DragonFilm No.VII 400 ISO - 35mm Black & White
The one that goes to 3200. Same box speed as No.IV. Entirely different character. Pay attention. DragonFilm No.VII 35mm Film is an ISO 400 panchromatic black and white cinematic film built on A-2SH emulsion, manufactured in Ukraine using old Svema formulas and original Svema machinery in Shostka. Designed for both still photography and motion picture use, it combines high contrast and a wide tonal range with fine grain, which is a more unusual combination than it sounds at ISO 400. Rated at ISO 400 and pushable to ISO 3200, it has the speed range to cover everything from careful daylight work to seriously demanding low-light shooting. In stock now and shipping fast from the UK. Standard black and white chemistry, 24 exposures, no DX code.
What Makes DragonFilm No.VII 35mm Film Habit-Forming
ISO 400: Fast, Flexible, Cinematic ISO 400 is the most versatile speed in black and white film photography, and No.VII makes the most of it. It handles bright daylight without complaint, performs confidently under overcast skies and in indoor available light, and with its push range it keeps working long after most films would have asked you to change rolls. The panchromatic sensitisation ensures natural tonal rendering across colours, which matters for both portrait and landscape work.
Fine Grain at ISO 400 This is where No.VII distinguishes itself clearly from DragonFilm No.IV. Where No.IV carries bold, characterful grain in the Tri-X tradition, No.VII is fine-grained for its speed. The A-2SH emulsion was developed for cinematic use where image quality under enlargement matters, and that engineering shows. You get the contrast and tonal depth of a high-speed film without the grain structure dominating the image. For photographers who want impact without sacrificing detail, this is the more technically refined of the two ISO 400 DragonFilm options.
High Contrast, Wide Tonal Range The combination of high contrast and wide tonal range gives No.VII images genuine presence without losing nuance. Shadows hold their depth, highlights retain detail, and the separation across the midtones is clear and confident. It's the kind of contrast that comes from the emulsion rather than from heavy-handed processing: inherent, consistent, and repeatable.
Svema Heritage, Shostka Manufacture No.VII is built on old Svema formulas using original Svema machinery in Shostka, Ukraine. Svema was one of the major Soviet film manufacturers, with a production history stretching back decades. The A-2SH emulsion carries that lineage directly: this is a film formula with a long history in Eastern European cinema, produced with the original equipment it was designed for. That's a provenance that no amount of modern emulsion engineering can replicate.
Push Range: ISO 200 to ISO 3200 The push range on No.VII is serious. From ISO 200 at the conservative end to ISO 3200 at the other, it covers conditions from bright studio work to genuinely dark environments. At ISO 3200 the contrast intensifies and the grain becomes more visible, but the underlying quality of the emulsion means the images hold together rather than falling apart. Microphen at stock for 32 minutes at ISO 3200 is the manufacturer's own recommendation, which is a useful starting point for home developers.
Dual Purpose: Stills and Motion Picture The A-2SH emulsion was designed to perform in both still and motion picture applications, which means its quality requirements were set by two different and demanding disciplines simultaneously. In practice, this translates to consistent tonal rendering, reliable behaviour across processing chemistry, and image quality that holds up to scrutiny whether you're printing in a darkroom or scanning for digital output.
Standard Black and White Processing No.VII is compatible with a wide range of developers including D-76, ID-11, Rodinal, Microphen, and others, with development times well documented across multiple ISO settings. Home developers have solid data to work from; lab customers can drop it in without any special handling requirements.
No DX Code Like all DragonFilm stocks, No.VII carries no DX code. Cameras with manual ISO override work without issue; fully automatic cameras that depend entirely on DX coding will not read the speed correctly. Set to ISO 400 manually and proceed as normal.
24 Exposures A 24-exposure roll. The same considered approach to frame count as the rest of the DragonFilm range.
Best For DragonFilm No.VII suits photographers who want the versatility and speed of ISO 400 with finer grain than the No.IV delivers. It's a strong choice for portraiture where contrast is welcome but fine detail matters, for street and documentary photography across a wide range of lighting conditions, and for any situation where the push range to ISO 3200 gives you a meaningful safety net. The cinematic heritage makes it particularly well suited to work where tonal richness and depth are priorities, and the fine grain means enlargements and scans hold up to close inspection. Once you're done shooting, we develop black and white film here at Chemical Dependency Lab -- drop it in the bag with your other rolls.
Perfect for: Portrait and documentary photographers, street shooting across mixed lighting conditions, push processing enthusiasts who want fine grain even at high ISOs, and anyone whose dependency on Ukrainian cinematic emulsions has progressed beyond No.IV and is ready for something more refined.
DragonFilm No.VII is what happens when a cinematic emulsion formula with decades of history behind it gets applied to the demands of still photography by people who understand both disciplines. The fine grain, high contrast, wide tonal range, and genuine push capability to ISO 3200 don't often appear together in the same film at this price point. That particular combination has a way of becoming a habit.