Every now and again a film comes along that is so distinct and unique that it carves out a niche all for itself in the world of film photography. We think of Kodak’s Kodachrome, and Aerochrome and Agfa’s Ultra 50 or Scala films. Lomography has now added a few films of its own to this distinctive list and Lomochrome Purple is at the top of it.

Lomochrome Purple was first announced to the world back in January of 2013, when Lomography unveiled its first sample images shot on the film. At the time, Lomography marketed the film as emulating the color infrared look of Aerochrome, even implying that the film had infrared characteristics. While Lomochrome Purple is not actually infrared at all it does produce a very unique look. Specifically, Lomochrome Purple earns its name by swapping anything that is green with blue/purple/magenta tones. Lomography has always kept the secret of this film close to its vest, but our best guess is that Lomochrome Purple is made in such a way that the color layers in the film’s emulsion (one layer each for red, green and blue) have had their order rearranged in such a way that greens become rendered purplish. It is one thing to describe the look of Lomochrome Purple, but it is another to see it, so how about a couple sample images to show you what we mean.

A man laying in what should be a green, grassy park. Image made with a Hasselblad 500C.

Lost in an alien forest? Not quite, just how Lomochrome Purple treats the deep greens of our Pacific Northwest wilderness. Image made with a Holga 120N and rated at ISO 100.

So you see that while Lomochrome Purple is not a true infrared film, it is quite capable of producing some very interesting results. Our favorite uses for this film are in forested landscapes, green fields, expansive parks and the like. Give it some green to play with and let it rip. Lomochrome Purple can be used in a variety of other conditions but it tends to simply look color-skewed in a way similar to standard cross-processing. Skin tones remain relatively unaffected though, so it can be a fun environmental portrait film if you choose the right settings for your subjects.

Lomochrome Purple is advertised as a variable speed film, able to be rated at anywhere from ISO 100 to 400. Despite this claim, the earlier generations of Purple didn’t fare as well at that higher speed and were best shot at the slower ISO. Around 2019 Lomography announced a new formulation that was supposed to perform better at the ISO 400 range. There was validity to this claim but we still prefer to expose our Lomochrome Purple at about ISO 200, if not ISO 100. We’d encourage you to do a bit of bracketing with your exposures and see what you like. The more you overexpose Lomochrome Purple, the more red you get, so those blues shift to magentas. Likewise, shooting the film at a higher ISO tends to give a cooler result with more blue than purple. Here are a couple samples of the color variety you can get from this film.

Bright green leaves… originally. We suspect this was exposed a bit closer to the ISO 400 end of the range. Image made with a Hasselblad 500C.

We typically overexpose our Lomochrome Purple, which produces more purples and magentas. Image made with a Holga 120N.

One big factor in how your Lomochrome Purple images will turn out is the process by which the film is scanned and post-processed. Normal color negative film has an orange film base and digital printers and film scanners are calibrated for this base. Lomochrome Purple however has a green base. Your typical film scanner will see this green base and produce initial results that have heavy red color casts to them. Whenever we scan Lomochrome Purple we typically expect some heavy post-scanning color correction to really make the color palette of this film come to the forefront of the image. Usually we look for something in the image that should be gray or neutral and attempt to balance off of that. Concrete sidewalks are great for this but other subject matter can serve as a color standard as well. Once that native red cast is balanced out you really get the various shades of blue, red and magenta showing up with this film. So keep that in mind when having your Lomochrome Purple scanned.

We should also point out that this film is a Lomography product, and as such that means that quality control may vary. It’s an experimental film to be sure. We commonly see weird lines going through the emulsion and other weird artifacts. But considering the crazy effects this film has on color, a couple extra odd marks just add to the overall fun nature of this film. Lomography buys this film in large batches, so there are variations in the emulsion from batch to batch as well. Lomography typically labels the batches by the year, so the 2019 batch of Lomochrome Purple will differ slightly from the 2021 batch. And while we like using it in our Holgas - something about this film fits these plastic cameras so well - the fact that it is available in 35mm, 120 and 110 means that you can use it in a huge variety of cameras. And just because the film is odd and quirky doesn’t mean the camera needs to be! We’ve put rolls of it through Hasselblads, Leicas, and the like. We even shared a Facebook post a while back by one of our staff who positive-processed a roll in E6 chemistry. If nothing else, Lomochrome Purple is a great excuse to get out there and experiment a bit with your photography. So why not?

Want to try a roll of Lomochrome Purple? We have it in stock, just hit this link!

If you are new to our Film Fridays, here is our original Codex post explaining our reasoning behind starting this ongoing series.

And last but not least, a few more parting sample images.

A fun way to revisit familiar landscapes and make new images. Photo made with a Mamiya 645.

Lomochrome Purple can be a fun film in a pinhole camera, as seen in this panoramic image made with a Reality So Subtle 6x12.

This is a great film for adding a surreal touch to even familiar, ordinary places. Image made with a Hasselblad 500C.

Film Friday - December 8th, 2023. Lomochrome Purple.