photographic @ge - Is Pro Film Worth The Price - Elite Chrome or Ektachrome Pro

Available at sometimes twice the price, will we see twice the difference in image quality or color?

Do you buy your film from the local Wal-Mart, online or at a full service camera store? Do they keep it in the refrigerator and do you keep it refrigerated at home until use? Do you have it processed by a one hour photo lab, pro photo lab or even process it yourself?

I have shot a lot of rolls of all varieties and grade levels with of course different results. The only exception was that I used these different films on different occasions and always felt it was the best one to use for that given shoot. I finally took the time to try out several rolls of consumer and pro grade films at the same time to see for myself in one viewing if there was a difference.

Please Note: This comparison was done at random with different lighting and subject matter. Indeed Pro films are manufactured to reproduce consistent results and consumer films could vary a great deal in their results. I would never use consumer film or extra saturated film in portraits or art reproductions. Also note that the Fuji Provia 1600 is not being produced anymore, I just had a roll lying in the fridge so I tried it. Last but certainly not least... this is another one of those articles that will stir the minds of many of our readers. I hope it does and that you will remember that this study is based on using a roll of a certain film for no particular photo shoot.

I took the exposed film to F Stop Photographic, a custom lab, to have them processed. When I returned to pick up the slides I laid them out on the light table and found some very surprising results.

Elite Chrome vs. Ektachrome Professional

Kodak's latest entries into the reversal film consumer market are Elite Chrome and Elite Chrome Extra Color. I love the tag lines on the boxes as in last months ISO 800 review. They are even giving this film a Series notation, claiming that these films are from the "Select" series. Sometimes marketing makes me laugh out loud when I read the slogans and see the efforts that go into getting consumers to make purchases.

The Extra Color version also has a small disclaimer that it has the highest color saturation of any 100 speed consumer slide film. Yes... they call it a consumer slide film right on the packaging. Does this mean that professionals are not consumers?

As for the Ektachrome Pro films, the SW was the target of this comparison even though they offer two variations in the type of saturation. You can read more about these films in Issue 1 which can be found in the archives

The Elite Chrome sells for around five to seven dollars and the Extra color version is about two dollars more. It is available in ISO 100,160 (tungsten), 200 and 400. The extra color is only available in ISO 200, but the 400 speed has the notation that it has high saturation and high contrast.

Two weeks of rain prevented me from having time to shoot every variation of Elite Chrome and Fuji Chrome films. But as I looked over my results I saw that it wouldn't have made a great deal of difference.

I marked the back of the slide mounts so I would know the difference. I then laid them all out on the light table and asked some of the other photographers, who were there at the lab to pick up their film, if they could pick out the different films.

Needless to say they couldn't tell the difference in most of the images. Yes on some they may have had a lucky guess, but overall it was 50/50 as to who could sort them correctly. So now the task is put to you... In the pop up window is a sampling of the images and you get to pick which one you think is on Ektachrome Pro SW ISO 100, Elite Chrome ISO 200 or the Extra Color ISO 100 film.

Now the test is put to our readers... In the above popup window is a gallery of images exposed on the various films in the review. You make the selections as to which film you think is used in each image. The reader who gets the most correct will receive a full sheet of Masters Of American Photography stamps and your choice of either a roll of Elite Chrome 35mm (24 exposure) or 2 Blank CDR disc (in case you don't shoot film anymore).

In the case of a tie, a random drawing will be held among the winners' names to select a winner.

Fuji Sensia 400 vs. Provia 400 vs. Provia 1600

Much to my surprise, there was slightly more difference in the Fuji film comparisons. Not to spoil the fun I will just say that the results were just about opposite than I thought they would be. Test your skills picking the correct films in this second part of the comparison test.

Keep in mind I included Provia 1600 in this comparison, but it is no longer produced by Fuji... what a shame.

You will find that many images in this part of the test are similar due to the fact that there is noticeable differences in the results. While it was hard to tell in the Kodak films which one was which, the Fuji film has shown some noticeable differences in some images.

After you have filled out the match up sheet and we receive your entry you will be emailed a link to a page in this site that shows the answers and some other details about these images and the films we tested.

Is A Trend Starting?

The idea of having the readers match up the images with the correct film was one of those spur of the moment ideas. Whether these quick and easy contests will continue in upcoming issues is unknown, but this just goes to show that photographic age will continue to be the leader in interactivity between our readers and staff.

Actually we pride ourselves on bringing you reviews that are not the norm as compared to other publications. Our main intent is to keep you interested without giving you a bunch of facts or using the products in a situation that is not common practice among photographers.

As for this review... I had already decided before I started this review that the sixteen dollar roll of film would outperform the eight dollar roll easily. You will need to use a special pro film for a photo shoot when reproducing art work or taking portraits. After that, what is correct color or pleasing color is subject to the photographer's personal taste.

Often during the production of this magazine we run into circumstances or results that we feel may not be the same for everyone. We welcome you to use the "quick takes" form to give us your side of the story.