Ektachrome 100 is BACK!!

[dio zafi]

Haven't seen anyone post about this before: https://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/Products/Production/ektachrome/default.htm

 

It seems Kodak has confirmed that in addition to 35mm still and Super 8, Ektachrome will also be available in 16mm! 100ft spools and 400ft rolls!

 

Very good news,

[Jon O'Brien]

I agree. This is really good news. It has to be said.

[Scot Myers]

I will see if I can take some video of a Vision 3 50D workprint being projected. I noticed Fotokem has once again increased their student prices. <_< Now a one light work print costs $27.50 for each print whereas when I was getting them done just two years ago it was 18 cents a foot. Although if they are willing to prep the rolls by splicing multiple rolls together it could be cheaper. Like if you processed 5 rolls and they spliced them together to make one workprint from that it could theoretically be $27.50 (their pdf says per "print" not per "roll"), but I'm not sure if they would allow that.

However, negative processing has only went up from 9 cents a foot to 12 cents.

Edited August 5, 2018 by Scot Myers

[Scot Myers]

A new film coming out has some scenes shot on Ektachrome. I wonder whether it's the new stuff or old stock.

https://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/Blog/Blog_Post/?contentId=4295007586

[Emiel de Jong]

About direct prints from Vision 3 50D: 2 years ago I shot some tests with it and we had it printed, it became clear that the effect I wanted, outspoken colors and rich blacks, was simply not possible. (And I wasn't going for the Kodachrome type of outspoken colors, just the effect I got automatically with negative / positive some ten years earlier.) Somebody from the lab here in the Netherlands explained to me: Vision 3 is designed for digital intermediate, has therefore soft colors, and print film to compensate for that surely existed (if I remember correctly he mentioned some Fuji stock), but is not made anymore. This was 35mm but I guess print film stock availability is the same for 35 and 16.

[Philip Kral]

For some reason I never enjoyed color reversal scanned. It never came out right to my eye. But projected, you just can't beat it! I just got word today that there are some beta testers out there playing with the stock already.

 

It's good to know I no longer have to horde my leftover Ektachrome stock, or struggle to keep up who's cutting the next batch of Fuji slide film... or wait for ferrannia.

 

The question now is will the stock bring in any new film makers to the format. Reversal film (particularly color) was a key part for drawing me in. On a technical level, it was a great way to learn proper exposure and technique without the additional cost of a digital transfer. On an emotional one, it was always special to get that film back and project it. With a lack of accessible projectors out there (or affordable working ones since every seller thinks they have a collectors item), I wonder If newer generations of filmmakers just "won't get it."

[Michael Carter]

It would be nice to have an optical soundtrack added to color reversal, Auricon owners can do it, then project using a big ol Bell & Howell with a 12 inch speaker. Auricons are out there. I have the projectors. Not the Auricon anymore. So, given those tools, what would you film?

[Tyler Purcell]

It would be nice to have an optical soundtrack added to color reversal, Auricon owners can do it, then project using a big ol Bell & Howell with a 12 inch speaker. Auricons are out there. I have the projectors. Not the Auricon anymore. So, given those tools, what would you film?

 

Yea that would be a lot of fun to play with! :)

[dio zafi]

and one click ordering....

 

 

 

“Cinematography can be a hypnotic, sensorial experience, and 35mm gives me access to that so that I can pass it on to the audience. Thanks to the virtues of film,"

[Karim D. Ghantous]

The great thing about reversal film is that it is its own reference. There is no need to ask the DP or the director how the finished product should look, because it's right there for all to see. Of course we always have to take into account exposure errors or unintended colour casts.

 

On Instagram I saw an example of E100 overexposed by 10 stops. It wasn't usable per se, but almost nothing was blown out. There was some colour shift as well. So what does this mean?

 

It should mean that you can put your gray point anywhere you want, and the highlights are not going to require too much correcting in post. For example: a field of grass with bright clouds in the sky. We're talking at least 4 stops of difference there, but probably under 10.

 

Evening skies are surprisingly brighter than the ground, too.

 

When I'm out for walks, I sometimes take casual readings. Of course a phone sensor, especially an old one, barely has 7 stops of DR in total, but the readings are the thing.

 

 

 

[Doug Palmer]

It would be nice to have an optical soundtrack added to color reversal, Auricon owners can do it, then project using a big ol Bell & Howell with a 12 inch speaker. Auricons are out there. I have the projectors. Not the Auricon anymore. So, given those tools, what would you film?

Great idea if the quality is good enough... have no experience of Auricon. Probably the most safe archival way of getting sound ^_^ and a present-day system could be digital.

 

A new film coming out has some scenes shot on Ektachrome. I wonder whether it's the new stuff or old stock.

https://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/Blog/Blog_Post/?contentId=4295007586

I would guess it's the old stock. Think the new stock is just being tested now by select individuals...

[Jesse Andrewartha]

Auricons are fantastic, and I know a guy in the US that services the amplifiers.

