Kodak Ektachrome 64 Professional The Pro Choice when color accuracy counts
Written: Mar 28 '02 (Updated Mar 31 '02)
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Pros: Accurate color balance, Neutral color palette, sharp resolution, and moderate contrast
Cons: Narrow Exposure Latitude, slow ISO speed
The Bottom Line: When pros shoot portrait, catalog, advertising, and glamour assignments Ektachrome 64 PRO is the preferred film because of it’s “retro” look, accurate color rendition and moderate contrast.
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| Howard_Creech's Full Review: Kodak Ektachrome 64T Tungsten Professional, 64 ASA... |
I have never been a big fan of the super saturated “wet paint” slide films that are so popular these days. Many photographers love the highly enhanced colors produced by Velvia and similar films. Highly saturated color slide films are especially appropriate if used for landscape work in dramatic and colorful locales like the red-rock country of the Southwestern U. S. Projected images from highly saturated color slide films seem to leap off the screen and “Circus Chrome” sunsets vibrate with wonderfully intense shades of red, purple, pink, and orange that do not truly exist in nature.
One real problem with using super saturated slide films is the increased contrast of these films and their inability to render skin tones accurately. High contrast images portray human subjects too harshly, and consequently these films are a poor choice for “street” photography and portraiture because they produce unrealistic colors and unacceptably harsh contrast.
One of the major charms of good street photography is the ability of the photographer to freeze a moment in time. That single moment can tell a complex story about the participants, if the overall "look" of the film directs the viewer’s attention to the subject. Films that portray “street” scenes with unrealistic colors and harsh contrast actually detract from the impact of the composition. This is why many famous street photographers (Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bill Brandt, Bruce Davidson, et al) shot only in B&W. Street scenics shot with color films can be just as dramatic as B&W, but super saturated color films like Velvia call attention to the color and contrast of the image and appeal to external rather than internal emotions.
Street photographers often use emotions like humor, pathos, empathy, anger, fear, and sympathy to communicate a wide a range of ideas and attitudes about the human condition.
Really good portraiture works in much the same way, but harsh contrast and exaggerated colors will draw attention away from the subtle visual communication between the subject and the photographer. In advertising and glamour photography, clients are generally very concerned about the color accuracy of the final image their clients will see.
Ektachrome 64 pro (EPR) is one of the best choices available to serious amateur and professional photographers because of its moderate contrast, accurate colors, and the best skin tone rendition of any slide film currently available. Ektachrome 64 has a color palette that is as close to neutral as possible; in other words, reds are red and blues are blue. The film has very fine grain and reasonable exposure latitude (typically 2/3 stop over to 1 stop under). Pros often use EPR when absolute color accuracy is required for demanding clients and magazine/coffee table book illustrations. Kodak Ektachrome 64 Professional has been the accepted industry standard for use in the studio or under controlled daylight conditions for more than a decade. The rich natural color and soft highlight contrast are perfect for food, fashion/glamour/nude, and catalog photography. EPR is designed for exposure with daylight or electronic flash. EPR can also be exposed using photolamps (3400 K) or tungsten (3200 K) illumination (with color balancing filters) and 64 Pro is also ideal for fine art images, photomechanical reproduction, and custom “R” or Ilfochrome (formerly CibaChrome) prints. Bokeh effects are rendered beautifully with this film.
While my wife and I were living in Okinawa Japan I did some consultation work for AAFES (the Army & Air Force Exchange System). I advised them on selecting cameras and photographic equipment for one of the highest volume AFFES (PX/BX) operations in the world. EPR was one of the products I advised the PX to carry, since it was a natural choice for general use in sub-tropical Okinawa. The climate in Okinawa is sub-tropical (sort of a mix of south Florida and Hawaii) with bright sunlight and vibrant colors. Before I made my recommendations I talked to members of the Okinawa Photography Club, the Okinawa Divers Club, and the photographers who worked for the Public Affairs offices of the Navy, Air Force, and Army on the island. Everyone wanted a good color slide film with manageable contrast and accurate colors.
Because of the incredible variety of flowers and colorful insects available to photographers in Okinawa and the excellent diving and diverse and colorful reef fish populations the film selections also had to work well for macro/close-up and underwater photography. My final recommendations to AFFES were Kodak Kodachrome 64, Ektachrome 64 Professional, and first generation Kodak Elite Chromes in ISO 100, 200, and 400 speeds.
Color Slide Film
Very little in the photographic universe reaches the level of excitement and satisfaction that comes from viewing a really good slide on a color corrected light table with a 6X loupe. Slides have much more tonal range and brighter colors than prints. But color slides are much more difficult to shoot because of their narrow exposure latitude. Color print film has much wider exposure latitude and it is possible to get good prints from negatives that are overexposed and underexposed. With transparency films if your image is a little over-exposed you'll lose detail in the highlights and if your slide is a little under-exposed you’ll lose shadow detail.
