Anyone actively shooting Kodak Gold films in quanity?

[Les Sarile]

I am biased to Kodak's color palette and have always liked the results I get from Kodak Gold 100, 200 & 400.

 

[bvy]

Doesn't look like the same frame of film does it.

Therein lies the reason I take with a grain of salt most statements made here about a color film's pallete, saturation, color cast, etc. Scanning introduces too many variables, and most folks here are scanning their color film. I've been able to make very nice prints from frames that I once conculded were hopeless, based solely on the scan.

 

[madgardener]

For what it's worth, I just ordered 25 rolls of Kodak Gold 200 from a nameless web site for about US$2 a roll. I plan on shooting a lot of it this fall when the leaves change.

 

[BrianShaw]

For what it's worth, I just ordered 25 rolls of Kodak Gold 200 from a nameless web site for about US$2 a roll. I plan on shooting a lot of it this fall when the leaves change.

Please let us know what actually gets delivered. Most "nameless web sites" are delivering some other Kodak 200 film, like ColorPlus.

 

[Ten301]

Is Kodak still making Gold 200? I see it listed on their U.S. website, but haven't been able to find it in stores recently. It used to be everywhere, but all now only seem to carry Ultramax 400. I recently ordered Gold 200 online, but received ColorPlus 200 instead, which is not nearly as good. ColorPlus looks like something from the '70s or '80s...really nothing like Gold.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

The Gold 200 was all my ex wife ever shot. I think she just picked that film and ran with it, keeping things simple. The only time she changed was for black and white, picking Ilford XP2-Super instead.

I like the colors, and how they scan. Having no experience with RA4 printing, I can't really tell how good the films are.

 

[02Pilot]

FWIW, my order with Adorama for Kodak Gold 200 has been backordered for a couple weeks now. No idea what the holdup is, though I did notice that the price at B&H jumped from right around $2/roll to $3.50/roll recently (Adorama was still listing it at the lower price when I ordered; haven't checked since).

 

[JohnRichard]

I use to exclusively shoot Kodak Gold, but for some reason I quit. I chalk it up to no longer being able to get any quantity wanted at Wal-mart.

 

[GarageBoy]

Therein lies the reason I take with a grain of salt most statements made here about a color film's pallete, saturation, color cast, etc. Scanning introduces too many variables, and most folks here are scanning their color film. I've been able to make very nice prints from frames that I once conculded were hopeless, based solely on the scan.

Isn't optical printing inherently variable as well?

 

[Marvin]

Just noticed that Walmart had a good supply of fuji 200 and 400 in multiple packs. Got in a supply of Fuji Superia 200 and Kodak Ultramax 400 from B&H.

 

[Nuff]

Unlike others here, I do like ColorPlus look for certain things. It does have fairly big grain, but I wouldn't use it for anything that requires big enlargements. I can't find Gold anywhere in Australia and it's just too expensive to get it of eBay. Ektar and other Pro films come out cheaper per roll than Gold.

 

[Aristotle80]

I very rarely see Kodak film for sale in non-camera stores in Louisiana. Wal-Mart and all the drug stores only have Fuji or a store label. The Kodak at the camera store has crazy huge markup, even for the plain Gold type emulsions. The last time I ordered a lot of Kodak Gold from B&H it was about $2 for 36exp, but as someone previously mentioned, the price has gone way up for Kodak Gold at B&H recently.

When I can get 4x 24exp rolls of Fuji200 at Wal-Mart for around $7, I feel like it's not worth importing the Kodak equivalent over a long distance. The equation has really changed. If I'm going to the trouble of mail ordering color film, might as well get something markedly better than Fuji's plain jane offering. I do love Ektar and Portra, but then I can get less than half as many exposures for the same price. I feel like, if Portra was only 60-70% more expensive than Gold I would buy it in a heartbeat. My soul is essentially frugal, and when the price premium on 35mm color print film exceeds 100% I have to have an extremely important project scheduled.

Also, there is no point to buying the five packs of Portra, since it costs the same as buying five individual rolls. Back when I could find four packs of Kodak Gold, it was cheaper per roll than buying four individually boxed rolls of the same emulsion. If I'm getting five times the volume, maybe a 5% discount per roll? Americans have been conditioned from birth to expect savings from volume. I don't think that's unreasonable to ask. It would be good salesmanship. If it was good enough for Gold, why not Portra?

 

[epp]

Would Ektar 100 be similar to Gold 100?

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/products/films/ektar/ektarIndex.jhtml

 

[IloveTLRs]

Would Ektar 100 be similar to Gold 100?

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/products/films/ektar/ektarIndex.jhtml

Not in my experience. Ektar 100 is almost like slide film, Gold 100 isn't as saturated.

 

[bvy]

I very rarely see Kodak film for sale in non-camera stores in Louisiana. Wal-Mart and all the drug stores only have Fuji or a store label. The Kodak at the camera store has crazy huge markup, even for the plain Gold type emulsions. The last time I ordered a lot of Kodak Gold from B&H it was about $2 for 36exp, but as someone previously mentioned, the price has gone way up for Kodak Gold at B&H recently.

When I can get 4x 24exp rolls of Fuji200 at Wal-Mart for around $7, I feel like it's not worth importing the Kodak equivalent over a long distance...

Funny you mention this. I was down there visiting family in July. I don't frequent Wal-Mart, but we found ourselves in the College Drive Wal-Mart on our last day there (conveniently close to Coffee Call and we needed some last minute things). Wow -- a four pack of Fujicolor 200 for $6.94?! Film's cheap here! So I bought some. Little did I realize it's the same price at all the Wal-Mart's -- at least the ones here in Pittsburgh. Superia 400, my default film, is still only about nine bucks for a four pack. All the grocery stores and drug stores that carry it have jacked their prices over the past couple years, so like you, I've been ordering it online. I'll stop short of saying thank goodness for Wal-Mart, but at least their film is still affordable. I'll just send my wife for it -- she has more patience than I do.