Western Family 200

Western Family 200 is a color negative film. It is a private label film. It was sold under the Western Family brand and produced by the Ferrania company. Ferrania was based in Italy, also produced for other brands and also had an ISO 200 film on offer with the Ferrania Solaris FG Plus 200. The photo film was offered in the early 2000s.

The Western Family 200 is a photo film for color images. The nominal sensitivity of the film is given as ISO 200. It is well suited for color photos in everyday life. The images with the film are solid, but not exceptional either.

Use of expired material

It can be assumed that the film material currently available has passed its sell-by date due to the fact that it is no longer in production. It is important to note that the manufacturer only guarantees the quality of the film up to a certain point in time and this does not affect whether the film can still be used or not.

Over time, older film stock can experience a reduction in sensitivity, which can be caused by aging or storage in a warm location. In certain situations it may be advisable to set the exposure settings to a lower ISO value to minimize the risk of underexposure in the photos. The use of expired color film can lead to color shifts, a weakening of the color brilliance and increased grain in the photos. The storage conditions of the unexposed film material can affect the quality of the later photos.

A place with optimal storage conditions is cool and dry. Exposed film material should be developed as quickly as possible to ensure the best possible quality of the photos.

Development of the film

The film is developed using the C-41 process, which is available in most laboratories in Germany. The C-41 color negative process is standardized so that the color film can be sent to Rossmann and DM for processing, for example. After the development you get the film strips with your own pictures.

It is possible to digitize the negatives afterwards or to make prints. It is common practice in most development labs to make additional prints of the images. If you plan to process the photos digitally, you can digitize the film strips with a scanner. Many photo labs offer the digitization of negatives, but it is also possible to use a home scanner. Various options are available after the digitization process, such as digital further processing or printing the results.

Availability and Alternatives

The Western Family 200 was available in 35mm format and for pocket film cameras. A roll of 35mm film typically holds 24 photos. The cartridge of the film was DX encoded. The code contains, among other things, the film speed and the film length. There are suitable cameras for the 35mm format from various manufacturers, including Pentax, Nikon and Fujifilm.

The color film is no longer in production. Kodak Gold 200* would replace the 35mm film, this is still being produced.

Western Family

Western Family Foods was founded on March 3, 1934 under the name Pacific Mercantile Cooperative by a group of retailer-owned food wholesalers. On December 19, 1963, Western Family Foods was incorporated. The company supplies private label grocers to independent grocery stores.

The company previously sold the Western Family, Shurfine, Shursaving, MarketChoice and Better Buy brands, which were used in many independently owned supermarkets. On June 13, 2016, Western Family Foods announced that they had been acquired by Topco and their Tigard office was closing later in 2016.