Testing The Exposure Limits Of Kodak Ektar 100

For the second installment of the Colour Negative Film exposure tests, we're looking at Kodak's Ektar 100. In this episode, I run a roll of Ektar 100 through the Pentax 67ii and see how it deals with different exposure scenarios. I have to say, I was surprised by the results from this one.
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[@dirtywater5336]

It's great to see an actual real film test using the same scene at different exposures. Too often I see people comparing a film with completely different scenes with different lighting. You can't review a film's exposure like that! Being a Landscape photographer, I shoot a lot of Ektar so this is all great information to know

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks! Glad you found the test useful!

[@mattdayphoto]

Keep it up, man!

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks, dude! 🙌

[@pedrolamego5653]

Wow, I'm going to start overexposing Ektar by 3-4 stops!

[@jayzn1931]

How did it turn out? :D

[@audioupgrades]

As a regular Ektar user, I'd say the "normal" is actually under-exposed in this test.

[@ME-gs6yn]

Can I ask what would you meter for to get the correct exposure on Ektar? I love the look people get out of this film but found that I have been struggling with it slightly

[@audioupgrades]

@@ME-gs6yn For 35mm I mainly use Minolta Dynax cameras which have very accurate exposure metering, eg Dynax 7 or XD 7. For medium format (or unreliable 35mm cameras) I mainly use a hand-held exposure meter, a Minolta Light Meter IV.

[@ME-gs6yn]

@@audioupgrades Thank you for replying! I really appreciate this feedback. I think after reading this I’ve realised it’s time to upgrade my light meter

[@audioupgrades]

@@ME-gs6yn Sounds like a good idea. I recommend the vintage Minolta light meters.

[@nicolaslevy7464]

With the caveat that “any picture you’re happy with was exposed properly”, I agree with you. This lack of shadow detail is not what one expects from a Kodak professional film. Most people meter for the highlights like Kyle did, and then over expose by two stops to put that value in zone 7. So the shot that Kyle calls “overexposed by two stops” is actually the “correct exposure that you learn in photo school”. That being said I’m surprised to see how well Ektar behaves underexposed. When I heard Kyle say that his base exposure was 1/125 f16 I had to pause the video to double check that he was reviewing a iso100 film. 😅 I expected a much worse look from the “base exposure”.

[@troulimoes]

Omg it is finally clear to me what a 'stop' means in terms of over- and underexposing. Thanks man, awesome video

[@ajaxmuse]

Can you explain it to me please. If you don't mind

[@jethrobucoy7887]

@@ajaxmuse sorry if this is a late reply but a stop just means exposure; if someone said 1 stop over its 1 stop over exposed, if it's 1 stop under it's 1 stop underexposed.

[@MiracleWinchester]

When I first watched this last year, I could not understand what the "green cast" line meant. Now in 2020, after shooting film and watching hours of film content, I could actually see what you meant. It's blowing my mind now!

[@randomstuff-cu4of]

I'm no film photographer or even photographer at all (I've only recently gotten a broken Konica hexar for free and I'm trying to fix it but I don't think my diy pressure plate is any good it will need a new back cover to be used right) but the tint shift is the first thing I noticed on the one stop underexposed.

[@Al0011235813]

As I suspected-the film gives you more dynamic range when overexposed a bit. Really nice to see it in action. I’m surprised by how dark the shadows are in the normal exposure; if I meter my digital camera at ~18% gray, the highlights would usually get blown out in this kind of scene, but I could easily bring up the shadows to HDR-like levels.

[@maximerica]

Didn't know that underexposing color film would make the shadows muddy ! Now I understand why some of my images were unusable ! thanks a lot. Great video

[@KyleMcDougall]

Glad you found it helpful!

[@marcuscook5145]

Film is the opposite of digital in that the shadows lose detail way before the highlights do and it turns into a grainy mess. I try to meter for the shadows with color film since the highlights are really hard to blow out and then for black and white, meter for the midtones.

[@RosieOutdoors]

I really like the overexposure - I think I prefer the +1 and +2 to the normal exposure.

