We went to Greece for my brother’s wedding, then did a one-week guided package tour of Italy. I haven’t been to Europe since I was about five years old so I was quite excited for the trip. I can happily report that both places were fantastic, as limited as the duration was.

I took the Mamiya C330 with me and a bunch of 120 film for it. Also happily, I got to do plenty of shooting with it, and the results were not bad at all.

Syros, Greece – Kodak Gold 200

We flew into Athens then went straight for the port at Piraeus. We stayed there overnight before taking the ferry to Syros the next morning. Piraeus is honestly a bit grubby and feels rough, but I didn’t mind too much. Syros was stunningly beautiful though, and that’s where I took my photos.

Syros, Greece – Ilford Delta 3200

Day of the wedding. The ceremony venue was quite dim and challenging but outdoors was a bright sunny day – what a choice to make. I’m glad I didn’t bother taking many shots inside the venue because the results there frankly kinda sucked – underexposed and vague, even shooting 1/30th at f/2.8 on this film.

Delta 3200 has hella grain, which to my mind would normally make it a technical choice rather than an aesthetic one, but I’ll admit I kinda like the character of it in the right circumstances.

Pisa and Venice, Italy – Arista.EDU Ultra 200

I’ve never used this stuff before, I think I bought it because I wanted a cheap roll of something different to try out. And also because I work for a company called Arista (one that does not make film).

Apparently this is repackaged Fomapan 200, which is another brand I’ve not tried before. I have to say in this instance that I’m not a fan.

The film might’ve been well expired, it was probably stored in less-than-ideal conditions, my metering was kinda haphazard, and I wasn’t shooting especially well. But for modest ISO 200 film this is not what I was expecting. There seems to be a lot of grain, and dynamic range feels quite poor.

I get that it’s a budget film that’s good for educational purposes, but for a few bucks more I’d be inclined to get some Ilford HP5 and call it a day (or try some other cheapo film).

Venice, Assisi, Rome, Italy – Kodak Ektar 100

I really like this one! The images are bright and poppy, and the grain is nice and fine. Tough choice between this and the Gold 200, at least for travel snaps. Based on the last photo, I think Ektar would be a little too punchy for photos of people.