We'll be looking at where it performs best, pros and cons of Kodak Portra 800, and how you can use the film to get the best results.
Kodak Portra 800 is great for commercial photographers. It's a fast film, ISO 800, which means that it's ideal for all or no light conditions such as in the evenings or indoors. It's not to be confused with or compared with CineStill 800T, which is a very different film stock. Portra 800 is very similar to Portra 400 but with notably more grain and slightly more contrast. It has warm tones, very good exposure latitude, and while its grain is more noticeable, it's very pleasant looking.
Its higher ISO also makes it ideal for lower light shooting. The emulsion colour response isn't the greatest in tungsten or in dusk light. Its a bit too "green-y", "cyan-ish". On the other hand, it is the perfect emulsion for indoor situations` which are well lit. As you can see from this image. I guess that is to say that it's very sensitive to colour temperature shifts. So if you're organised and sort out your filters and your lenses, then you can overcome this issue if you're well prepared. It may seem too grainy for some, but it's no better or worse than 400 speed film pushed one stop. But from my experience of shooting both 35 and 120 formats, I feel that the 35 millimetre version lacks the sharpness of the 120 Portra 800. And obviously that's got a lot to do with the format that you're going to be shooting, however you might be able to still get better results using Portra 400 and pushing it one stop. Having said that, would it be cheaper to shoot Portra 400 and push it one stop? Let me know your thoughts.
As with other portrait films, it scans nicely. However, as a typical colour native film, the colours might come out a bit muddy, especially if you are underexposing your film. So make sure you take the time to expose the film properly before you start shooting.
How do you use this film to get the best results each time?
You've got to make sure that you're exposing the film properly. There are several ways you can do this.
The first way is to use a dedicated light metre such as this Sekonic that I have here. They're really simple to use, will save you time, money and most importantly, get you a correctly exposed image every single time. The second way you can do this is by using applications on your phone with the Android and iPhone. On the iPhone, you can download two applications, a pocket light metre. And here you can plug in your ISO setting on the far right hand side and then you can go ahead and take a shot and see how it comes out and then auto adjust it, so you can get the correct exposure settings. It will automatically do it for you as well.
The other way you can use the iPhone is by using something called Viewfinder. Now this one you can go into the settings and manually set it so you can put in your ISO, your aperture, whatever you want to use. You can also go ahead and click on the side and then you can choose film emulsion. So it will emulate what the image is going to look like if you're using a particular film stop, which I find particularly useful, but it's not always very accurate. If you choose to shoot this at day time, you can reduce the graininess by using an ND filter. But like I said before, try your best to get the exposure spot-on, particularly at nighttime, where images will come out that little bit more tinted green. We are at the conclusion.
What more is there to say about this wonderful film emulsion?
I think there are four key points to take away from this video. Number one, flexibility. I like the flexibility of this film. It performs well in a broad range of conditions. However, when it comes to dedicated night shooting, I would probably still take a tripod with me. If you're going to shoot landscapes, this will become even more important.
Number two, portraits. When it comes to portraits this film absolutely smashes the competition. It would seem to me that given its name is "Portra", that its original purpose was for taking portraits. The skin tones are second to none. If you're shooting portraits in the evening outdoors, I would highly recommend taking a tripod with you. However, if you have an external light source available or off-camera flash available, then you should be able to just go straight and shoot. Number three, low light.
As previously mentioned, it's absolutely fabulous in low light. In 35 millimetre it's great, but in medium format, it just goes up a notch. Minimal grain with excellent saturation. If you love shooting neon lights at night, or you're looking to get some candid street snaps without those sinister halations then look no further.
Finally it's unmatched. Unlike Kodak Ektar 100, Portra 800 has greater versatility with an ISO speed that helps that little bit more, when the sun goes down. Especially if you don't like lugging around a tripod, like me. Although the grain is much more noticeable, the colour rendering is exquisite, giving each image a much more atmospheric look.
Thank you for watching this video guys. I hope you've got the main takeaway point is that you've got to expose this Portra 800 film properly, and if you do that, you're gonna get fabulous images every single time. I hope this video has been really helpful for you. And please do add any comments or questions that you might have about this film stock. And please do go ahead and subscribe to the channel. And I look forward to seeing you in the next video.
