Kodak Ektar (35mm) Review & Photos

Kodak Ektar 100 is a professional-grade, colour negative film known for its exceptional sharpness and ultra-fine grain. Launched in 2008, it quickly gained acclaim for its vibrant colour saturation and ability to capture even the most intricate details.

The film was designed with digital scanning in mind, making it a perfect fit for the photographer who treasures analogue but also wants to share their images online. It’s particularly well-suited for landscapes, travel, fashion, and product photography. Anywhere where you have bright light and colourful scenes to shoot.

“Kodak Professional Ektar100 Film is the world’s finest grain color negative film. With ISO 100 speed, high saturation and ultra-vivid color, this film offers the finest, smoothest grain of any color negative film available today.”

Key Features Of Kodak Ektar 100

Pros

• Very fine grain
• Exceptional sharpness, great for enlargements
• It looks like slide film, but processed with C-41
• Designed for digital scanning

Cons

• The vibrant colours may not be suitable for all subjects or tastes
• As a professional-grade film with low exposure latitude, it is less forgiving of over- or under-exposure.
• Quite expensive

History of Kodak Ektar 100

Kodak has used the trademark “Ektar” which dates way back to the 1930s. Interestingly, at that time this name refers to the premium-tier lenses made by Eastman Kodak. From its birth, the Ektar brand has always been synonymous with quality. Several decades later, in 1989, to be precise, the first Ektar colour 35mm and 120 films were produced. At this time, the film was marketed as a semi-professional product line. It was available in several speeds: ISO 25, 100, 125, 400, and 1000. As consumer markets changed in the 1990s, Ektar was discontinued. The 35mm was pulled in 1994, followed by the phasing out of the 120 format in 1997.

But you can’t keep a good film down. Like a phoenix, Ektar 35mm reappeared on the scene in 2008. Subsequently, the medium format 120 flavour was revived in 2010. The stock is now officially known as Ektar 100, available only at ISO 100 speed. It also incorporates technology from Kodak Vision Film, which is a fun bonus fact! Emblazoned on the box is the film’s tagline, “world’s finest grain color negative film”. With the rise of digital scanning of negatives, this fine grain and sharpness make this a perfect film for digital scanning and archiving.

Shooting Soviet relics in the Baltics

I specially selected this film for my Baltics 2023 tour. I had picked up the roll a few months earlier and had been chilling (pun very much intended) in my fridge awaiting its time to rock!

With many colourful murals on my road trip map, I wanted something that would capture these colours in all their glory. I nearly always tripod my photos, so the ISO 100 speed was no problem for me and my clicky mechanical shutter cable.

Once again, my camera of choice for this trip was Grandad, my trusty hand-me-down Zenit-E. I selected my Mir-1b 37mm lens for this trip, which is the widest M42 lens I have at the moment.

My Impressions of Kodak Ektar

Kodak Ektar met and even exceeded my expectations; I will certainly be using this film again. The colours are beautiful, with that slight warm tone that I love about Kodak emulsions.

I scanned the negatives myself, and even zooming right in on the original images, they are crisp with very subtle grain (assuming I nailed the exposure; more on this below!).

These images were shot in a variety of situations, really putting the film through its paces.

• Some images are in pitch-blank bunkers, illuminated with torches perched on chairs, and 10+ second exposures. Interestingly, these images came out with very neutral lighting and white point. It seems that the slightly cool light from my torches was almost perfectly offset by the slight warmth of the film base colour!
• Most photos were taken inside dimly lit buildings, with only low-level sunlight filtering in. Even in gentle indoor lighting, the photos have nice contrast. Certainly, for exploring abandoned buildings, Ektar is a perfect fit!
• On the other end of the spectrum, I shot an old wooden bobsleigh track on a sunny day. The scene was a mix of harsh, warm light filtering through trees and shadows from the roof of the covered track. Both the contrast and warmth of the photos increased in this shooting situation, which is definitely not surprising.

Definitely, I can verify that this film is not very forgiving with underexposure! A couple of my shots were taken as the sun was setting, combined with me rushing (for various reasons, sometimes speed is needed on my adventures!). The images are kind of muddy-looking, and the grain in the greatly underexposed shadows is very prominent! These shots had some strange colour shifts towards oranges, which I toned down a little during scanning. For those interested, the shots are included below (the indoor swimming pool and the two mining machines in the quarry). A third shot (foyer with seats and a nice-looking staircase and window), I messed up my exposure calculation, and yes, I am disappointed with myself for this one especially!

Example Photos I Have Taken on Kodak Ektar

Here are the shots of Latvia/Lithuania on Kodak Ektar 100. The last few shots of the abandoned cars and gnarled oak tree were taken near my home, to use up the roll. Enjoy!