Gold 200, Colorplus 200, Agfaphoto 200 and Fuji C200 side by side

M-88 · May 15, 2018

Like I promised I made side-by-side shots of Kodak ColorPlus 200 and Gold 200. And just out of curiosity I have added Fuji C200 and the late AgfaPhoto Vista 200. All four films were shot on Olympus OM4 cameras, all of them were shot with the same lenses (interchanged between the bodies before making each shot). The weather was cloudy so lighting was consistent for all shots and all cameras were exposing with same settings. All negatives were scanned with Fujifilm Frontier 330 machine with default settings.

1. 1/250 with Zuiko 135 mm f/2.8 at f/8

2. 1/250 with Zuiko 50 mm f/1.8 (Later, "made in Japan" version) at f/8

3. 1/1000 with Zuiko 50 mm f/1.8 (Later, "made in Japan" version) at f/2.8

4. 1/500 with Zuiko 50 mm f/1.8 (Later, "made in Japan" version) at f/5.6

5. 1/250 with Zuiko 50 mm f/1.8 (Later, "made in Japan" version) at f/8

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but contrary to what I've read about Agfaphoto Vista 200 being same as Fuji C200, I see obvious difference between the two, Agfaphoto being a bit better balanced? Also, I can't see a catastrophic difference between Gold and Colorplus, so maybe it would be wise for me to buy ten rolls of C+ for 30$ while it's still available, because let's face it - if I shot all those rolls separately on different locations, I might haven't even noticed a difference between them.

I'll leave this here, perhaps someone with the same question of "which cheap film is better" will find this useful and won't waste time, because I already did.

M.

BradS · May 15, 2018

Thank you. I've used Fuji Superia and Kodak Gold for decades...it never occurred to me that the colors would/could be so different.

M-88 · May 15, 2018

BradS said:
Thank you. I've used Fuji Superia and Kodak Gold for decades...it never occurred to me that the colors would/could be so different.

Like I said, if I shot them on different locations and especially in different weather, I wouldn't be able to notice serious difference either. I remember from my teenage years that "Kodak is overall red" while "Fuji is overall green", but such things can be easily corrected during post-processing or even printing.

MattKing · May 15, 2018

While I applaud your efforts, I'm afraid that your test is actually a test of how your scanner and scanner operator works with each film.

M-88 · May 15, 2018

MattKing said:
While I applaud your efforts, I'm afraid that your test is actually a test of how your scanner and scanner operator works with each film.

And I'm fully aware of it.

thuggins · May 15, 2018

MattKing said:
While I applaud your efforts, I'm afraid that your test is actually a test of how your scanner and scanner operator works with each film.

While there is certainly some truth to that, these images are very much in line with what decades of color prints showed. The Kodak Gold is warm, but somewhat "muddy". The Fuji is cooler, but crisp with nice contrast and details.

M-88 · May 15, 2018

I could have done prints, but then I'd still have to scan them in order to post on here as a comparison, so I did not do that.

I'll do the printjob later, just to see amount of grain, but I'm still more inclined towards Colorplus, Gold is a bit of a mess of colors.

1kgcoffee · May 15, 2018

I love the warm earthy tones of Gold. For color accuracy Portra or pro 400 is the way to go.

M-88 · May 15, 2018

1kgcoffee said:
I love the warm earthy tones of Gold. For color accuracy Portra or pro 400 is the way to go.

I didn't like Pro 400H when I tried it in medium format. hopefully Portra is better.

Agulliver · May 15, 2018

Yep....I see everything I have always disliked about Gold except for the photo of the white oblate spheroids. That one suits Gold's colour palate. Interesting that the C200 does look different from the Agfaphoto Vista Plus. It looks a lot like Superia.

Pentode · May 15, 2018

I just shot my last roll of Agfaphoto Vista Plus two weeks ago. I always liked it's color balance but, then, I'm still mourning the loss of Agfachrome, too, so I guess that would make sense.

SilverShutter · May 15, 2018

C200 looks different than APV 200. That's interesting I was convinced they were the same emulsion. Could it have been Superia 200 instead? That would explain why it was discontinued.

