Review on 📸 Kodak Professional Portra Color Film (ISO 160) 35mm - Yellow by Etai Gopala

I *love* Portra 160. I love, love, love. And I agree with previous reviewers on important points: Portra 160 is unsurpassed* for its gorgeous, subtle color palette with unparalleled skin tones;* for its incredible dynamic range of highlights (making it ideal for bright midday lighting, digital);* taming mixed lighting - Shade and direct sunlight, incandescent and natural, etc. However, to set expectations right in a digital-dominated world: the results aren't "grain-free" as other reviewers have suggested, 35mm film (any) isn't In terms of size, hue and sharpness, they do not come close to medium format. The Portra 160 is great, but to give you an idea, the results aren't as smooth or detailed as a medium format 6x7 Portra 800 shot. But, the Portra 160's 35mm grit is *very good* and it scans beautifully. , which adds cinematic contrast and texture to portraits. So graininess is a good thing, and it's not noticeable at all when you're printing up to 8x10 inches (9x12 inches in a pinch) or similarly sized JPEGs (say, 1024 pixels or so at 96 DPI, on a normal non-retina display). However, if you print or display a larger image, the limits of the 35mm resolution become clear: the structure and sharpness of the image quickly fall apart. In fact, it's best for 5" x 7" prints - for which it's probably the best tool available, digital or otherwise. Another tip: be careful with the exposure - maybe more careful than you are used to with printing. Film, especially if you are used to photographing Fuji. All of the current Portra models (160, 400 and 800) have the wide dynamic range you'd expect from C41 film and can even be processed as stills with acceptable results. However, extreme overexposure accentuates the yellow-brown hue, so don't rate them more than 2/3 the stop-over-box speed. (Honestly I think Portra 160 is best at 160, maybe up to 125 if you want a little more shadow detail. two or even three - stop the overexposure) and find that they match the colors of Portra don't like when they're recorded the same way - so be careful if this is you: try the box speed first! In any case, it all buries the leadership. Visually, Portra 160 is top. When shot, sized and displayed or printed correctly, the results look like nothing else in the digital world, or like digital images retouched by a world-class Hollywood editor. Detail and dimension leap from such flattering softness; vibrant colors that fade in and out of the neutral, soft palette of daylight. It's just magical!