Fujifilm Film Simulation Challenge Roll 11: Kodak Ektar 100

For the eleventh instalment of the Film Simulation Challenge, I chose Ritchie's Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation Recipe. The goal of the challenge is to use the same settings for 24 or 36 exposures, similar to shooting a roll of film. This particular film simulation recipe is intended to imitate the look of Kodak Ektachrome 100SW film. I “loaded” this “film” into my Fujifilm X-T2.

Another hot, humid day of al fresco dining at the Brick Farm Tavern provided the opportunity to try this film simulation.

Ektar is a color negative film made by Kodak. It’s known for vibrant colors, high contrast and fine grain, and, even though it is a negative film, it is more like reversal (slide) film. I would say that, while the results aren’t 100% identical, there are a lot of similarities between Ektar 100 and Ektachrome 100VS. In fact, when Kodak discontinued Ektachrome 100VS, they recommended Ektar 100 as the closest film.

Ektar is ideal for vibrant landscapes or any situation where you want lots of contrast and saturated colors. It’s not usually one’s first choice for portrait photography because skin tones can be off. Some people use it extensively for portraits, but the general advice is to use Ektar for everything other than people pictures. I’ve shot a few rolls of it in the past, but it’s been probably seven or eight years.

I am not a fan of this film simulation. I'm not too fond of the noticeable red cast in the images, especially in the skin tones. Perhaps I prefer my images on the cooler side.

Tuesday 23 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation
Tuesday 23 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation
Tuesday 23 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation
Tuesday 23 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation
Tuesday 23 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation
Tuesday 23 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation
Tuesday 23 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation
Tuesday 23 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation
Tuesday 23 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation
Tuesday 23 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation

Submitted as part of the 100DaysToOffload project.

Fujifilm Film Simulation Challenge Roll 10 : Kodak Ektachrome 100SW

I took Ritchie’s Ektachrome 100SW recipe out for al fresco dining at the Brick Farm Tavern.

For the tenth instalment of the Film Simulation Challenge, I chose Ritchie's Kodak Ektachrome 100SW Film Simulation Recipe. The goal of the challenge is to use the same settings for 24 or 36 exposures, similar to shooting a roll of film. This particular film simulation recipe is intended to imitate the look of Kodak Ektachrome 100SW film. I “loaded” this “film” into my Fujifilm X-T2.

The bright and warm weather on this early evening dinner at the Brick Farm Tavern provided me with the opportunity to test out this film simulation recipe. The weather was just right for Brick Farm Tavern to open their outdoor seating for reservations. They had announced it last week, and I booked us for a table right away. They offered twenty-four socially distanced outdoor tables, of which sixteen of them can be reserved via OpenTable starting today! The rest of the tables are available for walk-ins on a first-come-first-served basis.

Kodak Ektachrome 100SW is another film which I have never used and since the film is discontinued, I will never get to use. Kodak discontinued Ektachrome 100 in 2002, ceased all production of Ektachrome films in 2012, but then brought it back in 2018 with a newer formulation. I have a 36 exposure roll of Ektachrome E100 that I will soon get to try in my Pentax ESII. Here's Ritchie's overview of Kodak Ektachrome 100SW Film:

Ektachrome was a line of color transparency (slide) films made by Kodak that used the E-6 development process. Some people preferred it to Kodachrome because of the faster ISO (100 vs 64 or 25), more saturated colors and easier development (although Kodachrome had finer grain, a larger dynamic range and didn’t fade as easily). A lot of National Geographic photographs were shot on Ektachrome back in the day.

There were a number of varieties of Ektachrome produced over the years, and I’ve used five of them myself. My favorite was Ektachrome 100VS (VS = “very saturated”), which was Kodak’s attempt at Fujifilm Velvia. Occasionally I used Ektachrome 100SW (SW = “saturated warm”), which was introduced in 1996 and produced vivid photographs with a warm color balance. Kodak stopped production of Ektachrome 100SW in 2002 and all Ektachrome film in 2012.