[@ErikJensenDetroit]

I shot a roll of Ektar 100 35mm overexposed by 2 stops in my Canon EOS 3 earlier this year, and I loved it so much that I don't think I'll use it any other way. The roll I shot reminded me of Velvia, but was less expensive to develop and a bit cheaper to purchase. Also there's the fact that Ektar has a bit more latitude than Velvia, which makes me less nervous about shooting it in my cameras that don't have meters, like my Yashica C.

[@matthewbufton131]

I really love the flat effect of underexposing, will keep in mind.

[@ManuelGuzmanPhotography]

I've always been nervous about missing the exposure with this stock. Thanks for the insight!

[@martebar]

Great knowledge, thanks for taking the time of doing this! Although, aren't these stocks considered more professional than popular? I would love to see this kind of tests on more "lowgrade" film like Agfa Vista, Kodak Ultramax, or even Lomography to see if cheaper film are less resistant to over/under exposure. Great work!

[@frickseerose6146]

Agfa vista is dead😓

[@Ty4ons]

Now I really get why some people call it an ISO 50 film I've been struggling with poor shadows in my Ektar pictures, I take a lot of high contrast landscapes. I'm definitely going to try overexposing a lot when the light is tricky, not just one stop like I used to.

[@behindeachfilmgrain]

You had me at 1/60th of second! Hahaha! Love the results and seeing that you shot these at F16 is an eye-opener! I am usually at the fastest aperture and at the fastest shutter speed to get the look I want but I may want try your speeds to see what my Mamiya RB67 Pro S will yield! Great Job as per usual Kyle.

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks! Glad you found the test useful!

[@nikodeman55]

What a wonderful channel! This content has been absolutely excellent, I cannot wait to see what comes next! Thank you for the work you do!

[@KyleMcDougall]

Hey, thank you, I really appreciate you watching!

[@AlexOnStreets]

Very useful. Big thanks.

[@CalumetVideo]

Ektar 100 is my film for landscape photography. It’s pretty forgiving.

[@elleboreellebore4590]

Great testing method. Simple and informative, as are the comments. Thank you.

[@F9FCJ429]

Thank you for doing this, it’s useful to have confirmation of what I have been seeing pointing the camera at night time neon. Just like the Portra 400, the film seems to hang on to the saturation in the actual neon tubing far better than expected. That truly is an exposure stress test because if you have any detail at all anywhere else in the photograph, the neon itself will be several stops over.

[@KyleMcDougall]

You bet Tim! And I agree, I'm always impressed with film's ability to deal with difficult situations. Especially at night with neon/bright sources. Your work is a great example!

[@Irontalyn]

I would love to see the same test with consumer color films. Superia, color plus, and gold.

[@ebouwman034]

Irontalyn I agree. Lomo color film is supposed to be Gold, so I’d like to see that done. I don’t expect it to stand up anywhere near as well, but it would be a cool test.

[@thehumanchris]

Really really appreciate these types of vids Kyle, thanks a bunch!! Super helpful and informative!

[@lostcontinenttube]

Hey man, I love those videos! Did you consider making similar ones but with 35mm film? That's be sick!

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks man! I’ll keep it in mind for future episodes. Maybe I’ll try out a 35mm Portra 400 roll and see what the difference is.

[@AustinBeeman]

Kyle McDougall - I’d second that.

[@certainlyjoel7778]

@@KyleMcDougall Would be so appreciated man, no one else is going that. From what I know of.

[@sespela]

Yes! Looking forward to seeing the fujifilm test! Great video, very interesting.👍🏻

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks! Fuji vid is being shot this week.

[@billthornhill8408]

Great video. Really looking forward to the Fuji 400h video :)

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks for watching, Bill!

[@JasonKonopinski]

Man, I love these tests! Subbed.

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thank you!

[@MrChristopherwren]

I'm considering buying the Ektar myself lately. I have the digital background and exposure is quite different in film photography. Thank you.

[@k.garcia7472]

The quality and content of your vids are fantastic. Keep it up. I'm learning a lot

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thank you!

[@dinch_art]

This was awesome! You’ve helped me understand F stops

[@cosmicreciever]

Your channel is great! Hugely underrated

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thank you, Matthew. Really appreciate that.

