I shoot both color negative and transparency films in my photography. I use color negative films for general shootings, such as family portraits, weddings, etc. But when I need to work on a special project or a specific type of photography (like nature, closeups or landscapes), I always turn to slide films for their bold, super saturated color, high contrast and sharpness. Furthermore, for slide films, I have full control in the making of my photographs. Unlike negative print films, the image of my slide is the direct product of what I did in the field. Part of the challenge in using slide film is to understand its character or its ability to "faithfully" reproduce the images (especially the color) in my mind's eye.

Kodak Ektachrome E100VS (VS stands for Vivid Saturation) is among the new films I have tried for the past 9 months making photographs ranging from landscapes to portraits. Although this film is quite sharp with outstanding colors, I discover a few things that I don't like about it. In the following I will list them under the category as Advantages and Disadvantages

ADVANTAGES

Compared to Fujichrome Velvia RVP 50, the Ektachrome E100VS has moderately wide exposure latitude. This means you can still get good photographs that hold details in both bright and dark areas. In terms of precise exposure, this film is not as unforgiving as Fujichrome Velvia. For Velvia, even a slight 1/3 stop over or underexposure can almost yield a considerable difference in the final image quality. For Ektachrome E100VS, you can still get acceptable images with an exposure error even up to 1/2 stop. Though, it is always good idea to try to get the correct exposure (or the exposure you want to make) at the beginning.

Even though, film is the cheapest commodity in photography (compared to camera body or lenses), when it comes to bracketing I am still conservative with the idea. I almost never bracket. But if I do, with Ektachrome E100VS, I would bracket it at least in the order of 1/2 or preferably 2/3 stop. I find that if I am in error of exposure to within 1/2 stop, images are still acceptable. Some of the images I have tested with over-exposure are not as bad as the ones under-exposed.

Ektachrome E100VS is also excellent for a one-stop push, when needed. I have done it several times and cannot detect the difference in terms of sharpness or color shift. This feature or ability can come in handy in case you need the extra speed.

Ektachrome E100VS has brilliant colors; it can "spice up" a dull scene. However, this unique feature or ability to boost up colors can also pose problems in some sensitive colors in your images. For me these problems turn out to be the film's disadvantages, which I will discuss later.

E100VS is extremely sharp. Its fast ISO 100 speed is much appreciated when shooting closeups in a persisted light breeze. For photographs of flowers and insects, I really can't tell the difference in sharpness between the E100VS and Velvia on my light table

DISADVANTAGES

As a result of using this film, I have two complaints that I label them as the film's disadvantages in terms of producing pleasing or natural colors. When it comes to film's character, especially color, I think you agree with me that we all see or react to it differently based on our personal feelings, emotional or sensual response. Therefore, my reaction to the film's color cannot be assumed to represent the general acceptance of the film's characteristics. The way I interpret the film's color and evaluate it as good or bad depends on the way I like it. And certainly, E100VS's has some colors that I really don't like. My review of this film then only offers a bias suggestion based on my personal taste of colors and how I see them being reproduced by this film.

For me this film is a disappointment when used to photograph landscapes at dawn or at dusk (my favorite type of photography). The color of eastern sky at dawn or western sky at dusk produced by this film appears to be quite unnatural. Let me explain. Under a good sunset clear sky, about 15-40 minutes after sunset the western sky displays a whole band of spectral lines of light, from glowing pinkish-red at the horizon to blue high in the sky. You can't really see any blue-purplish color in the sky. But with Ektchrome E100VS, you will be surprised to see it. Because of its super saturated colors and its ability to "spice up" the color, blue color of the sky at dusk turns out to be purple (that's logical because purple is the next band in the spectrum). It also produces pink color at the horizon where it should be, naturally, deep orange or pinkish-red. As a result there are a lot of purple and pink colors all over the photograph. When I saw my slides I was surprised and kind of liked them at first. But as I looked at them longer and longer I realized the colors are not really natural. The fact that it failed to reproduce images the way I saw them then and there was not my main concern, but because it produced colors that appear so unnatural, suggesting the possibility that I might have used filters to render these effects (which in fact I did not).

Now it is plausible that the shift of colors may be due to my exposure errors. Well, at first I thought that was the case. Then I tried to reproduce the same images, by bracketing my images in 1/3 stop to one full stop. And the results were the same. All the images have purple and pink colors. This convinced me that it was the film's ability to produce colors or its reaction to light and not my exposure error.

What about reciprocity issue for longtime exposure? I found that for longtime exposures of 10-20 sec, no reciprocity compensation required, and no color shifts. Just for comparison, my images made at dawn and at dusk required exposure value between 4-10 sec, well outside the sensitive range of color shifts.

Unlike Fujichromes (like Velvia or Provia), Ektachrome E100VS seems to produce a warmer tone. I have found that I did not really need to use a warming filter, like 81A or Tiffen portrait filter like their 812, for indoor flash photography. If the warming filter is used the final image turns out to be very warm, with flesh tone more red than normal.

CONCLUSION

In terms of colors, I like and dislike this film at the same time. One thing I am certain about is that it cannot be used as a general-purpose slide film. It has its limitations, and therefore can only be used for a specific type of photography. I think Fujichrome Velvia (even Provia) is much better in this regard. For slide film, Velvia is perhaps the only film best suited for virtually all kinds of shootings. Therefore, Ektachrome E100VS is not likely the film of choice I would bring with me for my photographic adventure, unless I have a specific assignment for it.

You may have noticed that all of these films are marked "Professional" on their label. I think the word "Professional" is really not important. Anyone can use these films, not just professionals. But it seems that high quality film (in terms of saturated colors or high contrast) can only be found in those designated as professional. And it seems logical that all professional films are suited or designed for a specific type of photography, compared to non-professional ones. Well, Velvia is also a professional film. I have used it to photograph virtually anything I could think of, thus not limited to a specific type of photography compared to E100VS. I have previously used Fujichrome Sensia (presumably a non-professional version of Provia), but I found that the color it produced was not as good as the professional ones, like Velvia or Provia.

It's good to know that the non-professional version of E100VS is the Elite-chrome 100, and in terms of price, it costs considerably less than its professional counter part. This would be a good idea to consider, in case you need to use Kodak. Also, the best way to use film effectively is to fully understand its character. This review has been my side of the story. You may want to try similar things to see if you like the colors the film reproduces.

Having said that, then I would recommend this film to anyone looking for a slide with brilliant color, vivid saturation, high contrast and sharpness for a specific type of photography. However, I would not recommend this film for general purpose shootings.

Updated: 10/01/2002

One specific type of photography that I know this film is best suited for is fireworks. I forgot to mention that I was particularly impressed with its ability to render the different colors of fireworks (as well as the neon lights at the amusement park) so beautifully. I have images of fireworks that I previously made with Fujichrome Provia 100, and when compared side by side, the colors, contrast and detail of E100VS are superior to Provia; images on my lightbox literally come into life!

My images of fireworks were made with aperture between f/4-f/5.6 for 15-40 sec. Of course, for longtime exposure there may be color shifts, but that too must have been the advantage of the film to be able to render such wonderful colors. Neon lights or fireworks are basically artificial lights, and therefore if Ektachrome E100VS produces the "wrong colors" (and who's to argue which artificial colors are the right ones), one thing for sure is that it produces a very attractive color indeed! I highly recommend you try this film for fireworks.


Recommended: Yes