Comments on: Film Review: Kodak Ektar 100 – 135 Format

By: chris

chris — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 21:31:52 +0000

Dan C, got you beat; found it on _bay, 5 rolls for $24.95, free ship, dated 2/2012 or better. Buying now for when I get my Zeiss Contessa back from the repairman.

By: Dan C

Dan C — Tue, 25 May 2010 19:01:45 +0000

@chris It's currently listed at $4.35 at B&H Photo. Great price. I finally shot 2 rolls during a trip to Moab and the scans from this film are simply awe-inspiring. I think I should stock up and fill my freezer with this stuff in case it goes out of production...as so many great films are these days. If film is dead, then it went out with a BANG with Ektar.

By: Johnny Martyr

Johnny Martyr — Thu, 20 May 2010 19:01:45 +0000

the blue colour really stood out to me too. this is far from “normal” to my experience. i’ve had ektar processed and scanned at both my pro lab as well as target and it’s never come back to me looking this bad in terms of colour accuracy. my experience has been rich vibrant colours, and when processed at target, nearly surreal saturation. thanks for the write up though! i’m very proud to shoot ektar and will support kodak more now because of this. i can’t wait to try it in 120! certainly a digital killer!

By: Michael W. Gray

Michael W. Gray — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 23:18:35 +0000

A quick color correction in Photoshop or in a lab printer will remove the bluish cast. These samples are minimally processed scans as well, I did no color correction. As I have shot Ektar more, I have found it to be extremely sensitive to exposure errors. Slight overexposures seem to have a blue shift, which I personally like, as I like cool images as opposed to warm.

By: Scott Etienne

Scott Etienne — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 23:13:07 +0000

All of these scans look very blue. Is the color-balance the same when prints are conventionally developed?

By: dadi

dadi — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:46:25 +0000

thank!

By: chris

chris — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:41:48 +0000

Sorry, Kodak Ektar 100 is now $6.99 @ Amazon. Couldn’t last long. Short-term introductory price to suck you in….

By: Adam

Adam — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:02:45 +0000

Hi Matthew,

Thanks for the review. I notice you use an Epson v500 and an Opticfilm 7200. I’m caught between buying either one right now (the Opticfilm 7400 actually) and am a bit unsure.

I’m looking to blow up 35mm as big as I can, and I don’t have any old slides/negs to process, just new stuff. Which do you think is the better of the two?

I don’t shoot medium format (although I might a year or two down the track).

Cheers,
Adam

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 10:14:07 +0000

I’ve shot several rolls of Ektar now, in both 35mm and 120 size rolls. (Yes, it’s available in 120 rolls now too!) My experience has been pretty similar to yours. I think it’s an absolutely beautiful film, and it’s becoming one of my favorite color films. Especially for landscape and architectural photos. It does have a slightly “cold” tone and it will shift to blue if you underexpose it. But the colors are really saturated and “poppy,” especially red and blue. But personally, I like that!

The only problem I have with Ektar is that it’s very unforgiving with exposure. You pretty much HAVE to use a light meter with it, whereas usually I can get by without a light meter with most other color negative film, just with the “Sunny 16 Rule.” So I really wouldn’t recommend Ektar for a beginner. But if you expose it right, it’s absolutely awesome. It has a distinctive look to it, which I have never seen from any other film (or even digital, for that matter).

By: Michael W. Gray

Michael W. Gray — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:17:01 +0000

I assure you that they were just my opinions. I have no connection to Kodak in any way, other than buying their film. My write-up was simply giving my impressions, and I have no need for subjectivity when reviewing any product. I want to share my thoughts, and Ektar made me excited. Anyways, I doubt I would get much co-operation from Kodak, or any other manufacturer, due to me attempting to simulate their films digitally.

There are plenty of subjective reviews of Ektar available, but I'm not interested in resolving power, evident grain and whatnot. I care about the final results I get, of which I am incredibly impressed.

I am surprised Kodak has not made it available in the UK, I was not aware of that.