Fujifilm v. Kodak

[Guest Daniel J. Ashley-Smith]

Two of the biggest film distributors, Fuji film and Kodak. Obviously both are extremely good. But what one has that, edge??

 

In the 35mm snaps range Fuji is the winner. How does the cine range compare?

[Alvin Pingol]

You're bound to get several different opinions on this topic, but to start off I can tell you this: It all depends on your project and what you want the final look to come out as.

 

I don't really think either has an "edge."

 

It's maybe like film vs. HD, which is better? Better in terms of what? Depending on what the subject matter is, one format (or film stock in this case) may better suit the subject matter than the other.

[John Pytlak RIP]

Kodak. Of course, I'm biased. :D

 

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/products...d=0.1.4.4&lc=en

[Adam Frisch FSF]

This has been asked a million times before, but it has never been answered. Because

there is no correct answer.

 

Both are fine makers of film. Kodak has just introduced their new Vision2 series which

is finer grained and more desaturated. Very nice set of stocks.

 

I've shot a lot of Fuji because it tends to be a bit cheaper and I'd rather shoot 35mm

than 16mm. I also happen to like the look of Fuji. Most DP's prefer Kodak, though.

 

But in some areas Fuji isn't a player at all, and there it can sometimes be more

expensive to shoot on Fuji than on Kodak if they have to fly it in. Here in Europe,

Fuji's network is a bit patchy - smaller countries have no rep. So you have to

adapt to the regions.

[Nitin Sagar]

its like asking someone ...do u like coke or pepsi.....?

 

i'm a kodak fan...have shot fuji its far more "granier" than kodak

 

''''lets not get into technicality for a moment and c film stock as any other product....kodak has been making it (i guess )for a longer time than fuji....kodak knows how to sell..fuji does not...period.

[David Mullen ASC]

In 16mm, I prefer Kodak because I think it is sharper-looking. And the new Vision-2 stocks are finer-grained.

 

In 35mm, it depends more on the look I want to create. Also, since everyone shoots on Kodak more or less, shooting on Fuji adds a certain look that is slightly different from the crowd. There have been plenty of great-looking movies shot on Fuji: Das Boot, Room with a View, Legend, The Golden Bowl, The Last Metro...

[Guest Daniel J. Ashley-Smith]

Kodak. Of course, I'm biased.  :lol: 

 

Yeh, thought I might see a post from you, heheh

 

 

I find Fuji better for outside shots; it has a cooler look to it.

Kodak seems to be a bit warmer, so for portraits this is ideal.

Personally I don?t think there?s a great deal in it.

 

And, what?s 800 iso like these days? I know film has got a lot better over the years and is less grainy. But, could you stretch an 800 iso 35mm print to a cinema size without it looking like crap?

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

> I find Fuji better for outside shots; it has a cooler look to it.

> Kodak seems to be a bit warmer, so for portraits this is ideal.

 

This is commonly accepted, but I think it's probably got far more to do with the fact that Kodak comes in yellow boxes and Fuji comes in green and white boxes!

 

Phil

[John Pytlak RIP]

And, what?s 800 iso like these days? I know film has got a lot better over the years and is less grainy. But, could you stretch an 800 iso 35mm print to a cinema size without it looking like crap?

 

Kodak's 800T motion picture film was a bit too grainy to satisfy most people, who now use the new Kodak VISION2 500T Color Negative Film 5218/7218 with push-1 ECN-2 process when they need extreme speed.

 

http://www.kodak.com/US/plugins/acrobat/en...PCN040504_Q.pdf

 

Don't compare consumer films and motion picture films. They share some technology, but there are significant differences.

[Guest Daniel J. Ashley-Smith]

Kodak's 800T motion picture film was a bit to grainy to satisfy most people, who now use the new Kodak VISION2 500T Colour Negative Film 5218/7218 with push-1 ECN-2 process when they need extreme speed.

 

Yeh, my only concern is light when you?re taking indoor shots. Obviously opening the iris up full isn't a problem with indoor shots, but even so I always have to add artificial light.

 

 

... but I think it's probably got far more to do with the fact that Kodak comes in yellow boxes and Fuji comes in green and white boxes!

 

Haha, yeh it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest...

[Filip Plesha]

In the 35mm snaps range Fuji is the winner. How does the cine range compare?

In "snaps" Fuji is very popular, but that does not mean it is better.

I am a Kodak fan for both negative and chrome film.

 

And I couldn't agree more with Phil. I think the whole warm/cold thing

has come in a large part from the box colors. The color balance depends

from film to film. I used to think the same thing for a long time even

after houndrets of rolls of films from both manufacturers.

Its a kind of a hypnosis thing. The color of the box suggests your impressions

when you see the image.

 

Same things happens to anti-digital folks when looking at digital

images. If they know it's digital, it looks "cold" and "digital" to them, even if you put some film images between them. People see what they wanna see, unless

they come with an open mind.

[GeorgeSelinsky]

As a still photographer I always used Kodak, same with cine film. I don't think that's going to change, I've never found anything that I've liked using more, and I have experimented in the past with different combinations. Ilford for B&W is the only thing I'd ever deviate from the Kodak norm, but then again, how much B&W is shot these days...

 

- G.

[Filip Plesha]

Oh belive me, a lot. Not so in the professional business, but there is a quite large number of amateurs still using Ilford and other B&W films.

There were a lot of sad faces when Kodak anounced that they'll discontinue tech pan.

 

For professional B&W fashion,usually color film (or digital) is used, and then desaturated because in such expensive aplications photgraphers want to postpone such big decisions (color or monochrome?) for postproduction. Desaturating color film gives even more creative choices than shooting using black and white film. (you can mix color chanels to get different B&W looks). But real B&W is allso used in some cases.

[Felipe Perez-Burchard]

I heard a story once, which I have no idea if its true, that back in the early days of color, Fuji emerged in the asian market and the color curves were slightly different in the flesh tones. When used in the west and timed to a different flesh tone, it yielded a cooler image... wich started it all; of course then comes the package as has been mentioned and the technology has changed so much now that even if the story were true, it wouldn't be today.

In fact in a test I did almost a year ago, comparing F-64 with EXR 45 50D, Fuji's stock was much more golden, but then who is to say it wasn't that particular batch?

 

Anybody heard of this story before?

 

-felipe

[Rob Belics]

I, too, have heard that story but don't recall anything beyond that.