Ever since I started shooting medium format film, I’ve been searching for a favourite film stock and I think I may have found it in Kodak’s Ektar 100 Professional

After a short walk with my Kowa Six and Kowa Lens-S 85mm f/2.8 loading with a roll of Ektar 100, I found this tiny log in a small pond surrounded by foliage. The frame primarily has green and brown tones to it, which isn’t normally people’s first association with Ektar however I think the film handled the balance between the two very well. The separation of the log from everything else in the frame was a surprise to me, even when shooting nearly wide open at f2.8.

Nearby to the pond, some school kids had constructed some makeshift tents from fallen tree branches. Similar tones at play here, although the dynamic range, between the slightly overexposed sky and very shadowy dark logs, impressed me a lot for such a low ISO film.

The framing here makes these tents seem so ominous. A strange subject, for sure.

My next frame is something that I have taken many photos of and something that I have a weird love for. The caravan here isn’t mine, but I live near it and everytime I see it I think about caravaning around the country.

Although slightly overexposed, I think the image came out really nicely. Clear, bright tones and very little detail lost in the overexposure. Which, in my opinion, helps the film shine.

This next frame was one I was sure wasn’t going to turn out. A one-second exposure as the sun was going down, a beautiful orange sunset and the film came back, Purple? After looking at some other shots from various people it seems the film reacts to things like this.

This is what I personally enjoy about film, you just never know how it’ll react.

My last frame is of the tree out the front of my house. I saw the lovely sky tones and the leaves being backlit. All I did was take a super-fast light meter reading of the scene, point the camera up and take the shot. A wonderful way of shooting and resulting image.

~ Tim

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4 responses to “5 Frames… Of my (maybe) new favourite film, Kodak Ektar 100 (120 Format / EI 100 / Kowa Six + Kowa 85mm f/2.8)”

  1. Nice to see a Kowa Six on here – I own a few Six’s and also two Super 66’s. They are a joy to use when they are working properly. I’ve purchased, repaired, and sold a few of them over the past year – common failures are broken winding gear, broken winding crank, stuck mirror, and frozen mirror damping cylinder. They tend to fair better if someone actually uses them on occasion versus leaving them sitting on the shelf. The viewfinder is surprisingly bright – actually brighter than my early Hasselblad 500c.

    1. Lovely, rather underrated cameras that are surprisingly affordable as entire kits. Glad to find a fan in you, Jeremy!

  2. Well done for using the Kowa Six! Such a nice camera. And affordable – I guess because not many people have heard of it.

    1. This and the MM are two I need to get back in my collection!

 

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