[@jimitav]

Once again, very nice video. For my eyes (and screen), I think Ektar is usable up to +2 stops and no under exposure at all. I think it makes sense, as I believe in general, more contrasty and saturated emulsions have less margin.

[@TomMasonPhoto]

Top work Kyle, really enjoyed this one, As someone getting back into film shooting after professional digital work, its really good information and great to hear your thoughts! Looking forward to running some Ektar though my F3 and F6!

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks, Tom. Glad you enjoyed the vids! Have fun!

[@marcuscook5145]

I'm going to try this 2 stops overexposed and with some contrast added back in post. Should make for some super detailed shadows.

[@manneyney]

Another great video! Yours have really become one of my new favorite channels! One thing that would be interesting is doing the same thing and shooting the same scene with two films and comparing a pro Kodak film with a cheap Kodak film, for example, Portra and Color Plus. To see how much altitude were paying​ for with the pro film and how well Color Plus does compared to it!

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks! Really appreciate the support. And great idea, I’ll write it down for the future. Would be a really interesting test.

[@acidsnow5915]

this was super interesting loved watching this! hope to see more soon :)

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thank you!

[@Nguyen12121]

Portra 800 next please!

[@rhyssylys241]

This test videos on film are very very helpful thank you sooo much

[@Flyingdorkanimation]

Thanks Kyle, these videos are exceptionally helpful.

[@haakon.borgen]

I just discovered your channel and I'm on love. Soo much good information!

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks for watching. :)

[@johnbarben]

I just bought my first roll of Ektar - that’s been really useful thanks

[@KyleMcDougall]

Glad you enjoyed.

[@milesmonroe65]

Another superb video, Kyle. Would be interesting to see all available film stocks and at 35mm... if that might change things. I imagine you might lose enthusiasm after the tenth test or so but I really don’t think anyone is doing anything quite so useful with film on KZbin right now. These are true benchmark films that will stand the test of time. Much appreciated.👍

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks, Miles. Really appreciate that! Some 35mm tests are definitely in the plans for the future.

[@adrianaty]

Hi Kyle, love these videos. Getting into medium format / large recently and love your channel!!

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks, Adrian! Glad you’re enjoying the vids. Large format episode coming shortly.

[@allanflynn2704]

I'm planning on shooting this film within the week this video was very helpful thanks

[@FlorianCueni]

Really great video, looking forward to the fuji video, my favourite color film to use.

[@sandiego916]

thnx for this video i accidentally loaded my ektar roll after a protra 800 and thought it was gonna be a lot worse this gives me some hope.

[@KyleMcDougall]

Glad you found it helpful!

[@JordanSmithFilms]

These are very helpful. Thanks for doing them.

[@yumbaconstrips]

Watching those exposure film test vids, I'm noticing the color shifts. And you comment whether it's useable or not. I shoot black and white but I'm starting to get into color now. those color shifts each individual film has is what gives it its unique characteristic. I understand tastes and effects are all subjective, but are determining a usable pic to have the widest range and depth of color, the most detail, flatness, the ease of usability in post processing etc? A hypothetical: we have a client that is asking to use film over digital because they like the color shift effect like instagram filters, do we go for the usable pic for post processing or because we know the effects of under and over, we decide what better suits our clients needs? Sorry for this long response just wanted to hear what you had to say!

[@marcossantana1164]

another great video. I was hyped to see the exposure limits on ektar, well I was more interested in seeing how far on the overexposure it could go. To my taste and going by your images, +4 is safe when needed, but +2 and +3 gave perfect results. About the underexposure limit, I mainly shoot portraits, ektar underexposed gives pinkish/redish skin tones to people, not flattering. I'm looking forward to your next exposure limit video of Fuji400h, and as others have mentioned, 35mm tests would be appreciated and also good to see if 35 behaves much differently than 120 on that aspect :-)

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks Marcos. I agree, +2 and +3 are fine in my books. I'm very curious about 400h as well. I haven't shot too much of that film, and I'm curious to see how it will respond.

[@anzaeria]

Great test and comparison images. With regards to the +1, +2 and +3 overexposed frames, did you notice a decrease or increase in grain?

[@ttracemusic]

Awesome! Thanks for making this. Blown away!