Slide films are sold in "professional" and "consumer" versions. Consumer slide films are manufactured under looser tolerances and they are shipped while still a little green and allowed to gradually ripen on camera store shelves. This is so that they can be left in the camera for long periods without color shift since amateur shooters use much less film than pros. When a pro finishes a shoot he/she will rewind (and immediately process) the roll of film in the camera even if it is only partly used. Consumer slide films tend to have a long shelf life and maintain their color balance throughout this long period with only very subtle changes.
Pro slide films are manufactured to much tighter tolerances, allowed to ripen (at the factory) to their optimum color balance, and refrigerated from that point on to preserve their color consistency. In reality consumer and professional versions of the same slide film usually show very little difference. An excellent example of this is Fujichrome Velvia, handled as a “pro” film in the U. S. (where less than ten per cent of photographers opt to shoot slides). In Europe (where more than half of amateur shooters use slide film) Velvia is sold across the counter as a consumer film.
Why use slide film?
Professional photographers and serious amateurs shoot slide film because with slides “what you see is what you get”. Slides are developed under a rigidly controlled and complex process that allows virtually no room for manipulation (unlike negative films). Serious amateur and professional photographers want consistent results without having to worry about how processing variables will affect their final images. With color print film much of the look is based on processing (operator skill, processor settings, and the freshness of the chemicals used in the development process) and these variables determine color, brightness and the contrast of the print.
Art directors, magazine editors, and book publishers prefer slides because they're easy to view and because the publishing/printing industry is set up to get the best from slides. Storing and finding slides is relatively easy if you index your slides and keep them in archival slide sheets in hanging files or binders. Most slide films can be “pushed” (exposed at a higher ISO setting and processed accordingly) if a faster shutter speed or smaller f-stop is needed, allowing photographers even more latitude to match film to lighting conditions.
Technical Specifications
Kodak Ektachrome 64 Professional
Type: 35mm Color Transparency (Reversal) Film
Sizes Available: 35mm, 120/220, and 4X5 sheet
Process: E6
ISO Rating: 64
Designation: EPR
Resolution: Very High
Sharpness Rating: Very High
Grain: Fine
Color Saturation Level: Slightly Enhanced
Contrast Level: Medium
Balanced For: Daylight/Electronic Flash
Color Balance: Neutral
Color Palette: Accurate
Exposure Latitude: Narrow (typically 2/3 stop over to 1 stop under)
Primary Applications: Advertising, Fashion/Glamour, Nude Photography, and Portraiture
Subjective Look: Retro/Classic
Archivability: 50 years plus (dark storage)
Street Price Range (36 exp) $7.95 to $11.95
Processing Price range: (36 exp mounted) Standard $6.00-$8.00 Custom $7.00-$12.00
Conclusion
I used Kodak Ektachrome 64 Professional film to shoot the colorful Obon Festival in Japan with a Nikon F4S and a 35/f1.4 Nikkor AIS lens. I was able to shoot colorfully costumed dancers, Japanese clowns, and musicians up close and personal. The fantastic Bokeh of the classic 35/f1.4 Nikkor lens and EPR’s moderate contrast and neutral color palette permitted me to make wide open shots of dancers in mid air with resolution that showed sweat beading on their faces with the background completely blurred out.
I used EPR to shoot the raucous and rowdy Halloween Celebration in New Orleans French Quarter. Tourists are the driving force behind the Crescent City’s Mardi Gras party, but Halloween is the night when New Orleans residents really cut loose and let their hair down. Using a Nikon F4S, a Sigma 90/f2.8 Macro lens, and a Nikon SB24 Speedlight (with Sto-Fen OmniBounce used as a diffuser) I was able to get absolutely fantastic shots of the crowds of brightly costumed revelers on Royal Street.
I shot one of my favorite French Quarter images on Bourbon Street one wild and crazy Halloween. Precisely at the witching hour, I noticed a street evangelist dressed up like Johnny Cash. He wore a black suit and white shirt with a black string tie, a white “Gene Autry” style ten gallon Stetson and he carried a huge white “Rock’a’Billy” guitar while exhorting the revelers to give up their evil ways and come to salvation. My cowboy evangelist was standing right in front of a dark brick building between two white pillars, it was one of those once in a lifetime photographic opportunities, and EPR nailed it perfectly.
Because of its fine grain, neutral color palette, and superb resolution Kodak Ektachrome 64 Professional slide film has become the imaging industry standard and the working pro's film of choice in the studio. The rich natural colors and moderate contrast that are the signature “look” of this pro slide film are almost perfect for fashion/glamour, nude photography, portraiture, food/cookbook illustration, and product/catalog/advertising photography. Try a couple of rolls and you’ll see why pros love EPR. Recommended without reservation.
If you enjoyed reading this 35mm Film review, you may find my other 35mm film reviews informative.
Kodak Kodachrome 25 Slide Film
http://www.epinions.com/content_32090787460
Kodak Elitechrome 100 Slide Film
http://www.epinions.com/content_44283104900
Just “cut’n’paste” the URL into your browser’s address bar/window
Recommended:
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Howard_Creech
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Member: Howard Creech
Location: Louisville, KY
Reviews written: 333
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About Me:
Photographer/Writer fascinated by Movies, Music, Books, American Diner Food, History, "Popular Culture", and Travel.
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