Kodak Elite Chrome Extra Color and E100VS

Rudeofus · Jan 17, 2011

I have repeatedly read that these two films are essentially the same material just aged differently. I would like to take the opportunity to say: these films have little in common apart from both being Kodak E6 films. The colors look distinctly different, with the Elite Chrome having a much more artificial and unnatural look. Whatever the difference may be, it's not from aging or storing, as I have mistreated E100VS badly but still got very similar looking results out of it (if this means I don't look carefully this should tell you how different the Elite Chrome looks if even I see huge differences).

mikecnichols · Jan 18, 2011

Rudeofus said:
I have repeatedly read that these two films are essentially the same material just aged differently. I would like to take the opportunity to say: these films have little in common apart from both being Kodak E6 films. The colors look distinctly different, with the Elite Chrome having a much more artificial and unnatural look. Whatever the difference may be, it's not from aging or storing, as I have mistreated E100VS badly but still got very similar looking results out of it (if this means I don't look carefully this should tell you how different the Elite Chrome looks if even I see huge differences).

Do you have any examples to share?

Rudeofus · Jan 18, 2011

mikecnichols said:
Do you have any examples to share?

The left slide (Scan-100425-0026_1.jpeg) is E100VS while Scan-20101031-0034_1.jpg is Elite Chrome 100 Extra Color. There are differences is lighting and scenery but none which could explain the difference in color palette IMHO. The scans mostly represent what the slides show, but be aware that I have no color corrected equipment.

chriscrawfordphoto · Jan 18, 2011

Actually your results are pretty typical of the two very different lighting conditions you shot.

Rudeofus · Jan 18, 2011

chriscrawfordphoto said:
Actually your results are pretty typical of the two very different lighting conditions you shot.

I am a long time and regular E100VS shooter in all kinds of lighting conditions. I know that evening sun creates a reddish cast but I've never seen colors like these on the right slide before, just look at the grass. I tried Elite Chrome because it's half the price of E100VS but will use it only if I like the particular colors it creates.

mikecnichols · Jan 18, 2011

Rudeofus said:
The left slide (Scan-100425-0026_1.jpeg) is E100VS while Scan-20101031-0034_1.jpg is Elite Chrome 100 Extra Color. There are differences is lighting and scenery but none which could explain the difference in color palette IMHO. The scans mostly represent what the slides show, but be aware that I have no color corrected equipment.

Thanks for sharing....definitely a huge difference there. It's interesting to see things like this side by side.

Hell-on-a-stick · Jan 18, 2011

I have to agree, my experiments with E100VS have been much better than their cheaper predecessor, my biggest issue with E100vs was its seeming sensitivity to over exposure and blocked up highlights when processing...Seems to work a bit better if it is slightly under-exposed than the latter, especially when cross-processing in C41 Chemistry.

holmburgers · Jan 18, 2011

Just to play devil's advocate... I don't think a meaningful comparison can be made with two different pictures in completely different scenes. If there's one thing photography should teach us is that our eye's have an amazing ability to compensate. That's why we need light meters and light temperature meters.

I know that evening sun creates a reddish cast but I've never seen colors like these on the right slide before, just look at the grass.

I don't doubt that there is a difference in the two, but so many things can come into play that might alter the appearance, including but not limited to differences in storage, differences in exposure, differences in scanning, differences in original scene, differences in proessing, etc.

Your examples are taken in the two most different lights one could imagine; bluish, diffuse, overcast lighting and end of day (or god forbid the morning), warm, sunset, directional light.

I'd like to see a more controlled experiment before making any conclusion.

:devil:

Rudeofus · Jan 20, 2011

Thanks for all the replies. I agree that the color of the light at a scene has a big impact on how colors come out. Here I post 2 more pics which have much more similar light. Both were taken in broad day light supported by strong flash to brighten up the shadow regions. Since the flash has about constant color temperature, I'd call the lighting close to comparable (as close as it gets).

What I notice is not just a different color cast. E100VS produces, despite all it's strong colors, very natural colors IMHO. Elite Chrome Extra Color looks very artificial to me, extremely saturated with very high contrast, sort of like Velvia, but yet more artificial. This is not something I can change with filters or in a hybrid work flow.

PS: Both pics are just as they come out of my scanner, no corrections whatsoever.

pukalo · Aug 1, 2011

I understand your sentiments, but the images posted are SO different, any comparisons are meaningless. You need to shoot the same scene, at the same time, with both films, then post as examples.

Photo Engineer · Aug 1, 2011

They are not the same films aged differently!

PE

pukalo · Aug 1, 2011

FWIW, my take is that EBX is a much better film for landscapes than E100VS, as it doesn't have the propensity to go blue in overcast light. It also does decent skin tones, something Velvia does not.

pukalo · Aug 1, 2011

http://www.flickr.com/groups/ishootfilm/discuss/72157622015417004/?search=xpro

F/1.4 · Aug 1, 2011

pukalo said:
I understand your sentiments, but the images posted are SO different, any comparisons are meaningless. You need to shoot the same scene, at the same time, with both films, then post as examples.

My htoughts exactly.

Rudeofus · Aug 2, 2011

I could run 500 tests with the same shot taken in rapid succession on the two film stocks, processed in the same dev tank or separately in fresh dev chems, scanned with calibrated drum scanner and whatnot. Or I could just accept what I noticed and Ron confirmed: that these are indeed different film materials.

Lazy bastard that I am I tend towards option 2

CGW · Aug 2, 2011

Never liked either for their wonky hue/saturation. Loved the sadly departed E100SW and E100GX.

bblhed · Aug 2, 2011

I shoot both of these films and I both project and scan them, and I will say that Elite Chrome 100 does not scan as well as E100VS, that said, I feel that they both project quite well. Try projecting them and you will see the Elite Chrome 100 will look a lot better, IMO not as good as E100VS, but a lot better than it does scanned.

Kodak Elite Chrome Extra Color and E100VS

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Kodak Elite Chrome Extra Color and E100VS

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