Kodak Ektachrome E200 (120, 200 iso) User-Review

Still Water Run Deep – Kodak Ektachrome E200 – Powerful film: It took me a second time to discover the power of this somewhat shy film.

The first time I got this film was in an assortiment from my ‘dealer’ – one roll of each kind he had in his fridge at the moment. At the time I was under the spell of the Kodak 100VS at the time, and I must say I didn’t give E200 too much of a chance. It was shot indoors, amongst a few other rolls that night, and when I got the results back, I thought: ‘well, no need to get that one again’.

It insisted on getting another chance, and got me cornered. I was at my dealer again, in need of some 120 fix, and the only slide he had was the E200… I was hesitating, but the need was stronger. I got a 5-pack. On the package it says: ‘push to 800!’. This film was made to be pushed , and is supposed to take +2 stops pushing like a man. From what I was reading here and there, it is generally not recommended to push film more then one stop, as contrast and grain increases with each stop and other side effects, such as color shifts, might occur. As a Lomographer, you might just want to try it just because of those warnings…

Anyhow, it said push, so I pushed. I tried pushing one stop, combined with crossing. One stop makes it a 400 iso film, which is a perfect match for the Diana.

First of all, pushing film is cool. It does increase the contrast, and gives you an option of using slow film in less favourable light situation. Especially helpful with the Diana the likes, where control of shutter speed and aperture is limited. In combination with cross processing, you might wanna be a bit careful, as crossing also intensifies contrast, and you might just go over the top.

When crossed, the E200 delivers the stunning blue tones with which the Ektachrome family got my heart with great reds and generally very bold colors. The E200 does lean a bit to the greenish, especially in low light conditions.

Second time around, the E200 climbed to a very high place on my list! It is definitely getting a place in my fridge…

written by paramir on 2010-04-16 #gear #medium-format #120 #review #slide-film #push #ektachrome #e200 #push-process #e-6 #120-film #kodak #xpro #x-pro #cross-precess #color-reversal-film