M-88 · May 15, 2018

SilverShutter said:
C200 looks different than APV 200. That's interesting I was convinced they were the same emulsion. Could it have been Superia 200 instead? That would explain why it was discontinued.

I always had my suspicion about C200 and Vista200 being two different things, because Agfaphoto looked way better. And elsewhere some people called me crazy for that because "dexter" website says otherwise.

It sure might be Superia 200, but I don't have it to test. I don't even have Vista 200 anymore, which is a pity, it looks best from those four.

Agulliver · May 16, 2018

The number code on the cassettes of APV200 matched Fuji C200....but the photos here do look different to Fuji C200.

I've used all the Superia films but never actually used Fuji C200. I just knew I liked APV200 when I tried it. I was unaware of it's likely origins at the time.

M-88 · May 16, 2018

Agulliver said:
The number code on the cassettes of APV200 matched Fuji C200....but the photos here do look different to Fuji C200.

I've used all the Superia films but never actually used Fuji C200. I just knew I liked APV200 when I tried it. I was unaware of it's likely origins at the time.

I wanted to try Superia 200 not so long ago, but it costs almost as much as Ektar (my main choice for "serious" stuff) does, so I abandoned the idea.

Nodda Duma · May 16, 2018

It could be the same emulsion but stored for a different period of time prior to being shipped out.

M-88 · May 16, 2018

Nodda Duma said:
It could be the same emulsion but stored for a different period of time prior to being shipped out.

Should it affect the end result that much? I mean, the film should be consistent as long as it's not expired (and sometimes even after expiry).

Nodda Duma · May 16, 2018

Yes, it could. Emulsions continue to ripen after being coated, and film manufacturers often factor in a certain amount of storage time before shipping a batch of film out. Change that and you can change the color balance if the different emulsion layers age slightly differently.

Storage time prior to shipment is mainly why, back in the day, Ektachrome had more consistency than Elite Chrome even though they were the same emulsion. Ektachrome was stored longer before being shipped out.

M-88 · May 16, 2018

Nodda Duma said:
Yes, it could. Emulsions continue to ripen after being coated, and film manufacturers often factor in a certain amount of storage time before shipping a batch of film out. Change that and you can change the color balance if the different emulsion layers age slightly differently.

Storage time prior to shipment is mainly why, back in the day, Ektachrome had more consistency than Elite Chrome even though they were the same emulsion. Ektachrome was stored longer before being shipped out.

I learn something new every day

captain ZZM · May 27, 2018

For many years l would want know what is the different with Kodak Gold and Colorplus. Did you feel the Gold would be better than Colorplus?

BrianShaw · May 27, 2018

It depends.

M-88 · May 27, 2018

captain ZZM said:
For many years l would want know what is the different with Kodak Gold and Colorplus. Did you feel the Gold would be better than Colorplus?

I personally had a feeling that Gold has less grain. But color rendition is better with Colorplus. To say that one is better than another would be wrong, I still have to buy both.

Berri · May 28, 2018

MattKing said:
While I applaud your efforts, I'm afraid that your test is actually a test of how your scanner and scanner operator works with each film.

I agree. You should optically print them and make sure that the frame printed include a neutral grey card which should be perfectly balanced. Also the scene photographed should be in the exact same light conditions for all films and it should be use the same camera/lens system.

M-88 · May 28, 2018

Berri said:
I agree. You should optically print them and make sure that the frame printed include a neutral grey card which should be perfectly balanced.

I agree on this.

Berri said:
Also the scene photographed should be in the exact same light conditions for all films and it should be use the same camera/lens system.

It seems I wasn't descriptive enough in the original post.

Berri · May 28, 2018

M-88 said:
It seems I wasn't descriptive enough in the original post.

I know you used the same camera/lens system. As for same light condition I mean controlled light, like studio strobes. It is of the utmost importance to include a grey card because EVERY colour film available fresh on the market is capable of producing a neutral grey; the colour palette of the film comes out when the grey is neutral.

Gold 200, Colorplus 200, Agfaphoto 200 and Fuji C200 side by side

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