Konica Centuria 200

Centuria 200 was the workhorse of the line. Drugstore shelves in Tokyo and across Europe ran through it from 1999 to the Konica Minolta wind-down in 2006, often priced a third under equivalent Fujicolor or Kodak Gold. The Centuria Super 200 datasheet from February 2002 lists it as ISO 200/24, triacetate base, balanced for daylight, using the MCC and UCC emulsion technology Konica had introduced across the Super range. DX-code 26-3, emulsion numbers in the 900 to 999 block.

The color signature is what people who shot it remember. Reds run a touch redder than Fuji Superia 200 of the same era, and blues hold their depth instead of falling toward cyan the way Kodak Gold tends to. Some photographers describe the look as cool overall; others swear the warm channel is dominant. Both readings show up because the curve responds to subject lighting rather than dictating a fixed bias. Skin tones are flatter than either Portra or Superia. That neutrality is what made it a good drugstore film and a poor portrait film.

The Centuria Super 200 was 35mm only per the datasheet, though Konica also marketed Centuria 200 in 110 and 126 cartridges for older cameras through the early 2000s. None of these are in current production. DNP relaunched the brand for a short run from 2007 through roughly 2009, and that bridge product is what mostly turns up on eBay today.

Expired stock is now the entire supply. The standard rule of a stop of overexposure per decade past the date code holds reasonably well, meaning rolls from 2005 currently want to be rated around ISO 50. Frozen rolls keep their character; warm-stored rolls drift toward magenta in the highlights and pick up base fog in the shadows.

Reciprocity exponent is 1.20. Zone Light Meter applies the correction past one second. A metered 30-second exposure becomes about 60 seconds at the negative. For rolls past about a decade past their date code, add another third of a stop on top of the math for indoor and night work.