Lomography LomoChrome Metropolis 2021

Lomography Metropolis arrived in 2019 as the first new color negative emulsion the company designed from the ground up rather than rebranded, and the 2021 reformulation is what most photographers are actually shooting. The original 2019 batch ran heavily desaturated with stark contrast, a look that polarized buyers immediately. The 2021 formula keeps the desaturated DNA but pushes contrast harder and lets specific colors pop through the muted base. Reds and yellows survive, greens compress, blues sit cool and slightly inert.

The ISO 100-400 rating is genuinely variable. The emulsion responds to exposure choice rather than insisting on box speed. At 100 the shadows open up and the muted look softens; at 400 contrast hardens and the desaturation reads more aggressive; at 200 you get the middle ground most reviewers settle on. Bracket if the scene matters.

Grain structure is what Lomography calls fine cinestyle, a steady texture rather than the clumpier organic grain on Color '92. Compared with CineStill 400D, which is engineered for clean color reproduction, Metropolis refuses to play nice with skin. Faces pick up a slight gray-green undertone that gives portraits an editorial coldness some photographers chase deliberately. If you want warmth, this is not your film.

Process in standard C-41. Most labs handle it without question, though a few will flag the unusual color and ask if you wanted a corrected scan. Tell them no.

Available in 35mm, 120, and 110, which means Pentax Auto 110 owners can finally shoot a color negative with character rather than the generic rebrands that used to fill the format.

Reciprocity exponent is 1.20. Zone Light Meter applies the correction past one second. A 10-second metered exposure becomes about 16 seconds at the negative. The Metropolis grain and color story intensify on long exposures, so the correction works in your favor when you are shooting an empty city block at three in the morning.