KonicaCenturia 400

Konica Centuria 400 was an ISO 400 color negative film made by Konica for C-41 processing. The Centuria range was sold from 1999 [5], and there were several 400-speed versions: Centuria 400, Centuria Super 400 and Centuria Pro 400 [2]. Konica Minolta stopped making color film in March 2007 [4], so today the film exists only as expired stock.

Look and color

The published description of the look is thin, and most of it is qualitative.

• Konica’s claim. The Super 400 datasheet promises “brilliant color reproduction” and a wide latitude [1]. For the professional Pro 400, the 2003 release speaks of neutral grays, “soft gradations” and beautiful skin tones [3]. That is marketing text for a different variant.
• Close to the big consumer films. A Lomography article, which we could only read as a search summary, puts Centuria 400 near Fuji Superia 400 and Kodak UltraMax 400, with cool blue tones in some frames and warm reddish ones in others [9].
• Skin is called natural by a lab that reviewed the Pro 400 [5]. No source we read names a specific tint.
• Expired rolls. Most rolls you can find today are past their date. Their color depends on storage, and we did not find a measured account of how Centuria 400 ages.

We found no lab test or scan measurement of the color. The Grain Archive style therefore stays close to neutral, with clean greens and blues [8].

Tonality

• Curve. On the Super 400 datasheet, the three layers run as nearly parallel straight lines. We read slopes of about 0.62 (green), 0.65 (red) and 0.71 (blue) between log H −2.0 and 0.0. The toe is short. The blue curve flattens to a slope of about 0.5 between log H 0.0 and +0.45, a soft shoulder (our reading of the graph) [1]. Middle gray is not marked, so the shoulder cannot be placed in stops.
• Contrast. The slopes are close to those of the Superia X-TRA 400 datasheet, with a slightly steeper blue. Konica’s Pro 400 release speaks of soft, low-contrast gradations [3], which is again another variant.
• Latitude. Konica calls it wide but gives no figure [1].
• Long and short exposures. The datasheet needs no correction from 1/10,000 s to 1 s, and asks for +1 stop at 10 s, with no filter [1].
• Light sources. It is balanced for daylight and electronic flash at ISO 400. Under 3200 K tungsten, Konica recommends an 80A filter and ISO 100; under 3400 K photolamps, an 80B filter and ISO 125 [1].

Grain and sharpness

• Datasheet. Diffuse RMS granularity is 4, measured with a 48 µm aperture. That equals the value on the Superia X-TRA 400 datasheet. Resolving power is 50 lines/mm at test-object contrast 1.6:1 and 100 lines/mm at 1000:1 [1]. Konica also shows a modulation transfer curve.
• Reviews disagree. Konica’s release claims the finest granularity in its class for Pro 400 [3]. Analogue Photo Lab found the grain of the Pro fairly visible [5], and a forum post, known to us only through a search summary, says it is grainier than the competition. The style takes a middle path, with visible grain.
• Different variants. The datasheet, the release and the lab review each cover a different version. Nothing we read says whether the RMS value applies to the original Centuria 400 or to the Pro.

Spectral sensitivity

The blue-sensitive layer is nearly flat from about 415 to 470 nm and falls steeply past 475 nm, while the green layer peaks near 545 nm and the red layer near 628 nm. The blue and green curves cross near 491 nm and the green and red near 583 nm, so the film separates blue, green and red as an ordinary daylight negative does. The Grain Archive style is not computed from these curves [1].

Names, status and history

• 1999. Konica’s Centuria range was sold from 1999, according to Analogue Photo Lab [5].
• Variants. Camera-wiki lists Centuria 100, 200, New Centuria 400, Centuria Pro 400, Centuria Super 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1600, and APS versions [2]. We could not confirm which of these were sold in which markets or how they differ in emulsion.
• Super 400. The datasheet describes Konica’s MCC (Multi-Coated Crystal) and UCC (Ultra Consistent Crystal) emulsion technologies. It lists 135 only, with DX code 26-5 [1].
• Pro 400 (2003). Konica Minolta unveiled it at PMA on March 2, 2003, in 135 and 120/220, with a US launch from May 2003 [3].
• End of Konica film. Konica Minolta closed its color film division in March 2007 [4]. In 2007, DNP relaunched the Centuria brand, and it was discontinued two years later [2].
• Sources disagree on ends. Camera-wiki dates the end of the DNP-era Centuria to about 2009. A search summary gave a 2014 end date for Super 400, without a page we could check, so we do not use it.

Also sold as

• Konica Centuria Super 400 (confirmed) [1]
• Konica Centuria Pro 400 (confirmed) [3]
• Konica New Centuria 400 (reported) [2]