Perhaps the next time I shoot some Ektachrome, I’ll do all of the above. But for this one, I just wanted to shoot it as normal – and by that I mean as I would a colour negative film – and see how it turned out. Maybe like an experiment to set a baseline for my knowledge of what to do and what not to do with it. The E-4 process was generally discontinued after 1977, although continued in use for Kodak PCF ( Photomicrography Color Film) until the 1980s, and for Kodak IE (Color Infra-red film) until 1996. This was due to a legal commitment by Kodak to provide the process for 30 years. Slide film is difficult to produce; it has more layers than colour negative film and requires specific processes and components. This unfortunate reality eventually led to the complete disappearance of all Ektachrome (and its Elitechrome rebrand products) from the shelves in 2013. The wide variety of film speeds, up to ISO 400, including the tungsten-balanced versions, were all suddenly gone.

E100VS Film also features KODAK T-GRAIN® Emulsions for very fine grain and an unsurpassed level of sharpness in a 100-speed film….E100VS Film is ideal for photographers who must create high-color transparency images that spring to life on the light box. It’s an appropriate choice for nature, scenics, wildlife, food, jewellery, and any subjects that call for brilliant, dramatic hues.

Easy exposure with familiar cameras

I see people talk about the colours you get from Ektachrome E100. About how they’re rich and bright. And also the contrast, sharpness, and fine grain brought about by Kodak’s T-grain emulsion technology. The mighty Kodak also made the Elite Chrome range aimed at consumers alongside the pro-spec Ektachrome films. Like Precisa, these films were more wallet friendly than their professional grade brothers. And if there’s one thing that LOMOgraphers liked, it was cheaper film. While I’m not exactly a wildlife photographer, I did enjoy photographing portraits of wildlife with 35mm, which probably how I would tend to shoot this film in the future. While I would be comfortable printing some of my images up to 24×36″, most of those images are from a telephoto lens with a shallow depth of field, which doesn’t require a ton of resolving power.

Kodak Alaris (December 10, 2019). "Kodak Alaris Announces Ektachrome E100 Availability in 120 and Sheet formats" (PDF) . Retrieved December 29, 2019. Other than resolution, dynamic range, and accurate colour rendition, Ektachrome E100 has a few modern features no other film can claim. One that stood out to me immediately after reading the spec sheet is its 80+ year storage stability in a fridge. But in the Ektachrome images I personally think are my best, it’s the depth that I’m most impressed by. The layers and separation between elements. Everything I’ve shot before on negative film seems a little flatter and more two-dimensional in comparison. The image below is one that I pulled from the darkness, so to speak. Fortunately, the light was very flat, the tones were very even, and everything came out very clean. That being said, I think my results could be challenged with an underexposed image with more dynamic light, but I was still impressed with the information the film stored in the shadows. What are the advantages of this troublesome film? Ektachrome’s technical data sheet notes a remarkable sharpness and a neutral, but rich color palette, which should result in a truer-to-life image compared with most C41 film. While this is objectively true, it only scratches the surface of what this film really is. Let’s dig a little deeper.

1979

At one time, there was a huge range of it. All types of speeds, formats from 35mm to 11 x 14 inch sheets, and use cases. Motion picture film as well. Too much to list here, although I have shot an expired Ektachrome 320T, so I’ll mention that one specifically. Longer exposure times are often needed when shooting around sunrise/sunset or in low light due to the slow speed of the film. In the introduction to this Ektachrome E100 review, I mentioned that its release was one of the best things to happen to analogue photography in the last few years and that anyone who shoots film should be happy with its return. So let’s go through a few reasons why. A. E100 is based off the old E100G formulation, and features moderately enhanced colour saturation, a neutral tone scale, and extremely fine grain.

The magnitude of Kodak successfully rereleasing a film like Ektachrome is huge. It’s also a milestone that, frankly, many of us never thought possible. When the staff here at CP first heard whispers of an Ektachrome revival, we were happy, but skeptical. We’d been through this before with other film projects. Big promises on social media to #keepfilmalive, the flashy promotional campaign, the buzzworded crowdfunding, and the whole load of nothing that happens afterwards. For more than a year we heard just a few intermittent reports that Ektachrome was still coming. But we were entirely ready to be disappointed again. Would I buy Kodak Ektachrome again after seeing the results? I would if Fuji Provia 100F didn’t exist! I tend to prefer Fujifilm colours to Kodak colours. When I’ve shot colour film in the past I find Kodak films can often be too yellow for my taste. This is the same when I view the work of others so it is not how I process the film which causes the yellowing. Kodak film is just more yellow. That is the look Kodak go for. Personally I prefer the cooler tones of Fujifilm. From my photos I would say this is true for Ektachrome vs Provia and also Kodak Portra vs Fuji Pro 400H. Provia blue skies look slightly cooler to me (see below) and the skin tones slightly less warm which I like. All personal preference so it depends what you prefer. Slide film vs Colour negative film (E6 vs C41)

E-7 is the "mix-it-yourself" version of E-6. Functionally it was equivalent, but there were a few differences. Most B&W films have a generous ~5-stop exposure latitude, and most color films have a ~3 stop exposure latitude, which means that you can miss the mark and still come away with a great image. The rise of these new slide films, especially Fuji’s Velvia, combined with a general decline of slide film use throughout the 1980s and 1990s to see Kodachrome getting squeezed out. As far as Kodak offerings went, Ektachrome was the new reversal king.