Something I try to avoid when talking about film, and photography in general, is superlative adjectives.

So while I’m not positive that it’s my favorite film, there’s one thing that I can say – I find myself shooting Kodak Ektar 100 most frequently. It's pointless to meter Portra 400 or almost any other neg film at anything other than box speed UNLESS you are pushing or pulling it in development. First, it was a line of “ semi-pro ” C-41 emulsions sold in a variety of speeds — from ISO 25 to 1,000. A good choice, in my opinion, as in full daylight , this ISO works with 𝒇8/500 — a combination that can yield sharper images on most film cameras. Shadow recovery is also less impressive than films like Portra 160, so be aware of this when shooting.We’ll send you exciting photography interviews, crazy tips and tricks, competitions giveaways, and unmissable offers. As a heads up, this article is geared towards the beginner, but if you’re a seasoned film pro I think you’ll find some useful information in here too. Perhaps, when Kodak said “easy to scan,” they were referring to Ektar’s remarkably fine grain that makes certain images appear as if they were shot on a digital camera. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. If you like the look of Kodak Ektar 100 but want something with a flatter, less saturated look that is faster, Kodak ColorPlus might be a good choice.

I never was a fan from this trend which considers that “analog” charm comes from the dirt on the picture, it’s simply downgrading the quality of the shot in my opinion. Before getting an analogue camera with the actual intention of using it I did expose a few rolls in 2011 with a Nikon F80. It was manufactured in 25, 100 (replaced the poor selling 125 in June 1991 [4]), and 1000 ISO formats.This is wise for film in general but you won't get the same results with cheaper consumer film like Fuji Superia or Kodak Gold. But after a day or so my man and I decided on a last minute trip to Karpathos (a Greek island in the Aegean Sea) since the Dutch summer wasn’t really taking off properly. I packed my day bag with Ektar 100 and three different cameras, while my friends packed fruit snacks and granola bars. And that’s exactly what they do with Ektar 100, saying it ‘offers the finest, smoothest grain of any color negative film available today’. Seems it is even available as 120 film, so one could also try it with some good old medium-format camera.

The film shows the most contrast and saturation near the shadows while slightly decreasing those qualities as more light gets added to the mix. I set my incident meter to 400 and stick it in the shadow to get a quick reading and then shoot from there. As well as the aforementioned finest, smoothest grain of any color negative film available today, it also promises to bring ultra-vivid color and exceptional sharpness. I’ve tried to use three photographs below that demonstrate the claims Kodak explicitly makes of Ektar.

About scanning, why do you keep all this dirt on your photos, it’s not part of the photo itself (I can imagine that you don’t put deliberately dirt on your lens…) but comes mainly from the scanning process. So while the celebration of film is wonderful, I take these "I'm just trying it out comparisons" with a mountain of salt. I totally understand why one may not like the look: its busy and can ruin a photography if not used right. On cloudy days, it’s still possible to use 100-speed film, but you won’t get the best results as Ektar 100 performs best with sunlight. With the composition we wanted to created, I had him wear a short sleeve hoodie with a bandana and walk along the train tracks.

With so many different films still available and each with their own characteristics, I think understanding where a film doesn’t shine is as important as talking about where it does.But my subjects’ skin was shown either super red, yellow, or orange depending on the reflections of the surrounding landscapes. Then I used the internal light meter of the Nikon F3 to meter and expose for the tulip field which was mostly in the shadows of the image. In one of my previous posts I mentioned some dots in the scans of my photos of Curacao, and AG photolab printed a few of those photos to check the negatives. Eventually I found my way to Cinestill, and was hooked on their films’ unique qualities for another month or so.