Kodak Ektar 100 to Be Launched in Large Format

[Gene McCluney]

Polaroid is fully back in business.

This is just so NOT TRUE.

The Polaroid "name" is owned by a company to license. There is a group called "The Impossible Project" that working with Ilford (for b/w) and another group for color is reviving the Integral Film for SX-70 type cameras in a former Polaroid assembly plant in Europe. All the USA based Polaroid film manufacturing plants are now gone, scrapped, salvage metal. Polaroid has no intention of ever making instant film again, although they have decided to contract out with an asian partner to have some new cheap Polaroid branded cameras made to use the film provided by "The Impossible Project". At this point in history there are no machines or facilities for making "Peel-apart" instant films, or readyload type materials. It should be noted that "The Impossible Project" does not have the facilities to coat a film emulsion, just the facilities to manufacture and assemble the film packs, thus they have to use existing film coating facilities such as Ilford for their films.

[David Luttmann]

I tried a roll or two of Ektar 100. It scannned cyan/bluish on my Nikon ED 5000. Supposedly it is also not so great on portraiture due to off colored skin tones.
So, what's to love about this film besides the hype?

What's so great? Well, as the film isn't designed for skin tones, the best place to start is to use it for landscape work. The resolving power is superb. Very saturated colors. Finest grain C41 there is. Far superior latitude to E6 films. Aside from those things, I don't see any hype!

The best place to start is to profile your scanner for the film. That will eliminate the cast.

[Greg Blank]

I work for Omega-Brandess, we recently merged and are now distributing Kodak materials. Our sales people were at PMA and just arrived back today. They were nice enough to bring me a ten sheet box of Ektar 100, 4x5 to test and shoot.

Kodak has announced it will shortly launch Kodak Ektar 100 in 4x5" & 8x10" formats:
http://www.photographyblog.com/news/...00_sheet_film/

Hope this is the appropriate place for this post.

[stompyq]

What's so great? Well, as the film isn't designed for skin tones, the best place to start is to use it for landscape work. The resolving power is superb. Very saturated colors. Finest grain C41 there is. Far superior latitude to E6 films. Aside from those things, I don't see any hype!

The best place to start is to profile your scanner for the film. That will eliminate the cast.

+1 to what david said. This film is AMAZING for landscapes. In 35mm Their is hardly any grain and when it is visible it's very nice and tight.

[SamReeves]

When is Kodak bringing back Ektar 25???

I will definitely have to check out the 100 in 4x5.

[rguinter]

When is Kodak bringing back Ektar 25???

I will definitely have to check out the 100 in 4x5.

I'm with you Sam, I much prefer slow speed films and would like to see the Ektar 25 make a comeback... although I still have the better part of 20 rolls or so of it in MF left in my film freezer. Bob G.

[JRFrench]

I work for Omega-Brandess, we recently merged and are now distributing Kodak materials. Our sales people were at PMA and just arrived back today. They were nice enough to bring me a ten sheet box of Ektar 100, 4x5 to test and shoot.

Awesome! Report soon

[brianam]

Ditto, Bob. How about Kodak's print 25? Royal 25 was it? That stuff was like a C41 Velvia, though a lot more blue and a lot less green.
There were some slow films that weren't so hot though: anyone remember Agfa Ultracolor 50? that film was weird. Fun, but weird. ;-)

By the by, Ektar 100 is--as far as I have tried--the ultimate color print film for scanning. Even at 4000 dpi the grain remains really smooth, and in blue skies there's much less edgy grain exaggeration many other films are prone to.
I'm very happy to see a new film introduced (at all!), but especially one that takes into account this modern-day use.

[PViapiano]

Ektar 100 seems to have a latitude similar to most digital cameras out there today, say 10 stops.

10 stops on a digital camera?

I don't think so. Digitals have approximately the same range as transparency film.

[Jim collum]

10 stops on a digital camera?

I don't think so. Digitals have approximately the same range as transparency film.

Maybe the DSLR's, but MF digital backs and scanning backs have better than 10 stops. I consider that a better reason for using one over resolution.