Everything You Need To Know About Kodak Ektar 100

I’ve shot a lot of Kodak Ektar 100 over the years so I’ve learned the pros and cons of this brilliant film stock.

Kodak Ektar 100 is a professional film stock with very fine grain, low ISO and saturated colour. Ektar 100 is best suited to landscape and wildlife photography due to its fine detail and fine grain.

If you want to find out more about Ektar 100’s attributes, what it’s best for and much more then carry on reading!

Grain

Ektar 100 has really fine grain and that’s one of the things that makes it so popular for landscape photography.

As you can see in the picture above, the close-up photo shows this super fine grain of Ektar 100. I’d say it’s even finer than Kodak Portra 160 which obviously makes sense since it’s a lower ISO.

The look of grain is really a personal preference, mostly for landscape photographers or still life, it makes sense to have much finer grain so that you can get as much detail as possible in the final picture.

Exposure Latitude

Kodak Ektar 100 has really good exposure latitude, perhaps not as good as the Portra series but much better than most other film stocks.

If you don’t already know, exposure latitude is basically how much you can over/underexpose your film and it’ll still retain data. What that means when it comes to film photography is that if you have a film stock with good exposure latitude (or dynamic range), you’re more likely to get a more evenly exposed picture.

You can see this illustrated in these pictures, Ektar 100 retains quite a lot of information from both the shadows and the highlights. This makes it an ideal film stock for all kinds of photography, especially landscape.

Saturation And Colour

Kodak Ektar 100 is a really saturated film stock in comparison to the Portra range. Portra is quite muted pastel whereas Ektar is saturated and vivid.

You can see the difference, with Ektar 100 on the left, saturated and contrasty and Kodak Portra 160 on the right which is pastel and less contrasty.

Whether you like this level of saturation or ‘pop’ from Ektar 100 is a personal thing, some people like the muted tones and editability of Kodak Portra 160, some people want things popping straight away like with Ektar.

But this really is why it’s basically a landscape photographers film stock, there aren’t many other styles of photography where this low ISO and intense saturation really make sense together.

Skin Tones

Obviously, skin tones cover a broad spectrum. When it comes to Ektar 100 shooting people with light skin tones is a no no, generally, it’ll send those tones quite red.

However, apparently, the darker the skin tone the better for Ektar 100, however I would suggest just using Kodak Portra 160 or 400 to be on the safe side.

The red skin tones for light skin are probably down to the fact that Ektar 100 wasn’t really made with portrait photography in mind. If you’re trying to saturate certain parts of a landscape then you’re not really considering these things.

How Much Is Kodak Ektar 100?

On Analogue Wonderland, Kodak Ektar 100 is £18 a roll which is just £2 less than Kodak Portra 400.

Obviously, the price varies from country to country but generally it’ll be slightly less than Portra 400 and about the same price as Portra 160.

Is Ektar 100 Worth It?

Well, it depends what you’re using Kodak Ektar 100 for, if you were just taking it travelling I’d say no, it’s probably not worth it because the ISO is a bit too low and if you’re shooting a lot of light skin tones then people will look weird.

However, if you’re shooting landscapes, wildlife photography or other similar styles of photography then yes Kodak Ektar 100 is absolutely worth it, it’s arguably one of the best for that kind of work, especially if you end up shooting it on medium format!

What Kind Of Format Is Ektar 100 Made In?

Kodak Ektar 100 is currently made in 35mm, 120mm, 4×5 and 8×10. Most people would shoot 35mm or 120mm, however if you’re lucky enough to be shooting large format photography then 4×5 and 8×10 will provide some incredible images.

Can You Shoot Out Of Date Ektar 100?

You can shoot any out-of-date film but there are quite a lot of things that come into play when you do that.

Ektar 100 has a bit of an upper hand when it comes to shooting it out-of-date because it’s a low ISO, high quality film stock. But, that being said, colour film doesn’t last as long as black and white.

Shooting out-of-date film can be quite hard to work out, it’s determined by quite a lot of different things: How it was stored (warm or cool temps), how old it is, what ISO the film is and whether it was damp or dry.

If it was stored in a fridge for 10 years then yes it’s probably completely fine. You’d have to overexpose a stop or so if it was 20 years old.

What Kind Of Photography Is Kodak Ektar 100 Best For?

You already know, Kodak Ektar 100 is best for landscape, nature and wildlife. Its low ISO and saturated colours make for beautiful landscape pictures that are very clear and sharp.

I specifically wouldn’t use it for street photography, portrait photography, documentary photography or wedding photography if the bulk of your subjects are light skinned. However, just for the versatility I would just suggest using Portra 160 if you want a low ISO film that has better skin tones throughout a range of skin colours.

What’s The Difference Between Kodak Ektar 100 & Kodak Portra 160?

Despite seeming like these must be very similar film stocks, there are some pretty evident differences between these two beauties.

Portra 160 has quite pastel colours and Ektar 100 has significantly more saturation, this is quite a considerable difference since most people that shoot Portra, do so because they want to edit it and change it to their own preference.

Ektar 100 also notoriously turns light skin tones red, whereas Portra 160 renders all skin tones true to life.

These are some of the key differences, Portra 160 is much more versatile and could be used for all kinds of photography whereas Ektar 100 is a landscape film stock through and through.

Can You Shoot Ektar 100 At Night?

Yes, you can shoot Ektar 100 at night, you would definitely need a tripod for this as the film speed is so low and in my experience, you’d want to meter for the shadows, even if it means over exposing the highlights by a few stops.

But you can definitely get some beautiful shots with Ektar 100 at night time and you won’t get too much grain in the deep shadows.

Sample Shots Of Kodak Ektar 100

Final Word

Kodak Ektar 100 is a special kinda film that should probably only be used for a few specific types of photography. In that, I think there’s something special, it doesn’t attempt to be a jack-of-all-trades, it does what it’s meant to do and it does it really, really well.

I hold Ektar 100 in high esteem and I would always suggest it to a wannabe landscape photographer. You go and shoot that saturated, wonderful film.