Film Comparison, "new" E100 & Ektar100

[Ricochetrider]

So I'm a little slow on the uptake sometimes. The "New" Kodak E100, isn't so new any more, although I see they first released it in 35mm format only, and more recently added 120 + 4x5. I've had what seem like stellar results shooting Kodak Ektar100, so I'm wondering how these two film stocks compare?

 

Oh and it seems the E100 is a slide or transparency film not a negative film?

 

Have you guys shot both?

How do they compare?

Do you like one over the other?

 

Thanks in advance.

Tom

[Vincent Peri]

 

Oh and it seems the E100 is a slide or transparency film not a negative film?

 

Tom

 

Any film with "chrome" in the name is a slide film.

 

EDIT: The full name for Fuji's Provia slide film is Fujichrome Provia 100F.

Edited April 20, 2020 by Vincent Peri

[Ricochetrider]

Any film with "chrome" in the name is a slide film.

 

EDIT: The full name for Fuji's Provia slide film is Fujichrome Provia 100F.

 

Ah. Got it. Thanks.

 

Have you shot both?

How do they compare?

Do you like one over the other?

 

Thanks.

Tom

[Vincent Peri]

Hi Tom,

 

No, I haven't been able to shoot any E100 because I can't find a lab to process it now. I can always hope that by summer, things will start getting back to normal.

[ben_hutcherson]

I've yet to see even good negative films like Ektar have colors as bright and saturated as slide films.

 

With that said, they need a bit of a different mindset to shoot. With a slide, what you see is what you get. A negative is something of a blank canvas that can be interpreted however you would like.

 

Ektar 100 is fussier than most any other color negative film to expose correctly(Portra 400, for example, doesn't look a lot different if you expose it at 100, 400, or 800), but slides are unforgiving.

 

E100, and Ektachrome in general, is a bit more pliable than Velvia or Kodachrome, but you still need to get the exposure dead on. There's no recovering a blown highlight or a deep shadow.

 

I highly recommend shooting slide film, as the end result is like nothing else, but don't do it until you're sure that your shutters are correct and your meters are correct(and that you understand how to use your meter). Doing otherwise is an expensive mistake to make. E6 Film+processing runs me ~$18 for MF and ~$25 for 35mm these days.

[Mike Gammill]

Your intended use of images might be a factor in your comparison. If your "final product" is a scan, then you may have difficulty deciding which film you prefer. And post processing (contrast, saturation, etc) can level the playing field even more. If you like images done without any computer enhancement on your part I'd stick with Ektar for prints since printing from slide film requires either an internegative or reversal paper. Likewise if you want to project slides it's possible to have slides made from Ektar negatives, but it's simpler to just shoot slide film. Now I mentioned computer enhancement on your part, but many labs will scan negatives and make prints from the digital file. I realize this is not a side by side comparison, but I hope it is of some help.

[James Bryant]

The last roll of E100 I sent to Dwayne's I had a set of prints made in addition to developing and scanning. I assume the prints were made from the scans. I was happy with the results.

[greg_nixon2]

"Any film with "chrome" in the name is a slide film."

 

Except for Verichrome

[greg_nixon2]

I have used Ektar since it was introduced. Its touted as being the the finest film grain for a colour negative film. I was quite happy with it until I asked the lab to develop the negatives only, thinking I could scan it at home. I found that it it was very difficult to scan. I had difficulty getting the colour balance right. I got some acceptable prints but not as good as the ones that were developed and printed by the lab.

[glen_h]

"Any film with "chrome" in the name is a slide film."

 

Except for Verichrome

 

I remember knowing this when I was young, and mostly used Verichrome.

 

Only recently did I learn that Kodak bought Verichrome from another company

and kept the name.

 

Kodacolor, Ektacolor, and Vericolor are color negative films.

 

Strange naming system.

[Vincent Peri]

"Any film with "chrome" in the name is a slide film."

 

Except for Verichrome

 

I never used Verichrome, but I always thought it was a slide film. Stupid name for a color negative film LOL.

[glen_h]

Verichrome is an orthochromatic black and white film that Kodak first sold around 1931, which it seems

that they got when they bought Wratten and Wainwright.

 

About 1956, it was replaced with Verichrome Pan, which was produced until not

all that many years ago.

 

So the name is older than any color negative or color reversal film.

[ben_hutcherson]

Stupid name for a color negative film LOL.

 

It's not even color :) . I have a roll waiting to be developed now(shot in my Super IKonta).

 

Another fun one is Ektapan, which I picked up several hundred sheets of when I first got into large format. I had thought anything with "Ekta" in the name was color, but I was wrong on that.

[Ricochetrider]

Thanks to everybody for your replies.

So Ektar is a C-41 process film and E100 is E6, is that correct?

 

Not that I really know the difference besides these being two different chemical processes.... so what is/are the difference(s)?

 

I’ve had some really great results shooting Ektar 100.

I’ve also been skipping all over the place with B&W films.

 

think I’ll stick with what I know (Ektar 100) for color.

[ben_hutcherson]

C-41, broadly speaking, works like this:

 

Develop(just like in B&W film)

Bleach(to remove all the silver)

Fix(remove undeveloped silver halides)

 

Sometimes bleach and fix are combined together and called "Blix", but it's my understanding that that's mostly for at-home use and commercial labs generally separate all of those.

 

That leaves you with a negative image formed from the color dye clouds that were attached to the developed silver halides.

 

E-6 is a reversal process.

First developer-develop the exposed silver halides

Reversal bath-chemically "exposes" all previously unexposed silver halide to "reverse" the image(form a positive image). This can also be done by fogging the film(exposing to light) but chemical reversal is faster, easier, and more reliable

Color developer-develops the exposed halides from the last step

Bleach

Fix

 

There are 3-bath processes that-I think-combine the fog and color developer, and then Blix.

 

It's a more involved process and certain steps(in particular the first developer) are extremely time and temperature sensitive, so it tends to be more expensive. Here in 2020, I pay about double for E-6 processing in a given format vs. what I pay for C-41 develop only. C-41 is usually $4-6 for 35mm or 120, and E-6 $10-15.

 

Back when I first got into this in the mid-2000s, the local pro lab I used charged, IIRC, about $4 for C-41 and I think $6 or $7 for E-6. They actually ran E-6 twice a day at 10:00AM and 2:00PM, so if you got there before 10:00 you'd have it by 1:00, and if you got there before 2:00 you'd have it before they closed for business. I miss that lab!

 

Also, back in the day, my sleepy little town probably had a dozen labs that ran C-41 on sight. Walmart, Kroger, and every drug store had a C-41 minilab that nominally would have it for you in "1 hour". None are still around. All of them also offered send-off service that was less expnesive but took a couple of days. Lexington, the town where the lab I mentioned above was located, had at least 3 E-6 labs in town and I'd be afraid to guess how many C-41s-now there's one C-41. Louisville had probably 5 E-6 labs then and again, who knows how may C-41s. There's one E-6 lab, I think 4 or 5 C-41s, and that's it. 3 days used to be considered a slow turn around, while I'm happy now to get that even in a lab that does it on-site.

[glen_h]

When I was young, there was a Kodak slides lab on my dad's way to work.

(Well, slightly out of the way, but not far off.)

 

He would drop a roll off on the way in, with "will call" marked on it,

and pick it up on the way home.

 

He still lives there, is retired, and the lab is closed.

(Like all the Kodak labs, as well as I know.)

 

I think that there used to be about 10 labs, but not all did slides.