Kodak makes quite a few impressive pro-level color-negative films. Let’s talk about those. Kodak Ektar 100 Portra 400 is perhaps the most widely used film in Kodak’s catalog, and for good reason – it’s nearly flawless. Its color palette is one of the most balanced among color emulsions, its exposure latitude is the widest in photography (about six stops of over-exposure and three to four stops of under-exposure when processed at box speed), and its grain is some of the finest found in a 400 speed film ( see the details in our film profile here). Whenever Kodak Gold 200 is brought up in conversation, the name says it all. Accentuated yellows, golds, oranges, and everything in between – this is the film to capture the warmth around us. Often looked at as a worthy Portra alternative, Gold 200 reproduces warm, beautiful tones made for golden hour, portraits in warm lighting, and warm color palettes. The lower cost of this film is what makes it so much fun. When I put Portra through my camera, there’s always a feeling that I have to be more serious and careful about what I’m taking a photo of. I honestly haven’t had any issues with Kodak Gold 200, but I would suggest avoiding tungsten and florescent lighting situations unless you’re willing to use a filter, which will cause you to lose a stop or two of exposure. If that is the case, you might as well use flash.

There’s always going to be nostalgia in analogue photography. Some for the medium, some for the cameras we use, and some for certain films. Kodak Gold is surely one of those that command it in a way some others can’t. Which of these two films do you prefer: Kodak Gold 200 or Kodak Ultramax 400? Let us know in the comments below! Film is a physical medium. If there wasn’t enough light to excite the electrons in the silver halide emulsion, they won’t magically become developable with longer development times. Pushing film does allow the developer more time to work and find developable grains in the shadows, so there is a marginal speed increase. But it increase the image contrast, saturation, and graininess. Kodak Gold can be used to create cinematic images at night. How to shoot Kodak Gold at night If you fancy playing around and creating your own vintage-style shots, this affordable film is the best choice. You can have lots of fun experimenting, and you won’t run up a massive bill either with this inexpensive film. Kodak Gold 200 is a color-negative, low-speed 35mm film that has divided opinion among photographers for decades. Some photographers love this consumer film, praising the bright colours and the retro look. However, not everyone is a fan. Let’s dig in and find out what’s to love and what’s not to love in this review of the Kodak Gold 200!If you do your street photography once the sun has gone down, illuminated by low levels of artificial light, you’re not going to get the best of what Kodak Gold 200 can offer. Kodak Gold 200 creates high-quality images that come out crisp and clear. You shouldn’t get any fuzziness or blurry shots with this film. It’s also suitable for taking photos that you want to enlarge and print out, without the result being hazy or pixelated. Scanning This warmness is certainly there with Kodak Gold 200. That and some other image qualities only add to the reasons why this was an ideal family holiday film. Related Article: How to Shoot Kodak Portra 400 Where Kodak Gold Performs Best And Where It Struggles Color reversal film, also known as slide film, is different from color negative film in that it makes a positive image on a transparent base. These are used with slide projectors to project a brilliant image onto a screen, or in more modern times, can be scanned for digital use like any other film image. Their narrow exposure latitude and lower sensitivity make them best suited to controlled environments and professional use, but their incredible color reproduction and vibrancy can’t be beat by any other film type.

There are a few limitations to Kodak Gold. The main downsides are that it isn’t as flexible for altering colors in post production as professional films, it’s a little more grainy, and it shouldn’t be pushed more than 2 stops.Though Tri-X can be processed to be a stellar low-light film, Kodak’s T-max P3200 is undoubtedly the company’s flagship super speed film. It’s actually an 800-1000 ISO film, but is made to be pushed for use in low-light. It has fast become a favorite of the CP staff owing to its super-speed and surprisingly strong exposure latitude and tonality. Kodak Gold has impressive scanning potential, although there can be issues with color casts. As we’ve mentioned, this film tends towards heavy yellow tones in the image if you don’t get the lighting right. Ultimately the decision of whether you shoot Ultramax or Gold will come down to personal preference. The headline difference in light sensitivity and price - Ultramax is both more light sensitive and more expensive - is often enough to drive the decision. And the good news is that both films have legions of fans around the world! So we honestly don’t feel like there can be a bad decision.

According to Kodak themselves, you get saturated colours, fine grain, and high sharpness. Gold 200 is also good for bright, colourful prints, great for enlargements, and gives high-quality results when scanned for digital output and great prints from digital zoom and crop images. Letting in more light feels counter-intuitive to pushing film. And it is. But the truth about film is that over-developing, or pushing, doesn’t increase the exposure as much as it does with digital photography. And over this last year, I’ve been putting it to the paces. I’ve shot 40 rolls of Kodak film, and used it as my daily driver in everything from the Ilford Sprite 35-II camera ( see why this is the most fun film camera of all time here) to my favorite Hasselblad Camera. Kodak Gold will make the sharpest images with the most dynamic range at ISO 200, but can easily be pushed or pulled in changing light. But Kodak Gold can be shot between ISO 50 and ISO 400 on the same roll without push or pull processing, making it a fantastic film shooting at any time of day. The wide exposure latitude made it hard to catastrophically under or overexpose a shot, and the signature warm Kodak tones were ideal for holiday snaps.Kodak Gold has a surprising tonal range for a consumer film, and creates incredible images that are perfect for capturing fun memories with friends and family, or even professionally in good light. Gold 200 will easily push 2 stops to ISO 800, and pull 3 stops down to ISO 25 and still produce beautifully saturated prints and scans.

For what these shots are, which is a bunch made on a casual afternoon walking around my neighbourhood, and for the price of the film they were shot on, I can’t be unhappy with how they came out. That warmness also makes it ideal for keeping happy memories on it. So that’s what I suggest you do.

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But if you want to avoid those noisy green shadows, be sure to lower your shutter speed, or open the aperture to let in some more light.