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks for watching, Tim.

[@Supreme_Clientele]

Awesome explanation and presentation of your results. Subbed.

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed!

[@FGKaye]

SO: usable exposures are -2 = +4, which averages out to +1 stop On other words to MAXimize your exposure range, or to aign the film's center point with a meter's Zone V averaging metering, OVERexpose by 1 STOP !

[@thedondeluxe6941]

I recently tested overexposing Ektar myself. Really liked it! Gonna start rating it at ISO50 from now on.

[@KyleMcDougall]

Awesome! That's what I've been rating mine at lately.

[@ahmedal-saeed9374]

interesting tests absolutely love the result Keep going

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thank you!

[@elstcman5]

These are invaluable videos! Thank you!

[@bebox7]

Great video and some interesting results. The +1 through to +3 looks like it could easily be fixed with a slight density correction on the Frontier for the contrast, which is good to know. I shoot Portra 400 exclusively but really should go back and try some Ektar again as it's a great look.

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks. And yeah, I'm still planning to scan the results myself at some point, as some of it is out of my control.

[@DavidJFulde]

Just found your channel and it's great! Also... You enunciate really well

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed!

[@fpm1979]

I wonder how Ektar 100 would behave if you told the lab to pull it by one or two stops.

[@v-g-z3689]

Very good Video! 6 stops over gives it a very vintage look, I think i will try that out :)

[@cs512tr]

this film seems to have great exposure latitude, great video. and this sounds like its still safer to overexpose than under if you're not a pro like me

[@autumnruns]

I always err on the side of overexposure, especially with Portra. I prefer my Portra photos that way. With Ektar I tend to keep it right around ), or err on the side of +1 but try not to go much higher.

[@thegreasygeezer1974]

Great video! This is super helpful.

[@lawrencewong5003]

Hi, I really dig this series. It's extremely helpful for a beginner to understand a variety of films (hope I could get all of them one day lol). Though I have to ask, did you develop them as the box speed or you push/pull them during development? Thanks.

[@joachimlindback]

Excellent info

[@WillGoodlet]

Great job! Really helpful thank you

[@michael_house]

Great test. Thank you!

[@voyagersquaremuzika]

Great man! Would you like to test some of the cheap 35mm films? Like Kodak ColorPlus 200 or Gold 200 or some cheap Fuji films!

[@KyleMcDougall]

Definitely a possibility in the future. I'd be curious as well!

[@Brandongorrie]

I'm shooting a girl with Ektar soon and we are OVERexposing my dude 🤘🏻 it's a skate/70s Dogtown style shoot. Can't wait

[@Zabarotropitili]

This 120 Kodak ektar film looks a great one, but 35mm version that i used is quite tricky to get correctly exposed. Shots in the same roll can look quite different using the same camera.

[@HuyNguyen-xm7ht]

Thank you for making this video, keep it up !

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks.

[@teslatesla9100]

Wonderful. Thanks man!

[@Dscar1]

This is super useful. Thanks.

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks Dave!

[@AntoineGeorgelin]

Really great video! Really helpful thanks!

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks, Antoine!

[@FotografieFlorianKrammel]

Hey my Friend, one of the best channels about film photography I've ever seen! Love your stuff. Please keep going on! I started a very similar channel this year. Hope to maybe meet you somedays in the US.

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks for the kind words! Really appreciate it!

[@Matthewsss]

Great video! Wish I could've seen this before I shot my Ektar...though this helps for future rolls :) thank you!!

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks for watching!

[@filminrussia7095]

Your mobile home looks so cosy. Can you make a review on it? 😂

[@KyleMcDougall]

Haha! You're out of luck as we're selling it!

[@wallafilm]

Great video, very helpful. Can you talk a bit about your scanning process? How are you adjusting the levels of the scans to match each exposure? Are you using an auto-balance feature of your scanning software, or are you scanning as a RAW un-adjusted and making corrections in Photoshop? Sorry if I missed your explaining that somewhere.

[@zguy95135]

Very interesting! I've only used Ektar a few times but it's all been at box speed, in high contrast sunlight it's nasty looking (it looks so nice in soft light though). I really like the 1-2 stop over results

[@KyleMcDougall]

Yeah, I've had some results in high contrast sunlight that I haven't been too impressed with. But yeah, in soft light, or fog, it looks amazing!

