Opinions on Ektar 100

[Sw1tchFX]

I've been shooting film again recently, and over the years, my favorite color negative film has been Kodak Gold 200 because I like the warm saturation.

I've heard nothing but good things about the Ektar, mostly how it scans, but as far as color goes, how would it compare to something like Fuji Reala, which is super accurate, or the Gold 200? I've heard that blues tend to be way too saturated?

It's not too terribly expensive, i'm curious to run a test of the Ektar 100, Gold 100, and Portra 160VC side-bit-side and see what I like best.

 

[jonahr]

I shot a roll of Ektar 100 a few weeks ago, I have not scanned it yet but i do have a contact sheet from the lab. The blues did indeed look very saturated. I would say, it is about as close to slide film as you will get with a print film. If you want slide saturation and low grain with the latitude and of print film, than i would say ektar 100 is your film. Otherwise, stay away.

 

[a_spaceman]

i haven't shot any ektar 100 yet but all i've seen so far didn't look too impressive to me.
saturation and contrast just didn't seem much lively.
kodak gold is not much of a good film. the reala you mentioned is a good and cheap one indeed, love the colours, contrasts and latitude of exposure. it's a nice, cheap, all rounder fast film.
that said, the best advice is always to get a roll each and have a look yourself

 

[selmerdave]

Too saturated for me generally. For some applications I'm sure that is okay/good.

Dave

 

[CSR Studio]

Ektar is ok, not my favorite. Reala on the other hand is beautiful.

 

[molested_cow]

I started shooting with Ektar not too long ago and it was love at first try! I used to shoot with consumer grade film like Kodak Gold 200 and Fujifilm. I was really unhappy with the grain and tried Ektar. It depends on your scanner, but when the lighting condition is right, it's as good as digital.

However I am running into two issues which can be my own problem. First is that when I shoot a picture with large portion of blue sky, the sky turns gray. This has happened several times. Say if the composition consists of a building and mostly sky, the color on the building will be fine and the sky will be gray. It could be my scanner... I have no idea.

Another issue is it doesn't seem to work well with my telephoto. I have a ED AF 70~300mm Nikkor lens. I can't seem to get sharply focused photo as well as films with higher ISO. I am sure that my shutter speed is fine. Again, I still haven't figured it out yet.

Try it, it's very rewarding.

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