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Ho, ho, ho... here's SantaColor 800

brbo

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If you are tired of extracting Kodak Max 800 (GT 800-5) from your cheap disposables, I have a feeling this SantaColor 800 film will be made from the same (or very very similar stuff). And that stuff is very very similar to Portra 800.

With price about 5-6 EUR less than Portra 800 it should be a welcomed option.
 
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loccdor

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Oof... those European Kodak prices. At least I see some short-date SantaColor 100 for $10 per roll on that site.
 

halfaman

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I tried Lomo Negative Color 800 in 120, which is suppose to be also Kodak Max 800, and I didn't like it at all. I still have two rolls untouched since years from the pack of three. Very grainy and brownish unpleasant hues, far less appealing than Portra 800.
 

blee1996

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I use both Lomography Color Negative 800 and 400, and quite like them. They might be based on earlier version of Kodak emulsion. They are cheaper than Portra 800, and readily available.

Between the two, I prefer the 400 to 800. And in general, high ISO color film are only suitable for specific aesthetics. If I want quality high ISO color photos, I will have to skip film and do digital.
 
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brbo

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Does your box say Made in USA or China?
 
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brbo

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halfaman said:
I don't have it at hand until next weekend, but I would bet it is made in USA.

Lomo 400 was the only one I really liked of the three Color Negative. I would not mind to use it again.
Click to expand...

I don't have a straight side-by-side comparison between Lomo CN 800 (or Max 800) and Portra but I always got good scans and prints from this film.





(both printed on Fuji Maxima paper)

Color rendering is what I would expect from a modern Kodak pro film and under maximum enlargement that I can achieve in my enlarger I don't see a difference in grain (unsurprisingly since even Kodak rates them the same (as well as in any other technical parameter - compare Portra 800 and Ultramax 800 spec sheets)).

I noticed now that you are talking about 120 film (which might be different to the film format discussed here). I only use this film in 135 format, but for me, it's the perfect substitute for Portra 800. I only buy Portra 800 for travels, because it comes in a single box and I can save the TSA personnel the trouble of taking the cassette out of the canister to swipe it individually which they will do if they see film without original box.

Lomo CN 100 and 400 are a different matter. Clearly based on older emulsions (personally never liked them much).
 

halfaman

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Yeah, I shoot color mainly in 6x7, scan with a Frontier SP2500 or a Nikon Super Coolscan 8000 ED, and optical print normally to 20x25 cm (30x40 cm maximum). In that format and sizes I rarely see any grain, even with Portra 800. But it was there in the scans I made from Lomo CN 800. In the same trip I shot Lomo CN 400 and it was more pleasant for me. Perhaps I can give it another try to CN 800 in this winter where sun leaves so soon.

Portra 800 is too grainy for me in 35 mm. I enjoy grain in B&W but not in color, so I would try to squeeze Portra 400 as much as I can before jumping into any other ISO 800 color film.
 

pentaxuser

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Well the link in brbo's post says it's made in the U.S. for Santa but I can find nothing more about where it is made and by whom. Is this a brand new factory that has made a brand hew film that matches Portra 800 but at a considerably lower price?

It's priced at £16 so is £8 more expensive that its Santa colour 100. Is making an 800 speed Portra film double the cost of a 100 speed Portra film?

Not that I have any real doubts about it once I realised it was made for Santa. He is not somebody whose name should be taken in vain, especially at this time of year

pentaxuser
 

MultiFormat Shooter

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brbo said:
I don't have a straight side-by-side comparison between Lomo CN 800 (or Max 800) and Portra but I always got good scans and prints from this film.
Click to expand...

I love the Mid-Century vibe, of the first image!
 
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brbo

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Top: SantaColor 800
Middle: Kodak Portra 800
Bottom: Kodak GT 800-5 (UltraMax 800/Lomo CN 800)




(click for full resolution)


I always thought that GT 800 was very close to Portra 800, but maybe not necessarily the same film. SantaColor 800 is even closer.

I couldn't shoot the comparison with the same lens/camera, so SantaColor is exposed slightly more. It also has the lowest fog (SantaColor 800 was fresh, Portra 800 a year old but stored in freezer, GT 800-5 was about two years old and wasn't stored cold for most of that time). With the same exposure I doubt I could spot the difference (either in color rendition or grain).

edit: One thing I forgot to mention is that I got light leaks on SantaColor 800 at the start of the roll. I shot it in my Nikon F80 which "wastes" at least two frames at the beginning if the roll, so the leaks didn't actually ruin any shots, but if I shot this roll in a different camera I would have at least 2 ruined frames. I wonder whether Optik Oldschool is aware of this and have a solution for this...
 
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loccdor

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I suspect that the Portra 800 shot would look closer to the SantaColor one if you made the blacks a little darker. I would ordinarily lower it until I can't see much grain on the non-exposed part of the film. So I agree, if you compared these with their "finished" look they would be pretty similar.
 

MattKing

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pentaxuser said:
Well the link in brbo's post says it's made in the U.S. for Santa but I can find nothing more about where it is made and by whom. Is this a brand new factory that has made a brand hew film that matches Portra 800 but at a considerably lower price?
Click to expand...

Or it was finished/confectioned in the USA, but coated at the North Pole.
Which in my mind means it should say "made in Canada"
 

Lachlan Young

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brbo said:
I always thought that GT 800 was very close to Portra 800, but maybe not necessarily the same film.
Click to expand...

I think they share a common ancestor in Gold 800 (which, from what I understand, was essentially 'Portra-fied', and it's likely that the later revisions of Ultramax have benefitted from knowledge used in Portra's evolutions) - though they do deliver rather different results (probably from stronger undercuts on the Portra & extra couplers to enhance its pushability without crossover) under some conditions - and they have different aim latitudes for colour correctability/ fidelity.
 

Samu

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Apparently, this new Santacolor 800 has nothing to do with the Finnish company. who rolled Russian films, and later, Aerocolor in 36 shot cartridges. This seems to be a 100% German project with the same name. Kamerastpre does not even sell this film. Looks like Santa has moved to Germany. Actually St. Nicolas was Greek, from modern day Turkey.
 
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