War of the cheapies - Kodak Gold 400 vs Fuji Superia 400

[Monochrom]

wow...i have to say fuji superia is a nice film, very contrasty...along with a summicron 50 that i had years ago it renderend pics so contrasty!!!

And in deed it´s cheap😀

 

[GarageBoy]

Gold/Ultramax 400

 

[CliveC]

I'm buying both at Walmart and they still developing it until machine is broken....
No luck with Gold. Terrible colors. Fuji is fine, but WB is always purple.

Hey Ko.Fe, which Walmarts do you go to? The one at Major Mac and Bayview is doing development at $5 a roll, which seems high.

Do they scan?

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Hey Ko.Fe, which Walmarts do you go to? The one at Major Mac and Bayview is doing development at $5 a roll, which seems high.

Do they scan?

James Snow Parkway - 401, in Milton. Same price. They scan, but results are terrible. Useless even for 700 pix internet size.
But it is the only place near home to get Gold and Superia. Other places even more expensive for developing.

 

[philipus]

Thanks for the reply. After a bit of further digging I discovered another German site that sells it - phototec.de.

Or at least I think it is it Gold 400. It says "KODAK Gold / Ultra Max 400". If one checks the spec sheet for Ultra Max 400 it doesn't say it's the same as Gold. It just says "It is printing compatible with KODAK GOLD Films". Not sure what that is intended to mean.

cheers
philip

philipus, I was going to suggest trying macodirect.de but it looks like all they have is the Farbwelt 200/400. I did some digging around online and I found some people saying that Farbwelt = Gold in Germany and Europe and others that said it was a variant formulation and not actually Gold. I then also found reasoning for the variation ranging from "Germany's restrictions for chemicals" to "the way the light is is Germany/color balance differences" (not quoting but those are the gists of some of the crazy talk I found online about it).

I know in the US that B&H sell it and it's pretty cheap per roll. However their shipping is very high to Germany, so there has to be another source that is closer to you and cheaper.

I also looked at Amazon Europe and Germany and they want a ridiculous amount for the rolls themselves.

If you can't find it easily in your area and want to buy some, maybe you can arrange a deal with someone who is in the US where its $2-2.50 USD a roll to send you some. Postage from the US to Europe/Germany area is going to be around $50 USD for a box full of film anyway, which is about what B&H was asking for it. Just some things to ponder.

I personally prefer the Fujifilm Superia 400. It has a nicer color hue and does not bow up in the middle when dried like Kodak Gold 400 does. (The expired Gold is really bad about this.)

 

[kiss-o-matic]

Kodak's Gold 200 is the best of the consumer-grade films in my experience, but it's not so readily available.

My local shop has had 24-exposure rolls on clearance for ages. 178 yen a pop. I should probably get more.

 

[Sid836]

Kodak always throws a red hint everywhere. I prefer the greener cast of superia.

 

[kiss-o-matic]

If you can't find it easily in your area and want to buy some, maybe you can arrange a deal with someone who is in the US where its $2-2.50 USD a roll to send you some. Postage from the US to Europe/Germany area is going to be around $50 USD for a box full of film anyway, which is about what B&H was asking for it. Just some things to ponder.

I think Japan -> Europe might even have cheaper shipping than US -> Europe. I have a side business specializing in exporting Japanese crap (for lack of a better word) and every time I goof something up and have to have someone forward a package from the US to Europe I always wind up paying through the nose.

My guess is a 20-pack box of film to Europe from here is $20 max for EMS. Insured, and there in 3 days. Leaving a lot of room for Paypal fees and over estimations, and you're looking at about $4.25 USD per roll when it's all said and done. Could probably drop that down a bit more to sub $4 with a 40-pack.

In true Japanese form, there are few deals to be had on the Japanese product: Superia. :-/

EDIT:

Thanks for the reply. After a bit of further digging I discovered another German site that sells it - phototec.de.

Yeah, this is probably a smarter deal. Probably a bit more in the long run, but I don't think the savings are enough to bother w/ an international order unless you're buying a huge box.

 

[BlackXList]

, I'm also a bit intrigued by the Agfa Vista Plus that seems to have appeared on the US market recently. It might be worth trying a few rolls.

That's rebadged Fuji C200.
It's fine, I use quite a bit of it, (it's £1 a roll in the UK) just know that you're going to get Fuji tones from it, and you'll be good.

 

[lueej]

I posted some examples before, but better scans are now up here.

These are all Fuji Superia 400, scanned on a Fuji Frontier if I'm not mistaken. Might have been a Noritsu.

 

[jondotkom]

Gold Is Good!

Gold Is Good!

Old, cold and Gold!

Admittedly, I have been more a Fujifilm guy my entire photographic life. But I recently came across an expired roll of Kodak Gold 400 that had been sitting in my fridge for the last year or so, loaded it up, and proceeded to mindlessly shoot the afternoon away. I was pleasantly surprised--the colors were wonderful!

This was taken at the foot of the Seattle Space Needle.

Leica CL, Nokon 40mm 1.4.

Gonna have to snag more expired Gold just for fun!

 

[shawn]

"but the new Ultramax gives the same results as Portra."

Monday I was shooting Portra 400 in 120 and UltraMax in 35mm. From scanning them this morning I'd certainly agree with this. If they aren't the same they give very similar results with a similar feel and very wide exposure latitude. At $2.09 a roll Ultramax is a steal.

Shawn

 

[Bingley]

"but the new Ultramax gives the same results as Portra."

Monday I was shooting Portra 400 in 120 and UltraMax in 35mm. From scanning them this morning I'd certainly agree with this. If they aren't the same they give very similar results with a similar feel and very wide exposure latitude. At $2.09 a roll Ultramax is a steal.

Shawn

I wouldn't go quite that far, BUT Kodak Ultramax 400 is a very fine color film. I'm using it exclusively for my Foglandia project in the outer Sunset and Richmond districts of San Francisco, and I've been very pleasantly surprised with the subtle colors, particularly the blues and greens. I'm using an uncoated Summitar for this project. Here's a sample:

Outer Sunset by bingley0522, on Flickr

 

[jtullar]

Love me some Superia 400! Not a big fan of Kodak gold.


Untitled by J_TULLAR, on Flickr

 

[Sparrow]

Fuji ... superia

 

[Noll]

Just a friendly reminder that Kodak Gold 100 can look pretty nice too....😉

 

[littleearth]

Expired Superia all the way !!

 

[rwintle]

This probably doesn't help answer the question, but here's some Fuji Superia X-TRA in 120. I wish Ultramax were available in 120 so I could compare.


Icy branches, Maple, Ontario - Fuji Superia X-TRA 400 by Richard Wintle, on Flickr


Grave stone and trees - Fuji Superia X-TRA by Richard Wintle, on Flickr

 

[jtullar]

Kodak Gold 200... still prefer Superia.


W Street by J_TULLAR, on Flickr


W Street by J_TULLAR, on Flickr

 

[GarageBoy]

Really jealous of how everyones scans come out- mine always have a slight cold cast (V500 Epson Scan- adjust curves on PS CS2)