FOUND!  Current Color Print Film for Astophotography!

Fuji NPH II 400

4/16/03

I used to use a LOT of unhypered Royal Gold 400 and Supra 400 film for my astrophotos.  In 2002, however, Kodak have changed the chemistry of these films.  Unfortunately, its usefulness for astrophotography has, as a result, been totally destroyed.  (See this webpage for a comparison of the "old" (good) Royal Gold 400 and the "new" (bad) version.) 

Recently, I had the chance to take some test shots using a newer color print film, Fuji NPH II 400.  I was pleasantly surprised at the results.  See the rather unscientific results below.  (All of my previous "more scientific" film testing used the same 8" SCT and photography setup.  The newest shots from below used my new 12" SCT with a slightly different guiding setup.)  Based on how favorably it compares to the Kodak Supra 400 color print film and the Fuji Provia 400F slide film, the NPH II is definitely worth using, unhypered.  NOTE (4/19/03):  it was brought to my attention only a couple of days after publishing these results that Fuji apparently have changed the chemistry in NPH, negatively affecting its usefulness for astrophotography.  According to Augie Orlandi from APML, NPH film with the packaging that shows "New" on it and a date of 2004-7 113104 should be avoided, while older film should be OK.  Please revisit this page in the future as I have the opportunity to test-shoot the "newest" NPH obtainable to confirm this unfortunate news.

Notes	Fuji NPH II 400 Print Film	Fuji Provia 400F Slide Film
Object:  M20, the Trifid Nebula.  Note that the levels of both exposures were adjusted slightly in Photoshop to bring out a bit more of the color recorded, since both were a bit underexposed.  The NPH II photo was taken through a 12" SCT at Chiefland, FL at f/6.5 on 4/2/03 and was a 20-minute exposure.  The Provia 400F photo was taken through an 8" SCT at f/6.5 on 8/8/02 and was a 45- minute exposure.  The blue response in the NPH II photo could be brought out a little more through a bit more fiddling with the levels in Photoshop, although it is still clearly evident here.
	Fuji NPH II 400 Print Film	Kodak Supra 400 Print Film
Object: M42, the Orion Nebula.  No adjustments except for cropping.  Both photos were taken through a 12" SCT at Chiefland, FL at f/6.5 on 4/2/03 (NPH II) and 4/1/03 (Supra) and were 15-minute exposures.

Click HERE to return to my main film-testing results page.