Escura Showa 400

The Escura Showa 400 is a color negative film that stands out for its nostalgic packaging, which depicts historical Japanese street scenes. Escura markets the film under its name, but is not responsible for its manufacture.

The Showa 400 is designed specifically for color photography and has a light sensitivity of ISO 400. This ISO value offers photographers good versatility in different lighting conditions and is supported by most light meters, making it flexible to use.

The images taken with the Escura Showa 400 are characterized by muted colors and a medium-coarse grain, giving the photos a slightly washed-out, nostalgic character that works well with urban or historical subjects.

The color palette appears less saturated compared to other color negative films, leaning slightly toward muted, sometimes bluish or sepia tones. This gives the images a special atmosphere that is ideal for capturing the style of decades past.

The subsequent image quality, however, depends on how the film is stored: Unexposed film material should be kept dry and cool to avoid damage from sunlight or moisture. After exposure, prompt development is advisable to prevent loss of quality.

Development of the color film

The C-41 process is used to develop the film, a widely used color development process that can be carried out in many photo labs. Alternatively, it is also possible to develop the film at home if the necessary chemicals and equipment are available. After development, the negatives are available for digitization or printing prints.

Formats

The Showa 400’s format is 35mm, and it contains an unusual 30 exposures per roll (described as “24+6”), suggesting possible manufacture from large roll stock. Modern cameras that require the DX code for automatic ISO detection may have difficulty using the Showa 400 without manual settings.

Cameras for the Showa 400

The Showa 400 can be used in a variety of 35mm cameras, with manually adjustable models such as those from Lomo, Lomography and Zorki being particularly suitable. However, it is of limited use for cameras that automatically read the ISO value via a DX code, as this code is missing on the film roll.