Cuba on Ektarchrome
Vishal Soniji
Camera Film Photo's Founder
Last November my friend Dan also known as @ZDP189 on twitter invited me to go to Cuba with him to do some photography.
It's my first time going to Cuba and immediately with exciting me I was eager to shoot a series of images on the Kodak Ektachrome, which Kodak had just release after discontinuing it back in 2012. The film was initially set to release fourth quarter of 2017, however with delays the film was finally release on the October 1, 2018.
When it comes to "Colour Reversal film", there aren't many options available on the market now. I was very fond of Rollei CR200 that too had to be discontinued.. On a separate blog, I will share a series of image I photographed on Rollei CR200.
Currently, there are couple types from Fujifilm the "Velvia 100" & "Provia 100" and now finally Ektacrhome 100 in 35mm and Super8.
Kodak has announced this month that they are working on releasing Ektachrome on 120 as well this. year.
On this trip to Cuba, I took 20 rolls of Ektachrome, I did not shoot all 20 rolls myself as I share them with Dan and a student from the photographic school in Havana.
The last time i had actually used Ektachrome was back in 2011 when I went on a trip to India. Back then they had a two version available on the market one being "E100G" and "E100VS". The "E100G" rendered pictures with more natural colors and "E100VS" had results with more contrast and saturation.
The following are a series of photographs that in Cuba with the Kodak Ektachrome. They were mainly shot on the Minolta Alpha9 with 35mm focal lens, however there are some rolls that were shot on Leica M7 with 35mm Summicron.
This article will not be comparing the past and the current as it’s not important anymore because we should just embrace what's available currently and make use of it.
The current Kodak Ektachrome might not be completely the same as the previous version.
I believe many supplier who once produced these ingredient retired from the business and Kodak had to work hard to source replacements or have a change in ingredients.
The following are a series of photographs that in Cuba with the Kodak Ektachrome. They were mainly shot on the Minolta Alpha 9 with 35mm focal lens, however there are some rolls that were shot on Leica M7 with 35mm Summicron.
Overall, I am extremely happy with the results, I feel the film sits in between the "E100G" and "E100VS". It might not be super sharp results, but it still extremely good. The colors are nice and vibrant and poppy.
With more than a year delay from Kodak, I think it was worth the wait.
If you haven't given the film a shot, I suggest you pick some up and try it out for yourself.