Portra 160 in the Kodak Ektar H35: an expensive film in an inexpensive camera

Continuing my mission of feeding my Kodak Ektar H35 with a varied diet of film stocks, I put a roll of Portra 160 through it this summer because I have a 5-pack of Portra 160 and was feeling like I could handle the risk of them all being duds.

The results are far better than that, though. The scans show bold reds and rosy skin tones, beautiful scenery and skies, and greenish shadows. Like all film stocks in the Ektar H35, the best results came from shooting in bright daylight.

While I love many of these shots, I think this particular film in this particular camera was not an ideal match. Many shots, even outdoors, were simply underexposed due to cloudiness or less than ideal lighting. The honor of “my favorite film to put in the Kodak half frame” still belongs to Tri-X 400.

Camera: Kodak Ektar H35 half-frame - amazon.com

Film: Kodak Portra 160 - amazon.com

Development and scanning The Darkroom.

All sample pics are unedited. Shortcomings in composition are my own ;)

Here is my favorite shot from the roll. The lighting and geometry of the shapes carries it, but I think Portra shines in the pink tones. Portra 160 Kodak Ektar H35 Sample image 1

Kids on swings is one of my go-tos for photos. I like the challenge and I like the results when I get the timing right. Portra 160 Kodak Ektar H35 Sample image 2

Here is an example of less-than-ideal lighting producing a somewhat green-tinted image. I could fix this in Photoshop or Lightroom, but my goal with this blog is to show the results I get with films + cameras before I do any post-processing. Portra 160 Kodak Ektar H35 Sample image 3

Water practically glows on Portra 160 in the Kodak Ektar H35. Portra 160 Kodak Ektar H35 Sample image 4

Golden hour delivers - I love the contrast of pink and blue in this image. Portra 160 Kodak Ektar H35 Sample image 5

I shot this airplane on a whim. It was around 2000 feet elevation. The Kodak Ektar H35 lacks a zoom and a focus so I wasn’t expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised at the faraway details this camera captured. Honestly not sure my iPhone could’ve done better, lol. Portra 160 Kodak Ektar H35 Sample image 6

In this shot, I really like all the detail that was picked up in the shadowed areas. Portra 160 Kodak Ektar H35 Sample image 8

One more - I think this shot highlights some of the blurring that happens around the edges of the Ektar H35’s lens but the effect works for this composition. Portra 160 Kodak Ektar H35 Sample image 7

Thoughts on the experience

It’s a solid film + camera combination, especially because the half-frame format lets you milk more shots out of the roll, but I felt limited to shooting it outdoors in ideal lighting due to the ISO 160. I think I’ll save this pricey film stock for one of my cameras that offers better control over the exposure settings.

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