Eastman Kodacolor
Finally have it. I’ve shot Kodacolor in 100 and 200, and had some time to think it over. This is Eastman Kodak’s new film stock. Some say its Plus 200 and ProImage 100. But is it? I did NOT do a shootout, as I’ve done with other films. I just decided to shoot both, in daylight and then check results.
Finally have it. I’ve shot Kodacolor in 100 and 200, and had some time to think it over. This is Eastman Kodak’s new film stock. Some say its Plus 200 and ProImage 100. But is it? I did NOT do a shootout, as I’ve done with other films. I just decided to shoot both, in daylight and then check results.
The results? Colors are a bit dull, but otherwise its a solid film. Exposure lattitude is good. Contrast is good, and grain is rather good, especially for the 100. Grainwise, you still can’t pick out individual grains with with Kodacolor 100 and a noritsu 30 MP scan. In fact, you get more noise from the scanner than you do grain. Really not bad for a film that is less than $10 for a roll of 36.
Now.
This isn’t Portra. It doesn’t have the color, the contrast, or the absolute fineness of grain the Portra 160 has. But for less than half the price, and very much not half the quality. Compared to the vintage(Jesus, really?), still produced Gold 200 and 400(Ultramax is relabeled Gold 400), they are less saturated, less warm, closer to neutral tones. This makes a much better point if you are just getting them scanned anyway. So, if you want something other than the warm vintage tones of Kodak Gold 200, this is an alternative.
Lets take a look at some photos:
Kodacolor 100
As published - Edited in GIMP
Unedited - As Scanned
Kodacolor 200
As published - Edited in GIMP
Unedited - As Scanned
Conlusion
Not bad. Not bad at all for a film stocks that are under $10/roll. If you are budget conscious, this just might be a film for you.
Look At The New Eastman Kodacolor
All the rage is now that Eastman Kodak has released a new color film, after selling the brands to what is now Kodak Alaris.
The “Kodacolor” brand was previously what morphed into Kodak Gold in the 80s. The New Kodacolor is anyone’s guess, and comes in 100 and 100 ISO speed films. I’ve purchased a roll of each and have since shot both rolls, and will blog about it shortly.
All the rage is now that Eastman Kodak has released a new color film, after selling the brands to what is now Kodak Alaris.
The “Kodacolor” brand was previously what morphed into Kodak Gold in the 80s. The New Kodacolor is anyone’s guess, and comes in 100 and 100 ISO speed films. I’ve purchased a roll of each and have since shot both rolls, and will blog about it shortly.
Kodacolor 100 - Beer and Cameras Halloween edition in South Pasadena
Kodacolor 200 - Dodgers World Series Parade.
Filmstock Review: Arista Pan 100
This is a cheap film stock, currently on sale, for 5 rolls for $20($4/roll) at Freestyle Photography Supply in Los Angeles. The price was right, so I’d thought I’d see what I could do. So far I’ve shot 3 rolls of the stuff. One at box speed, and the remaining two pushed to 400 and 1600. Perhaps next roll I might try pulling.
For a cheap film, it works pretty well. Especially if you are just scanning them. Lets take a look.
This is a cheap film stock, currently on sale, for 5 rolls for $20($4/roll) at Freestyle Photography Supply in Los Angeles. The price was right, so I’d thought I’d see what I could do. So far I’ve shot 3 rolls of the stuff. One at box speed, and the remaining two pushed to 400 and 1600. Perhaps next roll I might try pulling.
For a cheap film, it works pretty well. Especially if you are just scanning them. Lets take a look.
ISO 100 - Box Speed
I did a decent ride around LA County on my motorcycle. I stopped at a protest for people, hit the mountains, the PCH for ocean, and got urbanscapes and landscapes. Very reminiscent of TriX.
For the most part these are unedited, and they look like this direct scan. Pretty good. Little grainy, especially for a 100 speed film, and our darker friends, its a little sketch, but overall handsome looking film. Lets look at the unedited files for the few scans that needed some contrast correction
As you can see, not much of a difference.
ISO 400 - Push 2 stops
NOTE: Some of these had a yellow filter used.
As you can see, 400 is a little more punchy, but not by much. Not very grainy, and still perfectly good. Note that even in mixed light we still get detail in the shadows.
Lets look at a few of those unedited. The contrast correct is very slight.
ISO 1600 - Push 4 stops
This is where the fun starts. I did something really spooky for Halloween. I pushed cheap 100 speed film 4 stops to 1600. A dusk long beach photo-walk led by Open Gallery. Now this gets spooky. Punchy, Contrasty, Mysterious. There is no reason to do this, over lets say pushing TriX or HP5+ to 1600/3200, unless you really want to hit people over the head with film effects.
