Click on the audio logo to listen to this 10 minute discussion on my favorite films both black and white and color and which developer combo I use at Indian Hill Imageworks for the vast majority of my artworks.
kodak ektar 100
Tapestry, Vatican Museum, Italy. 2009
Here is another example from my recent photographic trip to Italy where I had to work through a difficult situation with many restrictions but in the end was rewarded with an image I really like. The artwork was made in the Vatican Museum which is really beautiful and amazing, but as you can imagine very strict with rules about what and how you can photograph. This image is an overlapping frame panoramic (3 frames, in camera) of two different tapestries… I visualized my final image and selectively chose different elements from two different tapestries to create a new tapestry of my own.
Tapestry, Vatican Museum, Italy. 2009
Triple Overlapping Frame Panoramic Technique
Capture: Olympus XA 4, Kodak Ektar 100
Image Size: 9.5″ x 25″, Printed on Fabriano Rough 640 GSM
Edition Size: One.
Copyright Stephen Schaub 2009
NOTE: Stay tuned for my next two articles on REDSCALE film and thoughts on the Black Cat Extended Exposure Guide.
Viva la Revolution- Stephen
Kodak Ektar 100 Now in 120!
When you have a great product run with it! Kodak has just announced the release of Kodak Ektar 100 in 120… this makes sense from a marketing point and is something I feel photographers working in film capture should be very excited about…I know I am!
Available April 09.
Viva la Revolution! – Stephen
The One Minute Rant – How To Save Film!
The first installment of the One Minute Rant. Each audio is one minute or less and focuses on a very specific topic to engage readers here on the FR to comment and start a dialog! Just click on the RANT logo to listen.
New Kodak Ektar 100 vs Kodak 100 Ultra Color
This is part 2 of my review of the new Kodak Ektar 100 film- click HERE to read part one. In this test I decided to compare the same scene photographed side by side, one shot with the new Kodak Ektar 100 and one with Kodak 100UC.
Test Specifications:
Camera: 2 Olympus XA cameras both just calibrated and shot at F8, focused at infinity.
Film: Kodak Ektar 100 rated at box speed (100) and Kodak 100UC also rated at box speed (100).
Scanned on an Imacon scanner (dry) at 3000 PPI so around a 68MB 16 Bit RGB file.
Color Space: sRGB
No sharpening applied in the scan or in Photoshop. All scanner settings were set for Standard RGB Negative with full auto applied.
In Photoshop only AUTO settings were used (levels, contrast and color)- no additional image manipulation was applied. Test files were then down sampled to 8 Bit and reduced to 10″ x 6.5″ for faster download- saved as a JPEG, Level 10.
Please only download the sample files if you have a high speed internet connection as they are around 3MB each compressed.
My Thoughts:
The Kodak 100 UC has a better exposure latitude, especially at box speed than Ektar 100 does but the grain is a bit more pronounced and the color is somewhat muted whereas the new Kodak Ektar 100 at box speed is a bit thin but has nice saturated colors and somewhat finer grain. Exposing the new Kodak Ektar at an EI of 50/ 64 will make this film very hard to beat.
Overall both films are quite nice but I tend to like the look of the Ektar best, especially when exposed at an EI of 50/ 64. I find scanning the new Kodak Ektar film quite easy and possible enlargements from a good sharp capture lens and a good quality scanner with a bit of work in Photoshop can produce some amazing quality prints even at sizes up to say 20″ x 30″… remember this is 35mm!
Note: If you want to try this film be sure to rate it at an EI of 50/ 64 otherwise your shadows will be thin and you will not be seeing all that is possible from this new offering. Yes, I like this film!
Please note that the sample files are for personal use only and are Copyright Stephen Schaub, 2009.
New Kodak Ektar 100 Film – Part 1
I was lucky enough to get a brick plus (35mm) of the new Kodak Ektar film at Photo Expo Plus in NYC… so when I returned to my studio in Vermont I quickly loaded my Leica M7 with a roll and decided to make a few “test” shots around my yard.
Image Results:
The Full Size image is a 20″ x 30″ print- the crop represents a 4″ x 4″ section of the full size.
Testing Specs:
- Leica M7 with Leica Summilux 50mm 1.4 Lens
- F 5.6 at 1/125, Hand-held
- Film was rated at Box Speed (more on this later…)
- Scan was done on an Imacon with NO sharpening applied, scanned at 6300 dpi.
- Photoshop work was limited to white point and black point, no color correction, no noise reduction, no sharpening, no curves…
Image Size/ File Size Info:
- 309 MB file at 300 Optical DPI, 16 Bit
- 20″ x 30″ Print Size
Initial Thoughts:
This new offering by Kodak has very tight grain (this is 35mm folks!!) with good, bold color but still “neutral/ natural” in feel. My initial feeling is that it is a bit slower than box speed (normal for most negative material). On my next test roll I will rate it around 50-64 which should be perfect (with color negative material its better to be safe than sorry with regards to your exposure!). Box Speed (ASA 100) is usable, but under difficult lighting situations underexposure is just too great a risk. So far… I am very impressed…stay tuned for Part 2 in a few days.
Viva la Revolution!
Figital Revolution 