The images have a slightly green cast to them but I think that added to the feeling of "summer" al fresco dining.

Tuesday 16 June, 2020 | Day 86 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR
Tuesday 16 June, 2020 | Day 86 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR
Tuesday 16 June, 2020 | Day 86 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR
Tuesday 16 June, 2020 | Day 86 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR
Tuesday 16 June, 2020 | Day 86 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR
Tuesday 16 June, 2020 | Day 86 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR
Tuesday 16 June, 2020 | Day 86 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR
Tuesday 16 June, 2020 | Day 86 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR
Tuesday 16 June, 2020 | Day 86 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR

Submitted as part of the 100DaysToOffload project.

Fujifilm Film Simulation Challenge Roll 9 : Fujicolor Superia 800

For the ninth episode of the Film Simulation Challenge, I chose Ritchie's Fujicolor Superia 800 Simulation Recipe. The goal of the challenge is to use the same settings for 24 or 36 exposures to simulate shooting a roll of film. Ritchie's intention for this particular film simulation recipe is to imitate the look of Fujicolor Pro 400H film.

I've never used this film, so I'll let Ritchie give you his overview of Fujicolor Superia 800 film.

Fujicolor Pro 800Z was a good indoor portrait film. It had muted colors, low contrast, a very slight yellow cast, accurate skin tones, and fine grain (for ISO 800 film). It was quite popular among wedding and event photographers. For low-light pictures of people, it was the best option. I used it a few times.

Fujicolor Superia 800 was a better film choice for things other than portraits. Of the two films, it had more color saturation, more contrast, a green cast, less accurate skin tones and more grain. It was the more bold, gritty, punchy choice of the two. Not that it was particularly wild (because it wasn’t), but Pro 800Z, while it could be beautiful, was especially bland (which is why it was good for pictures of people). I used Superia 800 a lot more frequently than Pro 800Z.

I wanted to imitate the feeling of shooting a roll of film. I photographed all of the images at f/5.6 and ISO800. At that ISO and aperture, I was able to keep my shutter speed enough to ensure I got sharp photos.

The photographs below are all straight-out-of-camera JPEGs captured using my Fujifilm X-T2, Fujinon XF27mmF2.8 at the Blooms at Belle Mead Garden Center in Montgomery Township which has a large greenhouse, with sunlight filtering through a white taupe. I photographed these images on the same day I shot pictures for the Fujifilm Film Simulation Challenge Roll 7: Fujicolor Pro 400H.

I need to experiment more with this particular film simulation and perhaps try an actual roll of Fujicolor Superia 800 in my Pentax ES II. The photographs below are all straight-out-of-camera JPEGs captured using my Fujifilm X-T2, Fujinon XF27mmF2.8. If you want to see my RAW edits, I have another blog post detailing my trip.

I love how this film simulation recipe renders the greens in the foliage. I think I will test out this recipe on my next hike.

Blooms at Belle Mead | Saturday 20 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Fujicolor Superia 800 Film Simulation
Blooms at Belle Mead | Saturday 20 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Fujicolor Superia 800 Film Simulation
Blooms at Belle Mead | Saturday 20 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Fujicolor Superia 800 Film Simulation
Blooms at Belle Mead | Saturday 20 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Fujicolor Superia 800 Film Simulation
Blooms at Belle Mead | Saturday 20 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Fujicolor Superia 800 Film Simulation
Blooms at Belle Mead | Saturday 20 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Fujicolor Superia 800 Film Simulation
Blooms at Belle Mead | Saturday 20 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Fujicolor Superia 800 Film Simulation
Blooms at Belle Mead | Saturday 20 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Fujicolor Superia 800 Film Simulation
Blooms at Belle Mead | Saturday 20 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Fujicolor Superia 800 Film Simulation
Blooms at Belle Mead | Saturday 20 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Fujicolor Superia 800 Film Simulation

100 Days To Offload