More than a year after it hit the market I had a chance to try Kodak's new Ektachrome color reversal film 100D/7294 (E100 in still format).
The resurrection of Ektachrome was something I thought I'd never see, and it was a long time coming--eight years to be exact since it was unceremoniously pulled from the market. It had been more than long enough to process all the grief, anger, acceptance, and finally reconciliation of losing my artistic loved one. Now I'm ready for a sane assessment of this new old kid on the block.
Over the past year I shot 3 rolls of Super 8, 1 roll of 16mm, and 1 roll of 35mm slides. All were processed (flawlessly, I will add) by Dwayne's Photo of Parsons, Kansas in March 2020.
(Disclaimer: I receive no freebies from Kodak, nor Dwayne's; I paid full price for everything, out of my own pocket, as I have for decades. In fact I'm a little disappointed I wasn't among the multiple filmmakers contacted for the beta testing of this filmstock, and I'm even more troubled that my friend Nathaniel Dorsky wasn't either. You see, Nathaniel's work is a big part of the inspiration for the color reversal film comeback at Kodak. Back in 2015, Mr. Dorsky hosted a personal screening of his 16mm Kodachrome original footage for Kodak's then-new CEO, whose reaction was nothing less than ecstatic at the beauty of what he saw. He even told Nathaniel that the footage left him convinced of the need to bring back Ektachrome, yet he never got in touch with Nathaniel again...But that is another story for another time...)
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| All images are actual frame enlargements from 16mm and Super 8 Ektachrome 7294 |
WELL
I'm of two minds about the new Ektachrome. I'm divided enough that I could write two entirely different reviews: One would heap on praise for this film's existence as nothing short of a miracle, a re-awakening of a lost art form, and an astounding achievement in film manufacturing.
My second review might read something like a bleak, post-apocalyptic, paean to the end-of-cinema; full of aesthetic and monetary defeat and exasperation, finally asking "what's the point?"
And both of those imagined reviews would be truthful. But I think it's more useful to interweave my thoughts as they happen and let the reader decide whether this film stock is worth it. These days you'd have to be either a fool or an advertising agency to recommend anything without reservation.
By the way, this review is about the aesthetic possibilities of a cinematic art. For the precious few of us concerned with such things, ambiguity is a place where we feel most at home.
A "REVIEW"
First, an apology in advance to those of you who don't have 40 years of intimate involvement with color reversal motion picture film. Though I will try to be as lucid as possible in my descriptions, some of this will inevitably fall back on my experience with previously manufactured film stocks, like Kodachrome and the many other iterations of Ektachrome dating back to the 1980s, or currently made films like Velvia.
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SHARPNESS/SHADOW DETAIL
Ektachrome 100D/7294 is probably the sharpest color reversal film ever made. Beating out Kodachrome 25, all the previous Ektachromes, and perhaps even Fuji Velvia 50! No, I can't back that up with science, but to my eyes, 7294 gives an impression of sharpness that I haven't seen before in any of those other bitingly sharp reversal films. These eyes have viewed a lot of original reversal over the years but I must admit I was actually startled by the new Ektachrome's capacity for ultra-fine detail.
Where Ektachrome 7294 falls down is in it's inability to render shadow detail. Venerable Kodachrome had an especial ability to tease out detail in underexposed areas of the image that the new Ektachrome doesn't even attempt. This was one of the most unique qualities of dearly departed Kodachrome: an ability to pull hints of shape out of the shadows, to the point where darkness could take on a life of its own. For me there was a quasi-spirituality in the Kodachrome way of rendering darkness, like the murmur of prayers in an old, dark church. Yet Kodachrome was a film with ostensibly the same behavior as other reversal films: little latitude, high contrast and excellent d-max. It still amazes me how they pulled off such a contradiction so many decades ago.
The new Ektachrome is a normal, projection-contrast reversal film that behaves much as you would expect. The exposure latitude is quite narrow, and I would venture to say that even though it is a bit lower in overall contrast than the hyper-saturated Ektachrome 7285, it's blacks seem to "fall off" into oblivion a little bit faster than even that stock. Put another way, 7294's shadow behavior harks back to Ektachrome VNF 7240 in that there's an odd sense of milkiness at the point where the film ceases to render any image and falls off into blackness. It's also similar to the short-lived Ektachrome 64T (7280) in that respect.
