And that’s exactly what they do with Ektar 100, saying it ‘offers the finest, smoothest grain of any color negative film available today’. I’m not here to say it doesn’t. All I can do is give my take based on the results I got from it. Even then, Kodak wanted its customers to know that Ektar isn’t a lens design (like the Sonnar ) but rather “ a performance index, a seal of quality, a sterling mark ” — source . And so, when it became again attached to a line of films in 1989, the nomenclature made sense. As a slide film, Ektachrome is designed to be developed using the E-6 process, which has evolved from the original E-1 process of 1946 via the E-2, E-3, E-4, and E-5 versions. I was a little disappointed at the time with the duller and bluer of the results it gave me, but I see that as a chance to improve. To get a whole roll of keepers from slide film, I’ll have to be better than I am when I shoot regular negative film. More conscious of and considered with the light. The main selling point for Kodak Ektar 100 is it’s ultra-fine film grain, so it wouldn’t be right to leave it out of a review.

And that’s why Ektar is not the best Kodak film for portraits. The vivid colours that are its strength and that make your landscapes and flowers pop will often make skin tones too red. Fixable in post-processing, of course. But not ideal straight out of the camera. These were still the pre-digital camera days, so there were a lot more types of film available to buy. Originally, Kodak Ektar was available in 25, 100, 400, and 1000 speeds. The 400 ISO version stayed in production a few years longer than the rest.

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This vibrant, crisp and ultra-vivid 35mm colour negative film offers unsurpassed sharpness and fine grain. Rich tones make any scene come to life - from landscapes or travel to street photography and portraiture. With its high saturation and ultra-fine grain, Ektar 100 is perfect for capturing that elusive creative moment in stunning detail. Features: I’ve tried to use three photographs below that demonstrate the claims Kodak explicitly makes of Ektar. Of the vivid colours, exceptional sharpness, and world’s finest grain. And also one they imply by not including portraits in that list of recommended uses for the film. When comparing Kodak Ektar 100 vs Portra 160, the Portra is going to give you a much more flat, neutral palette. This is definitely a more flexible option as you can always increase the contrast when editing your images – it’s much harder to decrease the contrast in Ektar photos.

I think it’s time wrap this up with some more condensed statements. Kodak Ektachrome E100 is a high risk, high reward film. I had more duds exposure-wise from this one roll than I’ve ever had before. Perhaps across every negative film I shot added together. Kodak Ektar 35mm film is a fantastic professional film for nature, wildlife and fashion photography thanks to its vivid colours and optimised sharpness. Here’s what happens when the flash is put into a 24×32 softbox with a silver interior. See how much extra punch comes out? Images are incredibly smooth and sharp. Because of the fine grain, Kodak Ektar does exceptionally well when it’s scanned and printed at large sizes.The current E-6 process was first released in 1977 and then modified in the mid-1990s to remove the formaldehyde from the stabiliser. I don’t know much about developing film but that sounds like a good move to me. It’s also, in Kodak’s words again, ideal for scanning and has extraordinary enlargement capability from a 35mm negative. After hiking in the woods of Ralph Stover, with its palette of heavy greens and subtle reds, I decided to test my new film in different settings. I took a roll to the coast of Sea Isle City, New Jersey. Like any shore town, it’s a place loaded with heavy blues and varieties of light pastels, comfort colors. My father and I drove around until we found something interesting to shoot. We pulled over at the foot of the bridge that connects the shore points of Sea Isle City and Avalon.

I could have been more patient and waited for 36 flawlessly lit scenes across a whole week instead of just getting through the roll with the best of what I was given over two days. But if you do want those colours, sharpness, and world’s finest grain for everything else, and do your thing somewhere with ISO 100 friendly light levels, Ektar is more than worth a shot. Ektar is an ideal choice for commercial photographers and for advanced amateurs. Due to its vivid colours, Ektar film will work very well for nature, travel and outdoor photography. Equally, it will suit fashion and product photography. While Ektar is often not recommended for portraiture as it could make faces of all skin tones appear slightly reddish, I found that this problem is usually corrected by adding an extra stop of even light. A bit more fixing could be done in post-processing using tools like Adobe Photoshop as well. The bottom line for me is you get all that image quality in a colour negative film that can be developed anywhere using the common C-41 process and for not too bad a price.It should also be noted the clouds are still visible in the sky too, with the dynamic range being enough to not lose detail or blow them out. You’ve seen already the three best-exposed shots I got from this roll. The first one below is okay too, but then they’ll get progressively worse to show you how things can change when shooting slide film in just slightly different or sub-optimal light. In 2008, Kodak released the Ektar film we have today, which only comes in ISO 100. Despite the name, it’s not the same as the old stuff. Indeed, it’s not even of the same lineage. I think my best results came when the sun was shining fully and pretty much shining fully from behind me. Any cloud cover affected my shots, and too much of a sideways angle of the light seemed to also. So that’s my non-expert advice for you when shooting yours. Ektar, in my experience, has been quite versatile. Due to it’s low ISO, people generally wait to shoot it on the brightest days when the sun is shining in it’s strength. While Ektar certainly performs beautifully in these conditions, it holds up very well as the light begins to go down. You can still achieve those deep rich scenes for the more moody side of photography. Don’t feel that you have to be out on the beach or in the middle of a supernova for this film to really work for you.

This may only be a negative if you’ve been shooting film for a long time, but in the past, Kodak Ektar 100 was a few dollars cheaper than other pro-grade options. The first thing to notice about Kodak Ektar 100 is that it’s (obviously) an ISO 100 film. Having such a low light sensitivity means that the film is very slow and is most suitable for bright, well-lit environments, such as a bright, sunny day, or a strongly lit studio or room.

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The important thing to know about Print Grain Index is that if it’s 25 or below, there’s no grain to see — the image would appear perfectly smooth. Whereas a 90 will look grainy to most people. Although I don’t do much of it myself, I can see how Ektar would work as a cheaper alternative to slide film for landscape photography.