 

But if I may offer some advice: You may have difficulty with Ektachrome sound on film; the exciter lamp in 16mm projectors rely on infrared and color dyes aren't that good at absorbing IR wavelengths. That's why the 16mm soundtrack area is re-silvered in ECN processing. 35mm projectors mostly use red soundtrack readers and cyan soundtracks, so dye only is fine there.

 

Anyway, I don't know if 16mm E-6 processing redevelops the soundtrack or if it's necessary, but just a heads-up.

[Webster Colcord]

Jesse, can you please put me in touch with your friend who services Auricon amplifiers? I'm currently testing out an old CM-72 system that I'm borrowing. I may already be in touch with him on the Yahoo group, but it would be good to know.

[Jesse Andrewartha]

Mark Albert. I'll pm you the contact email. He also builds AC power sources for the amps, so you can run them on standard 110VAC. He does outstanding work. I love the Auricon; the soundtracks I created from mine sounded wonderful and together with Cinework's B+H C-printer and linear processor, I could create sound-on-film shorts totally in-house.

Edited August 24, 2018 by Jesse Andrewartha

[Nick Collingwood]

It gives me such pleasure to finally update my old thread with the news!!

 

 

IT'S BACK BABY!!!!

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BoJRytzF1fA/?taken-by=kodak_shootfilm

 

Available Oct 1 for Super 8!!

Later this year for 16mm!!!

 

[Jon O'Brien]

Wow!! Wonderful news. I'm definitely buying some as soon as I can, but I will wait for 16mm. Next thing is to find out more about adapting a projector to Super 16. Or possibly I might get hold of a standard 16mm camera instead. That would be a lot simpler.

[Mark Dunn]

Wow!! Wonderful news. I'm definitely buying some as soon as I can, but I will wait for 16mm. Next thing is to find out more about adapting a projector to Super 16. Or possibly I might get hold of a standard 16mm camera instead. That would be a lot simpler.

Just chinagraph a crop line in the viewfinder if you can get to it.

[Gareth North]

I find I'm so excited that I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a 'film' man can feel. A 'film' man at a start of a long journey whose exposures are uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my old film again I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has always been in my E6 dreams. I hope.

 

Gareth North

 

bolexh16user.net

[Nick Collingwood]

I find I'm so excited that I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a 'film' man can feel.

 

haha 100% agreed. As I, a relatively young user of film at a mere 29, was waking up this morning and scrolled upon Kodak's post, I woke right up and was definitely thrilled! I mean I still have like 5 rolls of 2013 E100D but still. This is fantastic news. I was just projecting some Provia 100D the other night and just love love projecting color reversal. Excited for the future.

[Gareth North]

Hi Nick,

 

I discovered Ektachome and just fell in love with it. Give me all the digital cameras in the world or a roll of Ektachrome and a sunny day and I'll always plump for the latter it is simply glorious there's nothing quiet like projecting the end result especially in Super 16mm :) I was truly crestfallen when I found out it had been discontinued.

 

I actually visited New York for the first time this year. Took my Bolex along saw all the sites had no Ektachome though have been having to shoot Kodak neg for everything now even the home movie stuff and to end up with a colour copy to project I was having to get prints made off the neg at Dejonghe in Belgium and they are really nice wonderfull well rounded lovely to look at prints but there is still definitely some extra wow factor in Ektachrome.

 

The fact that I read Spike Lee's DP just waxing Lyrical about shooting some last rolls he found in 35mm for Spike's last film tell me that I am not alone in this feeling.

 

Best Regards

 

Gareth

[andy oliver]

looking at the spec sheets for the new stock, and providing I've read them correctly, the stock is no where near as sharp as Provia 100d, lets hope 7294 is sharper than the old dire 100d from Kodak. Its great having a new stock, but with limited resolving power I wont be buying too many rolls/cartridges.

[Karim D. Ghantous]

I compared it to some other films, as I have a few data sheets handy. The new 100D scores better than Kodachrome 25. It's not quite as good as Elite 50 or, interestingly enough, Elite 100. And EXR 200T 5293 is slightly better as well (though I'm not sure if it's fair to compare negative stock with reversal stock).

[andy oliver]

in terms of grain, k25 rms 9, new E100 rms8. Resolving power well short of k25 and Provie 100d. Same soft old 100d from Kodak just pushed out as 7294 instead of 7285...

[Karim D. Ghantous]

I had a second look at the MTF charts for E100D and K25, and I can see only slight differences. I'll take two stops of sensitivity in exchange for a bit of sharpness. Resolving power seems about the same.

[Jon O'Brien]

The traditional film used by National Geographic still photographers for years was, I think, Ektachrome. It's a highly respected film stock. I never used it much in my filmmaking, since I used Kodachrome or more recently Vision 3. I'm keen to film with it. Thanks Kodak for bringing it back. What are the strengths and weaknesses of Provia?