COLOR, EVER IMPORTANT COLOR
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Simply stated, 7294 is the most natural, neutral color reversal film I've ever seen. It renders the world exactly as it "is". It doesn't favor any one color cast or tone. Flesh tones are particularly exact in this regard, and if you are accustomed to dealing with the reversal films that came before, you're going to find the flesh tone reproduction a little uncanny in its accuracy. This is a color film that lets none of it's own personality intrude, and that is quite an achievement in terms of film technology. However, it's important to remember that there has never, ever been a film that didn't impose some of its own character over the imagery it recorded--and that's a big part what makes this art form so interesting.
As an experimental filmmaker, neutrality is not a desirable quality; if it were, I'd have eagerly embraced digital long ago. But I do want to say something in this film's favor: 7294 presents a challenge to me where Kodachrome and 7285 did not. Those other film stocks, particularly 7285, had an almost too-easy tendency toward psychedelia. They could be called on to create an idealized pastiche of certain schools of painting or pop-art, overwhelming otherwise mundane visuals with something along the lines of dream-logic. (In other words, right up my alley).
Sitting in my back room, projecting these newly processed rolls of 7294 for the first time, I said to myself: "Why did they bother to come out with a reversal film that looks basically the same as Vision 50D or Ektar?" And I feel completely justified in that knee-jerk reaction; it's obvious the engineers responsible for developing 7294 were slavish to the current Kodak "house look" when designing this stock.
Yet, yet, yet, despite what my mouth was saying, my heart and soul were deeply excited by this film stock, not just because I like a challenge, but because it is, indeed, beautiful. (And beautiful is not a word I would ever use to describe Vision 3 color negative: nice, yes, sometimes interesting, yes, but never beautiful.)
Aside from the obvious reason for the existence of reversal, Ektachrome does retain just enough of the color pop I've come to love in reversal film, particularly in subjects like neon signs at night and those deep, clear blue skies. And of course, it can't help but have the solidity and now-ness that only an original film or slide can have--being an object that is wholly unique in the world and can be appreciated with little or no additional equipment or electronic rigmarole.
GRAIN
It goes without saying, Kodak has been on an anti-grain kick for several decades now, and the new Ektachrome is no exception. I don't believe it is simply marketing when they claim it is the 'finest-grained 100 speed color reversal film in the world'. But thankfully Kodak still have to abide by the laws of physics, so it does have grain.
One of the advantages of being a filmmaker is that we understand film grain as something alive and in motion: A pulsating, energetic field of random molecular movement within and beyond our images, whether they be representational or abstract. This, like variances in color rendition, is a grossly underappreciated element in the aesthetics of film-based cinema; it is an added extra that can compliment, contrast with, and even become its own meaning.
The new Ektachrome 7294 has very similar grain structure to the previous Ektachrome 7285: Its individual grain particles are just slightly scaled-down by comparison. Here is where Super 8 filmmakers are at a distinct advantage--the grain is just lovely in that format. About the old Ektachrome, I felt Super 8 had never looked better as a format and the new Ektachrome retains this wonderful quality. The grain is present enough to be appreciated, but not obtrusive; and the overall image density holds together in Super 8 so there's none of that small format washout.
In 16mm, the grain is present, but one can sometimes forget it is even there, depending on the imagery. Under normal, properly-exposed daylight shooting, 7294 is disappointingly similar to a Vision 50D workprint. In 35mm slides, grain is nearly invisible. The grain of new Ektachrome is both tighter in structure and has a more regular-seeming pattern than even the slow Kodachrome 25 of yore.
COST
It's too expensive and because of that I'll shoot far less than I used to. But it will make me a more efficient filmmaker. Yes, it will.
SHELF LIFE
The new Ektachrome has a very good shelf life, even when exposed but undeveloped.
Color negative, on the other hand, should be shot and processed within a month, maybe 2, if it is to retain its intended contrast and color. When I was shooting Vision 3 I really grew to despise that little gnawing worry: constantly having to ask myself when I bought the film, how long it had been in the refrigerator, and can I wait just a little longer before sending it off for processing?
I'm overjoyed the new Ektachrome retains the excellent stability that us 'amateurs' have historically come to expect with reversal films. 7294 can easily hold up for a year in the refrigerator after it has been shot without losing contrast or color saturation. At room temperature I'd have no problem letting it sit for 3-4 months after shooting. In today's world, with so few labs, rising shipping costs, and minimum footage charges, the ability to wait is a crucial convenience.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Despite the new Ektachrome's reluctance to take up the mantle of spokesfilm for the virtues of analog photography in a digital world, there is a certain je ne sais quoi to the film's plain-speaking rendition that belies my particular criticisms.
Is 7294 capable of more than the sum of its parts? Possibly!
I'm reasonably certain there is a personality lurking in there somewhere.
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