Let’s get this out of the way. If I shoot colour, I’m generally a Kodak guy. Kodak’s Portra 400 and Ektar stocks make up most of my colour repertoire, which, to be fair, is diminishing as I lean toward shooting more and more black and white.

Peter from Ikigai shipped me up a roll of Fuji’s 35mm Industrial 100 – aka Fuji Color 100 – to test out along with a range of films he’d be stocking.

Now, I’ll be totally honest when I loaded it into my Nikonos V ready to travel to the colour-saturated, white sandy beaches of the Philippines, I did think I was actually loading a roll of Provia 100. Being selective with my costly-to-develop slide film, I managed to shoot frames in the Philippines, at home on the Gold Coast and in Mexico over a period of two months.

When the lab called me to ask why I’d asked to process the roll in E6 chemicals it clicked, that I hadn’t loaded Provia and had instead shot the Industrial and I have to say I was a little anxious about the result of such a cheap consumer grade film that, thankfully is still box rated at 100asa.

The roll was developed and scanned by Atkins Photolab in South Australia on an SP3000 Frontier and I have to say, the scans I got back surprised me. Like most film shooters, I’ve toyed with finding cheaper stocks to keep costs down; Agfa Vista 200, Kodak Gold 100 & 200, Kodacolour 200 are just a few examples that I’ve shot and immediately returned to my pro-grade safeguards.

The Industrial was slightly grainy – more reminiscent of a 400-speed film, but the colours were vibrant and the balance and contrast in bright daylight is pleasing. If I’d known I was shooting colour neg and not Provia, I’d have probably given it a little bit of extra exposure, but out of the gate at box speed the colours are nice.

If I were shooting more serious portraits, I’d still go back to Portra 400, but as a go to film for summer that has a wide latitude, saturated colours and is cheap enough to ensure you shoot more often, Fuji Industrial 100 is a great choice for bright sunlight or open shade. Pick some up and burn through some summer frames! 

Thanks to Ben Whitmore for providing this review and photos

Ben Whitmore is a documentary-style photographer who's work largely centres around his home and Australian beach culture. Be it on the street, on the beach or in the water, Ben's work offers a unique documentary take on his surroundings.

Check out his work at www.bwchronicles.com or on instagram @bwchronicles