Film Spotlight – Kodak Portra 800
For when you want that ‘film’ look
A lot of Kodak’s professional films share their DNA with the VISION3 motion picture film stocks used in moviemaking. Portra 400 is one such example. The exposure latitude is significant, and under or overexposing your photo by as much as 4 stops will still give you usable results. Of course, you still need to give the film enough light, but if your exposure settings are out somewhat, it’s not the end of the world, you’re not going to lose your head.
There are a few films in Kodak’s catalogue however which are far less forgiving in terms of exposure latitude, acting more like slide film in look and exposure latitude than typical Kodak negative film. These are Ektar 100 and a Portra 800.
Ektar 100
Ektar 100 gives you the look reminiscent of slide film, in a C-41 colour negative print film. It has lots of contrast, and saturation by the bucketload and lends an unfortunate red tint to skin, so is best avoided for Caucasian portraiture, but okay if you are shooting black, mixed race or those with tanned skin.
Both images above were shot on the Fujifilm GA645Zi
Portra 800
Portra 800, on the other hand has tones which are far better suited to skin tones, though I have found it has a slight magenta tint which needs tweaking in lightroom.
Here are some shots from Tenby in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
…and some photos taken on the Gloucestershire - Warwickshire Steam Railway
All photos were taken on a Nikon F100 with Nikkor AF-S 50mm F1.8G lens
What do you think? Leave your comments below. Oh, and check out the other Camera Obscura film posts.