[@jamwoncityboy]

coming from a long time ektar user +4 honestly looks like a “normal” ektar image

[@Jimbojam]

You said you were going to talk about it in terms of scanning effects, but I didn't hear reference to that. ?

[@PuntosPlace]

I'd say I like more the overexposed images than the correct exposure

[@kevinbrowne3089]

My take is that if I want punchy and saturated colors, shoot box. If I want a bit warmer, 2 stops over! All with the same development! Super flexible.

[@strawberrycrxme]

Is there a lens like that for the Mamiya RZ67? It looks incredibly wide in your photos

[@mikhailtikhonov9136]

Great stuff!

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks Mikhail!

[@deongedeon]

I know I'm late to the party, and maybe you don't do these videos anymore but if you can, can you let us know where did you meter for and the exposure compensation, thank you!

[@juravhs3848]

I love -3 stops image

[@ethanyaang]

Hey Kyle! What's that track at 1:10? Such a good vibe.

[@Halum11]

hi kyle, nice video. when you underexpose the ektar 100 do you also develop it longer and vice versa for overexposure? or is it developed at box speed rating despite the under and overexposure..I just want to know this so I can judge your results.

[@amiruladli1506]

Earned my sub. Great video. Hope there is some for cheap 35mm films haha

[@KyleMcDougall]

Glad you enjoyed.

[@burstongreye7090]

Awesomeness 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@Nashvillejasonwain]

Would love to see some Portra 800 and 160!

[@Trinity11222]

Love this video . When he was under exposing through changing the shutter speed did he also change the aperture ?

[@paulinamolinari4099]

I think just shutter speed but I wonder if he also changed the ISO on the camera

[@diegorosado4480]

could you upload again,like in the portra video, the high res images? Great channel, and great content.

[@KyleMcDougall]

You bet Diego. I’ll have the link in the description later this evening. On the road right now so internet is a bit limited.

[@rzabavin]

2 weeks later....link please

[@KyleMcDougall]

Link is now in the description.

[@rzabavin]

thanks

[@larsgibbon3327]

Very interesting video. Are you able to do a similar test with B&W 120 film?

[@KyleMcDougall]

Hey Lars, I’ve had a few requests, and may do some B&W in the future.

[@alessiazampano2594]

I really like these tests.. could you make one about the CineStill films?

[@KyleMcDougall]

I'll keep that in mind for a future episode. I'd be really curious to see how 50D holds up.

[@gonzalociciliani1977]

excellent work, diaphragm f16 in 60 recommended me?

[@wolfgangmenzel2921]

A helpfull video, thank you. But to evaluate the information, there ist one question important to be answered: What do you mean by "normal exposure"? - How did you calculate it? Was it by light-meatering? Or by object-meatering? In that case it seems, that there would an correction be affordable, because the brightness of the subject is more than average: is that correction already included? For an revealing answer thanks in advance.

[@KyleMcDougall]

Hi there, my 'normal' exposure was using the camera's internal light meter set to center weighted average.

[@wolfgangmenzel2921]

@@KyleMcDougall I see, thank You.

[@markmaffioli9856]

Thanks for sharing! Do you have any plans to test some black and white films?

[@KyleMcDougall]

Thanks, Mark! Not at the moment, but you never know. All of my work is shot on colour right now, but I do have some B&W in the fridge, so I'll keep that in mind.

[@thepiecesfit5049]

Great work but need to get some colors in front of Ektar that are more affected by overexposure. Primary colors Reds, Blue and Yellows. The saturation can get pretty crazy when overexposing. So maybe need to get another subject or a color checker in the scene and see how that will change.

[@KyleMcDougall]

Agreed! Something I'll keep in mind for future tests.

[@venanciomiki]

As a digital shooter, is quite amusing how much overexposing does film supports

[@Zlin0035]

I need to shoot film more xD loving the colours of Ektar

[@sarova2000]

So when you overexpose your film, the lab doesn’t have to do anything special, like when pushing film?

[@KyleMcDougall]

Nope. Don’t need to mention anything.