Spectacular skin tones?Portra Films delivers smooth, natural reproduction of skin tones, plus exceptional colour saturation These image qualities made Portra a favourite among wedding photographers in the days before most of them went digital, and among new film shooters in the more recent resurgence of analogue photography. Kodak Portra 400 is a film bound to not disappoint you–especially if you can know and understand what you’re going to be getting beforehand. To do that, I really recommend shooting with your digital camera at ISO 400 and with daylight white balance. Here’s a video we did with tips on how to make the most of it.

Want to see more? Read our Kodak Portra 400 Film Review and our Second Kodak Portra 400 Film Review. Kodak Portra 400 35mm has an ISO of 400. This means that it is known as a mid-speed film, and will be able to take photos in most common lighting situations. Shot with Kodak Portra 120. Outdoors during daylightKodak Portra likes daylight: so that means always ensuring it’s around. If you’re shooting with it at night or around Tungsten/Incandescent lighting you’re going to get very orange tones to the scenes you photograph. If you’re shooting in cloudy situations, I also highly recommend using a flash unless your lab is very good at fixing colors.Kodak Portra 400 is the most popular color film on the market today, so popular that it’s become near synonymous with modern color film photography – and for good reason. It’s a highly versatile, professional-grade film with wide exposure latitude, modern grain structure, and warm pleasing tones. But, it’s no secret that shooting color film, especially professional-grade Kodak color film, like Portra, has become significantly more expensive over the past couple of years. Whether it’s a price worth paying is up to you. If you haven’t shot it before, I’d recommend you try it at least once. I could see myself using multiple rolls for a project too, to take advantage of its quality. Alongside these was a Portra VC, which stood for vivid colour and also came in ISO 160 and 400 versions. As the name suggests, Kodak Portra films were designed with portraits firmly in mind. This means they keep skin tones looking nice and natural, unlike some of the more vivid Kodak films, and have very fine grain. The world’s finest grain at 400 speed in fact, if the box is to be believed. Exposing this film at ISO 200 and developing for 320. This way it gets more light but not an excessive amount.

Kodak Portra works well with a wide variety of skin tones. If you’re shooting in the studio with a flash or monolight, this is perhaps the absolute best film that you can use and get your hands on. Image Quality Best-in-class underexposure latitude?no other colour film gives you so much latitude (-2 to +3 stops) so you can shoot with confidence even under challenging lighting conditions. Now here it is with ceiling lights (typical offices) and a Zeiss 25mm f2 lens. Overexposing here really helped give the film more needed light in a situation like this. Years and years ago, Kodak announced something that would endure for quite a while: Kodak Portra 400. Available in the 120, 35mm, and large formats, the film was and still is incredibly popular with photographers who like shooting portraits. It’s highly valued for its muted tones–which tends to go against much of what digital photography seems to offer straight out of the camera. However, Portra is in use for much more than just this. Lots of photographers use it as their every day film because they just like it. But this tends to be more the thought process of those that shoot 35mm. At 120, you’re getting far less shots per roll and often work to get the best photos you can in one single shot due to higher stakes–even more so than with 35mm.But no matter what, you should know that Kodak Portra 400 is also so popular because it is one of the most forgiving films on the market. Tech Specs

Shoot one or two stops under and images are still entirely usable. And when over-exposing, it’s possible to still make astounding images even four stops over. In fact, Portra makes some of its prettiest shots when overexposed. If you’re not sure of your exposure, err on the side of over-exposing and Portra will always reward you (a good rule for many color-negative films, really). With a wide range of exposures from bright light to low-light situations, you can create photos that are precisely how you want them. Portra 400 is an iconic 35mm film that captures the honesty of life's moments with beautiful results every time! Features: And while I’ve already talked it up pretty highly, I’ve not even gotten to Portra’s greatest strength – the film’s simple usability. A real benefit for new shooters, those of us using cameras without light-meters or auto-exposure, and anyone who really enjoys pushing their exposures beyond the best advice of their light meter, Portra has an uncanny ability to forgive the shooter for not getting a shot perfectly exposed. The new version of Portra 400 was introduced in late 2010. This film essentially combined the old NC (natural colour) and VC (vivid colour) versions while incorporating some technical advances from the Kodak Vision motion picture films. Additionally, Kodak Vision technology makes Portra an excellent film to scan. At the same time Vericolor VPL was replaced by that Ektacolor tungsten film, Vericolor VPS was also being killed off to make way for the new Portra NC – or natural colour – films, which were available in 160 and 400 speeds.

The only elephant in the room here is something we maybe should have touched on earlier. It’s not cheap. In fact, depending on where you shop, Portra 400 might be Kodak’s most expensive colour negative film. If I had a special occasion to shoot or a trip or holiday that I wanted to save on film, Portra would be high on my list of candidates for the job. I think it’d give me results I’d love. Finer grain?Micro-Structure Optimized T-GRAIN? Emulsions enable Portra Films to deliver finer grain than ever before. It’s the same attributes that make it good for both groups; the flexibility, the reliability, and the consistency it brings with its image quality and qualities.