Photokina News: Kodak Prof. Ektar 100 Film

[Brad Bireley]

Just got an email from pictureline.com listing it as instock! At $4.35 a roll too.

Sold out already !!

 

[pentaxuser]

at $4.99 per roll!

Try the U.K where the Amateur Photographer magasine is reporting that it will not be available until January 2009 and will cost the equivalent of $11 a roll. Someone at Kodak must have said: "Geez if the Brits can afford their gas prices then they must be able to afford $11 per roll for our new film.

Well if the quoted price is right then they got it wrong in my case.

There follows a picture of the Fuji film board of directors

pentaxuser

 

[Commando303]

Pictureline seems to have it as currently unavailable ("new item").

 

[benjiboy]

I'm quite happy with the results I get from Fuji Superior Reala for my general neg film it's very fine grained , sharp, well saturated, and available in 135 and 120, I'm not holding my breath until Ektar 100 comes out.

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

Flickr pool already created by a guy who got some samples at Photokina!

http://www.flickr.com/groups/885232@N23/pool/

It looks pretty nice and slick.

 

[pentaxuser]

Thanks for the flickr link. Certainly looks saturated. Maybe overly so. Blue looks especially saturated. Almost primary colours. A bit like the early U.S colour comics where all colours were like the primaries of red, blue, yellow and green( yes I know there's an odd man out here but you know what I mean). Like children's poster paints. This was repeated deliberately in the film "Dick Tracy". The film was a wonderful evocation of those comics but not necessarily what I'd want in prints.

pentaxuser

 

[GeorgK]

These are terrible scans, so please do not make ANY assuptions on the quality of the film based on this internet junk. I doubt Kodak gave away free samples just to see incompetent people ruining the reputation of the film in advance.

Regards
Georg

 

[Admbws]

Too true. Why is it left to a handful of amateurs with cheap scanners to introduce this film's capabilities to the world? Why hasn't Kodak published some high-resolution scans of its own? Initial previews like this, no matter how poorly executed, can make or break a product, so Kodak has to shove its oar in beforehand and provide some benchmark shots so we can see what's possible.

 

[Photo Engineer]

They did. Try here:

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

Ektar is probably far superior to any color negative film on the market for grain and sharpness, with outstanding color.

PE

 

[kodachrome64]

Nevertheless, the film looks different from any other film we have now! Maybe a little too saturated, but who knows, perhaps there is another film in the works. Maybe the Portra line will be redone again with even more improvements. Just looking at these scans, it looks like scans from slides. The reds remind me of E100VS. Very interesting.

 

[Jacko1729]

Hmmm, October is two thirds gone, is this new film available anywhere?

 

[Goldfellow]

Jacko, it is starting to ship. If you are in NY right now and can get to Photoplus, we are handing out free samples.

 

[Marco B]

Too true. Why is it left to a handful of amateurs with cheap scanners to introduce this film's capabilities to the world? Why hasn't Kodak published some high-resolution scans of its own? Initial previews like this, no matter how poorly executed, can make or break a product, so Kodak has to shove its oar in beforehand and provide some benchmark shots so we can see what's possible.

Hi guys,

A bit of patience please!!

I picked up a roll of Ektar 100 sample film on the Photokina and have intended to test it in pretty genuine test setup alongsite Fuji Velvia 100, Kodak Portra 160VC and Kodak TMax 100.

I have already made the photos, using a test chart that I picked up on the Photokina as well. Of course, camera on tripod, remote release, 2 sec mirror lock-up and 50mm 1.7 standard lens...

The films have been processed in a professional lab here in the Netherlands that I have had good experiences with...

I intend to make scans (up to 8000(!) ppi, but I will scan lower as well for comparison) on a professional Imacon Flextight 949 that is available at the same lab. I would have made the scans already, had it not been for the fact that the scanner is currently undergoing a major maintenance revision, cleaning and re-calibration, probably due to be back next week.

These Imacon scans should give a pretty darn good idea of what (resolution) the film is truely capable of...

When I have some of the professional grade scans available, I will post them on my website and link to them in this thread!

Marco

 

[Marco B]

And of course I will include 100% image samples as well, so you will be able to see true image detail...

 

[pentaxuser]

In anticipation of your tests, thanks Marco.

PE Thanks for the link. Now that's a bit better. The outdoor shot looks terrific. Pity about the alleged U.K. price at £6.39 per roll which goes up by the day as the £ drops in value against the $.

pentaxuser

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I picked up a roll at Photoplus today. When I get a chance to test, I'll report back.

 

[Chazzy]

It's finally appeared on the Freestyle website. I'll add some to my next order.

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

I dropped by LL Lozeau in Montréal today, and the guys told me that the film is coming. Not on the shelves yet, but at least they know about it.

 

[Jacko1729]

Jacko, it is starting to ship. If you are in NY right now and can get to Photoplus, we are handing out free samples.

Too bad I'm not in NY..... I see that it's on Freestyle's website now, so maybe I can get it there.

 

[Mark @ BKA Photo]

Ektar is shipping and is available trough Digital Truth.

http://www.digitaltruth.com/store/cart/Color-Negative-p-1-c-366.html

Mark Thompson
BKA
Mark@BKAphoto.cpm

 

[Lee L]

Also showing in stock and shipping from Calumet.

Lee

 

[Commando303]

Looking forward to trying it out, and to seeing some decent comparisons amongst Ektar 100, 100UC, and (the "new") 160VC (perhaps Velvia 50, too, just for added fun).

 

[braxus]

I will be posting some samples between the old Ektar 25 and the new film when I get my free samples from Kodak. All I hope is the rolls of Ektar 25 I have haven't gone bad. Won't know till I shoot the test.

 

[Marco B]

Ok people, some of you may already have seen it, but I hereby keep my promise of a comparative test:

I wrote a little "introduction" to the Ektar 100 test in this new thread, from there, you can also link to the actual test results. Please comment in that thread on the test instead of here!:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Marco