Analogue Film Review: Revolog Tesla BW
Unrepeatable lightning effects for creative, offbeat images
Revolog Tesla BW: Planning Shots with Built-In Randomness
I wasn’t sure what to think when Analogue Wonderland asked me to test Revolog Tesla BW. At first I was excited – new black and white film, great. Then I saw the marketing photo with lightning bolts across people’s faces and thought, “really? You’re doing this to black and white?”
But I’m always curious, so I loaded it into my Canon EOS 30 and decided to treat it as an exercise in pre-visualisation. What would actually work with random lightning? Could I make something interesting out of it? And the answer, surprisingly, was yes.
I shot mine through classic UK autumn weather: misty mornings, grey rain that suddenly cleared, and a few night shots on a tripod. Most frames were at f/5.6 or narrower, with a couple wide-open at f/2.8 for the doll heads. I rated the film at ISO 200 (Revolog recommend this), and the only edit I made was a small lift to the shadows – which instantly taught me how unforgiving this film is. You don’t get much room to rescue anything.
Revolog Tesla BW: the Specs
Revolog never disclose their exact base stocks, but the published developing times tell their own story. They seem to line up with Fomapan 100 / Foma Classic 100 type film:
- short times in HC-110
- quick development in Rodinal 1+25
- limited latitude
- contrasty midtones
- slightly grumpy reciprocity at night
It’s not modern and silky like Acros or Delta. It’s old-school, a bit gritty, and not shy about contrast.
The lightning effect itself is hand-applied. Revolog treat the film after production, using a combination of chemical pre-exposure and physical contact with the emulsion. Nothing digital, nothing added later – the streaks are literally on the negative. Each roll is treated individually, so the pattern is always different.
ANALOGUE WOnDERLAND
Analogue Wonderland are a UK-based lab that offer a wide variety of films including Hanalogital Opal. They sell out fast though, so it’s worth signing up to be notified when it comes back in stock.
I was provided this film for testing by Analogue Wonderland but apart from the film and the developing and scanning of the film, I don’t get paid to write reviews—my views are my own!
Revolog Tesla BW: Shooting tips
- If you think a shot will work… take two.
The lightning is completely random. It might land perfectly on frame one and miss entirely on frame two. - Negative space is your friend.
The more empty space around your subject, the better the streaks show. Busy scenes become chaos very quickly. - Keep scenes simple.
If you’re shooting something with lots of detail, the lightning will swallow it. - Dark backgrounds give the strongest effect.
Light backgrounds wash it out. - Night shots need more exposure than you think.
There’s more reciprocity failure here than you get with modern films. My night shots came out under-exposed even when metering carefully. - Don’t expect to “fix” things in scanning.
The streaks are dense and bright. Lifting shadows boosts grain and makes the lightning harsher. Highlights blow out fast. You really do have to get exposure right in camera. - No DX Coding
Don’t forget that this film isn’t DX coded, so check that you’ve set the ISO on your camera. If you don’t, it will set to your camera’s default settings (often 100 ISO). Revolog say it looks pretty good at 100 ISO, but I decided to shoot my test roll at 200 ISO, the official ISO for this film.
This the marketing photo that Revolog show on their website for Revolog Tesla BW. I loved the look of this so I decided to see what would happen if I took a shot of a light bulb in my house with this film…
I was inspired by the shot of a light bulb Revolog posted on their website for this film. I used a black background and decided to turn the bulb on. As you see, the results were electric! The effect is much stronger on darker backgrounds. I took 4 shots of this lightbulb and this was the best of the ones I took.
The effect isn’t as strong on lighter backgrounds, but it still works on this image. I deliberately chose to add a huge amount of negative space, as I felt there was a better chance of the lightning effect being in the right place. And this really was perfect placemernt!
I knew this image could work perfectly with the lightning effect, but always make sure you take more than one image; as you can see in this shot, the lightning obscures some of the text. I was hoping the lightning would be on the right!
This was my second attempt with this scene, I decided to take a portrait shot, and the lightning effect totally works. The street shops have disappeared, and this is a simpler (and stronger) shot.
This was my first shot of this scene but it was quite dark, and I hadn’t realised that this film needs allowing for. reciprocity in low light. But I like the placement of the lightning, it feels moody and like something out of a horror movie.
I took a second shot of this scene, over-exposing compared to my first shot, and I feel this worked better than my first shot. But as you can see, the lightning effect is not as strong or as well-placed as the previous shot. Which do you prefer?
Sadly, this effect didn’t work with this shot, but I’ve included it to show the halation in the cafe bar lights. There is perhaps just a bit too much going on in this photo, and the lightning effect just doesn’t add anything to the image, in my opinion.
I love this shot, but it annoys me so much that the lightning effect isn’t in quite the right place!
I like the composition of this, but as you can see, lightning didn’t really strike on this shot.
What not to use Revolog Tesla BW for…
Just so you don’t ending up wasting frames on your roll, I’d avoid taking images of the following:
- busy street scenes
- important portraits, unless you’re looking for a very specific ‘look’
- anything high-detail
- documentary work
- anything you need to be predictable
- “just testing a camera” (I’d suggest Kentmere, HP5 or other budget stock with a reasonal amount of exposure latitude instead)
If you enjoy this film, you might also like…
If you enjoy this film, you might also like:
Other Revolog films:
- 600nm (surreal colour shift)
- Kolor (rainbow streaks)
- Volvox (green glowing texture)
Experimental black & white:
- Kono Monolit
- Kono Delight
- Svema MZ-3
- Film Washi A, D, J, S or even Washi E
Colour, but definitely on the experimental side:
- Harman Phoenix
- Harman Red
- Dubblefilm Jelly / Bubblegum / Apollo
- Hanalogital Opal or Charoite
All of these offer some form of unpredictability or surface effect that suits people who enjoy Tesla BW’s strangeness
I was stunned by the way that this film highlighted the structural detail of the sunflowers. Hanalogital Opal
FPP Svema Mz3, Hastings pier, Kent
Hanalogital Charoite at London Fashion Week
Hanalogital Opal
FPP Svema Mz3, Hastings pier, Kent
Hanalogital Charoite at London Fashion Week
This was shot at dusk, and the lighting was the DJ’s favourites, magenta and orange. Hanalogital Opal, Tunbridge Wells.
FPP Svema Mz3, Isle of Harris
Hanalogital Opal, Castle Farm, Shoreham, Kent
Washi E 120, Tunbridge Wells in fog.
Final thoughts on Revolog Tesla BW
If you’re a new shooter, Tesla BW is a brilliant way to learn about exposure and composition because it leaves nowhere to hide. You have to get it right. But even if you don’t, you can end up with some exciting accidents! If you’re more experienced, it’s a fun deviation from “perfect” films and forces you to think differently. In my opinion, it’s one of the most fun films I’ve used for a while. Just be aware, none of the photos may ‘work’ or maybe all of them—but you’re most likely to end up with a few from the roll that you love.
And if you’re curious to try films like this during one of my photowalks or workshops, let me know. I sometimes run sessions where we explore unusual stocks and the joy of unpredictable analogue results.
What 3 Words for this film?
- Random: Just like lightning—you don’t know if and where it will strike next
- Creative: Even with the randomness, you can have fun visualising scenes that could be changed or enhanced with lightning strikes
- Experimental: This is 100% a film for people who like experimenting with unusual effects on film.
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