Interesting Rodeo_Joe, I did not know there could be a negative film without the orange mask. That would make scanning it a lot easier.
I am relatively new to analogue film (I have been shooting film non stop for 3 years). But most films went out of production before my love for the medium started.
And thank you for your post BillC, I do admit I only shot 2 rolls of Portra 160, but they weren't handling the overexposure I was used to giving Portra 400 well. Perhaps I made a big mistake, perhaps they were stored wrong, perhaps the lab did not change their chemicals. I will buy some fresh rolls this week and give Portra 160 another shot.
Ektar100 I have shot a lot and it sure cannot handle overexposure very well. I feel it behaves more like one of Fujis slide films - you either got the exposure right or you are left with disappointing photos.
Unfortunately I am not able to print from my negatives as even the colour lab at the local academy of fine arts just closed down. I do scan my work for web on my Epson V700. For exhibitions I get them scanned again by a professional lab and they print it.