I bought some E100VS through Photolife magazine on a promotion at a good discount, and have never looked back. There is always a roll in my bag in case a situation where it excels presents itself. (There’s also a roll of Provia 400 in there for most of the other situations, but that’s a topic for a future review.)
KODAK PROFESSIONAL EKTACHROME Film E100VS is a daylight-balanced, reversal film designed to be Processed E-6. That is to say it’s Colour Slide Film.
According to Kodak, E100VS is “intended for location and studio shooting”, and “is ideal for photographers who must create high-color transparency images that spring to life on the light box. It's an appropriate choice for nature, scenics, wildlife, food, jewelry, and any subjects that call for brilliant, dramatic hues.”
ISO: 100 (well it’s in the name, but in case you missed it).
Available in 36 exposure 35mm rolls, as well as 120 and 220 medium format, and various large format sizes.
Strengths
Strong colour saturation
High contrast
Speed (beats Velvia by a good margin when Velvia is shot at ISO 40)
Good Grain at the speed, though not in some bright blue expanses (i.e. sky)
Weaknesses
Colour boosting not suitable to all applications
Sky grain may be disconcerting
Weak with skin tones
Contrast may be more than you’re looking for (well, it’s a minimal weakness given that for the intended subject matter you want all the contrast)
Contrast and Colour
Kodak lists this film as containing “proprietary color amplifying technology (patent pending)”. This must be true, as the colour boost is strong, and unlike other emulsions available.
This is a high contrast film, so be warned… it will take some good scanning to get all the detail out of shot with range. It doesn’t have the density in shadows that Velvia has, and as it comes up out of black it comes out of neutrality towards purple brown, so shadow details can be a bit wonky.
It feels like the film amplifies primary colours (plus green) almost in bands of colour. Open shade can appear to be even bluer than normal, and this won’t be visually offset by the red boost in most landscapes (where there isn’t a lot of red). Skies will be rich without going dark, and foliage articulates nicely.
Bright sunny days come off harsh (well harsher than you’d even expect) and you just might have to shoot at high noon some days.
Grain/Sharpness
Diffuse rms Granularity is 11. What does this mean? Tight grain but not extremely tight (like Provia 100 or even tighter Velvia or K25). The shape of the grain, which makes it more distinguishable (especially in areas like sky) is responsible for a high sharpness. The grain has never actually been a problem for me, but others have complained of it. I like the built-in sharpness, as I’m a scanner.
Reciprocity
Kodak rates this at “No compensation required for exposures from 1/10,000 second to 10 seconds”. I’ve run some multi second exposures (although not to 10 seconds) and see no reciprocity failure. I even think the colour remains consistent, although bear in mind that most long exposures involve dusk or dark, and shadows or open sky illuminations, so weirder than expected colours will be a part of some areas.
Push ability
I’ve seen reports of reasonable one-stop push-processing capability, but have not tried this myself. Being a mostly digital workflow person now, I’d use Provia 400 and emphasize saturation in Photoshop rather than push this film.
Exposure Latitude
This film doesn’t enjoy underexposure, and it’s a bit easy to blow out highlights (especially in yellows (think reflected sunlight). In a traditional Kodak way the underexposures tend to make neutral tones move toward reddish tones.
You’ll want to get exposure right, so plan to bracket, and really get to know your meter if you love the colour rendition it provides.
In Use
Portraits
You might note that the Kodak description above does not list people as an appropriate subject use, and I have to, for the most part, concur. About the last thing you want to do in most portraits is accentuate reds, and that’s exactly what you’ll get. Add to this the fact that it brings out the yellow tones as well, and it gets tough to control. The fact that blues get built up in open shade can help, but the whole set of variables becomes a bit unpredictable. If you intend to shoot a lot of people go get some Provia or Astia. All of that said, I have taken late day pictures in the magic light time, where the sun is colouring the environment yellow, and the effects on skin somehow blend in in a warm way with a little fill flash. Pretty limited circumstances, I know, but it goes to show that every film has a more than conventional use range, if you consider the idiosyncrasies.
Casual People/Snapshot
Again, this is probably not the film of choice here. It isn’t fast enough for most users, and is not complimentary when people get into the frame. The use should be more specifically chosen.
Landscape, Still Life
Great Film. Since, if you’re serious about these shots, you’re using a tripod, the speed advantage over Velvia is not generally worth a lot, however in situations where environmental factor such as wind or moving water affect the result, the speed can be a real bonus. The sharpness is great, and although the grain is a bit bigger than Velvia, the sharpness seems better. This may be in part due to the grain structure, as edge contrast is hot (almost harsh). Nowadays it may be a small bonus to shoot something that doesn’t look “typically Velvia” in its colour rendition.
Mixed, unusual lighting
E100Vs could leave you unhappy if you take it into mixed lighting. Its primary colour boosts will accentuate differences, and leave you with unnatural looking photographs (and though that may be the point with a film like this, the unnatural results I’ve had were just never pleasing).
Scannability
I love scanning this film. I don’t have a Howtek professional scanner, I have a low-end model. I can reach the shadows with multi-pass scans, and the colours just scan in a very straightforward way. Provia may feel a little drab after scanning some E100VS, and you’ll curse the next time you go back to trying to scan the shadows that you could see in your Velvia slide on the light table.
Rolling it up
As I said near the beginning, I’m never without a roll. I don’t use a ton of it, but when I end up in a park or garden, or want tourist pictures of a market, architecture, and landmarks, it always finds its way into my camera. Be careful when you’re getting people in to the mix, but exploit its embellishments of the world around you and above all:
E100VS Film gives photographers the most vivid, saturated colors available in any 100-speed transparency film. It s a daylight-balanced, color reversa...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
E100VS Film gives photographers the most vivid, saturated colors available in any 100-speed transparency film. It's a daylight-balanced, color reversa...More at Adorama
Kodak's proprietary color amplifying technology: Gives the most vivid, saturated colors available today in a 100-speed transparency film. Kodak T-GRAI...More at Amazon Marketplace
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