These are also heavily edited for contrast. far more so that more serious films like TriX or HP5
Lets take a look at the unedited photos. Total wash of grey. Usable with contrast correction, but this isn’t my first pick of film. Not bad for just fucking around with tho.
Conclusion
Film is very much worth the time, even if it comes with some limitations. Its not replacing Ilford or Kodak Black and Whites, but its certainly fun, and certainly has its uses, especially in broad daylight. Being slower than TriX, it gives grain and contrast in broad daylight that doesn’t leave you reaching for that 1/4000s shutter speed or an ND filter.
Shootout: Cinestill 800T vs Portra 800
This is the first of my series doing filmstock comparisons. When I do a “shootout” of film stock, I am loading two film stocks shot at the same ISO in two bodies, my Nikon FE2, and FM10. I am taking the same picture seconds apart with the same lens, at same aperture and shutter speed, by simply moving the lens from one body to the other and copying the shutter speed. The result should be a fairly accurate comparison, especially when comparing a new photostock to a familiar photostock.
This is the first of my series doing filmstock comparisons. When I do a “shootout” of film stock, I am loading two film stocks shot at the same ISO in two bodies, my Nikon FE2, and FM10. I am taking the same picture seconds apart with the same lens, at same aperture and shutter speed, by simply moving the lens from one body to the other and copying the shutter speed. The result should be a fairly accurate comparison, especially when comparing a new photostock to a familiar photostock.
For this edition, we have Cinestill 800T vs Kodak Portra 800. When I first got back into photography in early 2024, I noticed a lot of things have changed. Some things where the same, such as TriX, TMAX and Portra. FujiFilm was more or less gone, and all these new boxes where now in the film store. One of the new films, was Cinestill.
Cinestill, like Portra is made by Kodak. Originally sold as Vision for 35mm movie cameras, companies like Cinestill remove the anti-halation layer, so it can be processed directly with C41, and then package it in 135 Canisters. The people at the film store(LGFL) told me it was great for neons and halations, two big items that feature heavily in my work. I decided to give it a try, but I was going to test it against my old go to Kodak Portra. Again note, these are both same ISO film, with same shutter speed and aperture. As much as possible, same lighting conditions as well. No flash was used. Also these are the raw negative scans, and are NOT edited, so they will be slightly different from the published versions.
Venue of choice was the Pinguino’s annual Ninja Penguin party. Lots of Glowey stuff, in a dark dance floor. Perfect choice for 800 speed film.
Left is Cinestill 800T. Right is Portra 800
First up is a people shot. This is a tricky one as its in dim club lighting, and our subject is wearing a very shiny reflect suit. Portra easily handles the highlights better, as well as gives much richer shades of green in the background. The Cinestill looks flat by comparison. You can see much more detail on the man’s face. The tungsten balance might adjust for the artificial lighting, but it kills the mood.
Next up is “Camera in a Dream”(Left), and its Cinestill alt(right). You can see when doing abstracts with light play, the color and warmth of the Portra just blows away the Cinestill.
Light and Shadow play a white fuzzy vest with LED lights in it. Lighting is pretty close, with you can see the portra being sharper, with a crisper image. The Cinestill is softer and dreamier. About even with this one
An attempt at wall art. This one is pulled from the “miss” pile in both, but does a decent job highlighting the characteristics of the film with light. Both are unedited. Portra clearly has more exposure lattitude, as well as better contrast for dealing with shadows. The colors are more vivid and rich. This might be attributed to the tungsten balance. That would make sense for film clear shots for commercial purposes, but it falls short delivering vivid crisp images for artistic endeavors.
The last two are some costume play. Its not clear from the post, but that is a prop of Bruce Willis’s pistol from “The 5th Element”, appropriate given that was the theme of the party. Here is my friend doing some cosplay outside the venue with said prop, illuminated by a sodium vapor lamp street light. Gives a good comparison of how the film performs for nighttime street photography. You can see the tungsten balance of the Cinestill neutralizing the soft yellow glow of the street light, while the portra beautifully soaks up the vibe. This is going to be preference, but I like my streetlights yellow. The Portra captures vibes, the Cinestill extinguishes them
One last one, again pulled from the miss pile, but of technical note. You can see how the cinestill interacts with streetlights. All the streetlights in frame are sodium vapor lamps, which appear white, with some really ugly red halations. From a technical note, none of the color in this scene really looks good. The mid-tones and shadows look OK. That is it OK. Portra, and even Kodak Gold(now UltraMaxx for 400/800), make this look a fuckton better.
Conclusion: Kodak Portra 800 wipes the floor with Cinestill 800T