Kodak Portra 400 VS Portra 800: What’s The Difference?

I’ve been shooting film for over 7 years and over that time I’ve been able to establish the tiny nuances between these two top-tier film stocks. 

There are a lot of different aspects that can change how your final image looks, including your lens, settings and ability. But the time of film you use can have a big impact on your overall aesthetic, sometimes this is very noticeable and sometimes these are very small differences. 

While this isn’t a ‘like-for-like’ comparison of these film stocks, these are film stocks that I’ve shot extensively so I can show you how these differ, tell you my experience and I’ve also looked for other peoples experiences too.

So all of the pictures shown here will be unedited scans of my own shots so I can show you how they really look.

Just a quick note, all of the Portra 800 pictures are already very colourful so I know they’re not completely ideal for comparisons but it’s all I’ve got my friends.

Portra History

The Kodak Portra range is one of Kodak’s professional ranges of film. Introduced in the 1990s, has a significant history in professional and portrait photography. Originally comprising the NC (Natural Color) and VC (Vivid Color) variants, the series evolved over the years to include improved versions like Portra 160 and Portra 400.  

Kodak later introduced Portra 800 for higher ISO needs. Despite the digital age’s rise, Portra films maintained popularity, especially for their distinctive colour rendition and forgiving exposure latitude. The series remains synonymous with portrait photography and continues to be a preferred choice for film photographers to this day. 

In the modern day, Portra is still really well known as some of the best, most reliable film on the market and with good reason.  

Unfortunately, as with all film, the price has risen a great deal over the last few years so shooting this kind of film is becoming more and more of a novelty. 

Profiles

Kodak Portra 400 and Portra 800 have very similar profiles as they’re effectively from the same family. However, Portra 800 is from older technology and a lot of people prefer its colour rendition and grain. 

Generally, the whole Portra range is very high quality, it’s sharp, fairly pastel and it has fine grain. It’s looked at as a real professional film stock and for good reason. 

Portra is very editable due to having a fairly flat look. Also, all versions of Portra have brilliant exposure latitude, so you’ll be able to have a lot of leeway when exposing your pictures. 

You may think that the only difference between all of the Portra ranges is the ISO but actually, Portra 800 is made from older technology than Portra 400. And some people really prefer that difference. 

I’m going to list the main differences between these two brilliant film stocks so you can make the best decision for yourself! 

ISO/Grain

The first and most obvious difference between these two film stocks is the ISO. Of course, Portra 400 is a 400-speed film stock and Portra 800 is an 800-speed stock.

Both of these stocks are very high quality so the grain is very fine in comparison to cheaper film stocks. Portra 400 probably has finer grain than Kodak Colorplus just because it’s a quality film stock.

Portra 400 has less noticeable grain than Portra 800 but neither of them really has a ‘crunchy’ or ‘harsh’ grain. Portra 800’s level of grain are pretty charming and if you’re choosing to shoot it then that’s generally part of the whole experience.

The other side of this equation is that Portra 800 is better in low light situations than Portra 400 is because it has that bit more sensitivity. Obviously, this makes it ideal for shooting indoors and in changing light situations.

I’ve always found Portra 400 to be really good even in low light (especially since it has such good exposure latitude) but obviously, Portra 800 gives you even more leeway for shooting in low light or indoors.

Skin Tones

If there’s something that the Portra range is known for, it’s brilliant skin tones. They’re best known for rendering realistic, warm skin tones, making them ideal for portrait, documentary and street photography.

Personally, I’ve used a bunch of Portra 160 and 400 for shooting portraits and it just gives you a level of consistency and control that other film stocks do not.

The key difference here is that Portra 800 has more saturation and has a very slight yellow hue, so I’d probably rely more on Portra 400 (although they’re both still brilliant).

Colour & Saturation

Believe it or not, these film stocks are not just two film stocks with slightly different ISOs. Kodak Portra 400 is derived from Vision 3 film and Portra 800 is from older technology.

This might make you think that Portra 400 must be better because it’s newer but that’s not necessarily the case. Although Portra 400 is incredibly popular and it is a brilliant film stock, a lot of people prefer Portra 800 for the colour it produces.

Generally, Portra 400 has fairly muted, colours because it’s kind of made to be edited and usually, that’s why I love it. It provides you with a great foundation for you to edit and make your own.

Portra 800 is different, it has more saturated colours that a lot of photographers prefer in comparison to Portra 400.

It’s important to note that we’re still talking about two brilliant film stocks but there is a noticeable difference between these two.

Price

Obviously, prices are different all over the world but Portra 800 is always more expensive than Portra 400.

Here in the UK, the price of Portra 800 is £24 a roll and Portra 400 is £22 a roll. That’s not a big difference but it can have an impact if you’re shooting a lot.

What They’re Best For

I guess this begs the question, what are each of these film stocks best for? Well it really depends on your own style and type of photography.

Since Portra 800 is more saturated than 400, it’s probably better suited to street photography, documentary photography, night-time or low-light work. It’s high ISO will allow you to take photos in a variety of different conditions and the look and feel of Portra 800 is pretty unique so it’s pretty great for more creative styles.

Portra 400 is obviously a bit more muted in terms of colour so it’s better suited to portraiture and editorial, while also being brilliant as landscape, street photography and documentary photography too.

What’s My Opinion?

Well, usually I shoot Kodak Portra 400. It’s such a reliable, editable film stock and it comes at a good film speed too. It’s a little bit cheaper than Portra 800 so I can persuade myself that I’m not completely mad for buying it.

It’s not really about preference so much for me, it’s just that I don’t really need that extra stop of ISO so I’m not spending the extra couple of quid on Portra 800.

Either way, these are two brilliant film stocks that can both produce brilliant results and I’d never turn a roll of Portra 800 down if someone chucked me some.