Kodak pro Image 100 135-36

Kodak Pro Image 100 is a 100 ISO 36 exposure colour film.

Recommended for good outdoor light conditions, or for use with flash, indoors or outdoors. Its emulsion generates an image with high saturation, accurate colours and natural skin tones.

ANALYSIS KODAK PRO IMAGE 100

The story of Kodak Pro Image 100 is less murky than other films and there is no real confusion about what it is, although there is a reason why it may seem like a new film to you (depending on where you live) when in fact it is not. However, the main thing to report is that it is a very good and interesting film.

This review will cover all of the above and tell you everything you need to know about this perhaps least known Kodak colour film.

WHAT IS KODAK PRO IMAGE 100?

In the summer of 2018, Kodak introduced a film in European markets. Its name wasKodak Pro Image 100; Kodak did well enough for this rollout to expand to North America in 2019. However, if you look closely at the box of 5 rolls, you will see that it is decorated with some wedding photos that do not appear to have been taken recently and therefore it would be a strange design to use such a new film. The simple explanation is that Europe and North America are not the world and that this film is not new. In fact, it has been available in other markets – notably in Asia and South America – since 1997.

As a film producedfor sale in some hot and humid regions, Pro Image 100 is said to withstand high temperatures well, albeit to the slight detriment of the results it delivers compared to other Kodak Professional films. As we will see below, the image quality is not as good as that of an Ektar or a Portra, which may make us wonder why Kodak has included it in its professional range. However, offering a slightly lower quality film in a Professional box makes sense if you think about where it was originally sold, i.e. in places where average local incomes are typically lower than in North America or Western Europe.

Some say that Kodak invented it by playing with the skin tones of its sixth generation Gold 100, no longer available, in the mid to late 1990s. However, a little more research reveals a similar looking film called Kodak ProFoto 100, which seems to have been the precursor to Pro Image 100. The boxes look very similar. For film historians, it is also worth noting that it was a single roll box, unlike our Pro Image 100 which is only available in packs of 5 rolls.

KODAK PRO IMAGE 100, IMAGE QUALITY.

Some of the 6th generation Kodak Gold 100 has already been modified, and the Gold 200 we have today is the 7th generation of that, which was last updated in 2007. This means that, although they share the same lineage, they have diverged further since the creation of Pro Image. As Kodak says in the Pro Image datasheet, this film offers high colour saturation, accurate colour and pleasing skin tone reproduction. All this is to say that this film has a slightly different feel to consumer-grade colour Kodak films, with less of that warm Kodak signature glow. The colours are more neutral, being a little more realistic despite their vividness.

It is certainly more saturated than the Portra 400, and less saturated and better with skin tones than the Ektar 100. Greens and reds are intense, but it’s good for shooting people, and the ISO 100 rating means you can also expect lower levels of grain.

FOTOGRAFÍA DE CALLE CON PRO IMAGE 100

Just like any ISO 100 film, you’re going to need a sunny day to shoot street photography with Kodak Pro Image. The unpredictable nature of the subjects means that you will need enough light to have a decent shutter speed.

ISO 400 film seems very popular for this sort of thing, and often in monochrome too, but don’t let that change your mind. In fact, it helps you in a way, as it encourages you to shoot in good light, which always makes for better looking pictures, in my opinion.

Thanks to its relatively affordable price and good image quality, you can go out shooting without worrying as much about wasted frames as with the other professional Kodak films mentioned above. Plus, it looks like a film you could buy a box of 5 rolls of and use to shoot that street photography project you’ve had in mind for a while, rather than just taking aimless snapshots. In short, it has good image quality, it pushes you to shoot in good light, which will help you get even better results, and it’s cheap compared to other Kodak films.

PRO IMAGE 100 SPECIFICATIONS

Kodak Pro Image 100 is a daylight-balanced, ISO 100 colour negative film, which at the time of writing is only available in 35mm format, in DX-coded cartridges numbered 512574.

Its predecessor, called ProFoto 100, was also available in medium format, so, if we are lucky and Kodak is feeling good, we may one day have this Pro Image 100 in other sizes.

As standard colour negative film, Pro Image 100 is developed using the standard C-41 process. This means that you will have no problem bringing it to a lab to have it done for you, in fact with our special developing + scanning prices, the cost per photo becomes very interesting. There is an official Pro Image 100 datasheet which you can view here. Some of the highlights include the promise that this film can be stored at room temperature, even in hot and humid climates, and that it has good underexposure latitude.

The first one makes a lot of sense considering the markets in which this film was sold, while the second one is interesting because it only mentions the underexposure and the fact that we had some shots before that seemed to be affected by a bit of overexposure. So if you’re going to shoot this Pro Image and you’re not sure about your metering, maybe aim for a little underexposure. It seems to handle it better and decrease the chances of your images being overexposed. Kodak also says that Pro Image has similar printing characteristics to its Gold films, which simplifies things for those who do take their work to paper.

There is a lot more information in the datasheet if you need it, with exposure, flash and lighting guides, and also some curve tables. However, I don’t need to repeat it all here, as you can click and see it all on the sheet.

KODAK PROIMAGE100 DATA SHEET

And also… We can develop your negatives (And at a discount! *)

At Visualkorner we are specialists in analogue development for all types of formats. For every reel you buy in our shop (physical and online), you will get the following services you will receive a 25% discount voucher so that you can bring the film to be developed and make copies or scan the negatives and receive your photographs by WeTransfer.

The discount voucher will be sent to you by email once you have made your purchase or will be given to you in the shop when you come to collect the film and you will be able to have your photographs as soon as possible!

See our prices in more detail in ourcatalogue