Revolog Kolor — 135 colour film with gradients, 36 exp, ISO 400

Revolog Kolor is a colour negative effect film from the Austrian workshop Revolog, a 135 cassette of 36 frames, ISO 400. It develops in ordinary C-41 with no special requirements of the lab.

What the effect looks like

Kolor lays colour gradients over the frame — transitions from red to blue, orange, green, pink, turquoise. The pattern differs every time: the film is pre-exposed by hand, so no two frames repeat even within one roll.

How it is made

The effect is applied to the film BEFOREHAND, before it ever reaches the cassette: the workshop pre-exposes every roll by hand and only then cuts and loads it. The pattern therefore sits under the image rather than over it, and no two rolls repeat. You shoot it exactly like an ordinary film — nothing extra is required.

What to shoot on it

Portraiture and street work when you want a festive register; subjects with a plain background where the gradient reads as its own layer. Against a busy background the effect gets lost.

Exposure controls the effect

Exposure is the main control over the effect, and it works against intuition: UNDERexposure makes the pattern stronger, OVERexposure weaker. The reason is simple — the pattern already sits on the film at a fixed density, so the less light the scene gives, the more it outweighs the image. For a subtle effect rate it at ISO 200; for a pronounced one shoot at box speed or a little darker.

Processing

It develops in ordinary C-41 at any minilab. There is no need to warn the lab — to the machine it is a normal colour film. Scanning is worth a word, though: automatic colour correction sometimes "fixes" the effect, so ask for scans without auto white balance.

How it compares

Within the Revolog range each film is its own pattern rather than a variation on one: Kolor gives colour gradients, Texture bubbles, Volvox green dots, Tesla lightning, Kosmos stardust, Streak scratches, while 460 nm and 600 nm shift colour with no pattern at all. Technically they behave identically, so choose purely by the effect you want. Comparing them with ordinary film misses the point: on sharpness and grain they lose to any ISO 400, and that is not what they are bought for.