I recently spent the last fleeting weeks of summer with a roll of Kodak Ektar 100 loaded in my camera. And, just like my previous Ilford 125 Plus review, I’ll be doing a recap of my experience with the film stock. If you aren’t familiar with this film stock, here’s a small summary:
About Kodak Ektar 100
Kodak Ektar 100 is a daylight balanced, color negative film stock that is known for its extremely fine grain, vivid colors and excellent detail. These attributes make for a bit of a higher price tag, running about $16 for a roll of 35mm film. Kodak Ektar 100 is also available in 120 and sheet film.
Ektar 100 can compared to slide film because it requires precise amounts of light. One of the best parts about shooting black and white film is how forgiving it is, even when the camera settings aren’t perfect.
Well Ektar 100 is the opposite. A single stop of exposure makes a huge difference in this film stock and improperly exposed photos simply don’t work (we’ll see those real soon).
With that, let me walk you through the highs and lows of this roll.
Exposures
Around Manhattan
The first image two images I looked at were perfect examples of underexposure. Simultaneously cast both yellow and purple, this looks like a terrible slushie. Details in the shadows completely gone. Not my best work to start.
Next, I have a picture of the East River, which actually looks really nice. The exposure is reasonable and we get the saturated Ektar colors in full effect. This exposure was taken at 1/125 and f/5.6, so I think it can work as a golden hour film stock.
I stopped over at Little Island one weekend and came out with a couple shots that show what Ektar 100 can do. This is the first glimpse into how exact the exposure needs to be for consistent results. The shot on the left (f/5.6) has a bluer sky with deeper greens and crimson reds. On the right (f/11) the image is warmer overall, with greens turning more yellow and those same reds turning rust orange.
The colors are striking in both, but two stops of exposure can make a world of difference. And if you want this view of Little Island and lower Manhattan, head up to Pier 57. There’s a market under construction and the rooftop is open to the public. It’s a cool place to hang for a bit and much quieter than Little Island.
Super moody rainy day shot next. It’s really simple but I like it a lot. Might have been a little underexposed but all I had to do was fix the tint.
Now to a morning in Central Park; I got a picture of this goose! Sadly I missed focus just a bit but the saturated greens are beautiful. Based on my other images from this roll, I think it’s a stop or two underexposed.
Yankees Game
I was stoked to try this film out at a Yankees’ game. Late summer around 7pm, so I got some fading daylight, sunset and nighttime light. First up, this stitched panoramic from two shots. It looks pretty, but that’s about it.
This next shot is probably my favorite from the roll. I set the shutter to 1/500 to capture the action better and compensated with aperture f/1.7. The result is beautifully saturated image with some dynamic elements in view and colors that feel almost true-to-life.
Here’s the biggest difference in exposure. I increased my aperture 1 stop to f/2.8 and got this:
The greens have become bluer but also more washed out. The sand moved from the golden brown to tan leather. And the shadows all around have become more washed out as well. Again, a single stop of exposure can create an entirely different feel for your images with Ektar 100.
Failures + Conclusion
To wrap this post up (and remind you of my shortcomings as a photographer), here’s a bunch of underexposed images from my roll!
Overall, I definitely appreciate how Kodak Ektar 100 images look. The colors are tastefully vibrant but it doesn’t feel overbearing. Despite its particular nature, I think the results can be worth it, especially if you’re being diligent about every exposure.
Not an every day film stock though, especially because of the price! Next up for me is Kodak Portra 800 and maybe one day Fuji Industrial 100!