpopsicle

As you can see, this film behaves perfectly well several years after it has been expired, both indoors and outdoors. I like how it produces cool blue tones in some photos, and warm reddish tones in the others. I think it’s safe to say it performs close to two well-known 400 ISO films—Fuji Superia 400 and Kodak Ultramax 400.

So, needless to say, I wanted to try some more of this film. I headed to the photo shop a few days after I got the first roll processed, but, to my horror, the shop was no longer there. I’ve been looking all over for this film since then, but only ending up with DNP Centuria in 100 and 400 ISO (no idea if it’s related to the Konica Minolta Centuria in any way). Until I finally get my hands on it again, I have decided to call it “a nice film I may never get to try again.”

Have you ever come across or shot using this film? Let me know, I’m curious!

written by plasticpopsicle on 2012-08-01 #gear #review #film-review #expired-film #400-iso #lomography #color-negative-film #konica-minolta-centuria-400

6 Comments

  1. kodachrome
    kodachrome ·

    haha yeap .. its a nice film to shoot .. :D i have around 15 rolls of Konica Minolta Centuria 200 :D its expired since 2007 .. but still produces nice results though.. :P

  2. kolumbia
    kolumbia ·

    Great shots! I especially love the one of the cake. Nice work! Hopefully you'll run across this film again.

  3. sudhashunmu
    sudhashunmu ·

    nice review one of my fav film too .....it gives amazing results......but sorry to say u i have 50 some pieces of this film with me expired ones from 2005 got in bulk cheaply..... where i have used 10 for DIY redscale ...its an amazing film for redscaling....the shopkeeper was just amazed asking me "what are you going to do with all these expired films" well we all know the answer

  4. scheye1
    scheye1 ·

    I just went to Chicago and found a little camera store selling expired Centuria 400 for $1/roll. They only had 12 shots per roll, but for a buck, that's still great! Photos turned out amazing too despite being processed by negatives from the 90s.

  5. yycphotog13
    yycphotog13 ·

    If you are still looking for this film. I found some ISO 400 and ISO 200 today in Calgary AB. Under $2 a roll.

  6. plasticpopsicle
    plasticpopsicle ·

    @yycphotog13 Thanks for the heads up! Unfortunately, I'm based in Manila, Philippines and it's been close to impossible to find this film here.

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