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

[ASA 32]

This thread reminds me of the greatness of Shutterbug mag from the 80's. I miss all those great film examples as well as the Spiratone ads!

And the Bob Shell "glamour" shots!

 

[GarageBoy]

Bundled up a bunch of shutterbugs from the 90s for the trash - wish there was a digital archive somewhere

 

[Baipin]

Gold 400 forever!

...Well, for me anyways. These cheapo films deserve more respect!

 

[nukecoke]

Gold is only too warm when it's sunny.
Plus I wouldn't shoot human faces with Superia. Just too much work to make the skin tone presentable.


Gold 400, Kiev-4a, Jupiter-8M, developed in Tetenal C41. Auto-leveled when scanning otherwise SOOC.

btw: As a consumer film, Konica-Minolta VX has very good skin tone.

 

[Huss]

Gold 400 forever!

...Well, for me anyways. These cheapo films deserve more respect!

Great images, love the muted colours on these. I only use Superia much more than Gold because that is what I got a deal on! I'd be happy with either.

This was taken with Superia200/C200, which I had because it was the cheapest film available. Adorama was selling it for $1.49 a roll last year, so I bought 100 rolls of it. I should have bought more.
Bottom line, the film is not the issue here, whether it is Kodak or Fuji.

And here's one using Superia 400

 

[Ron-M]

I bought in early 2009 about 100 rolls of ultramax 400 that had a date of, I think 12/2009. A older pro photographer was retiring and kept everything refrigerated. When I got there all the good stuff he had was sold and he gave me a deal on the ultramax I couldn't refuse. I put all of it in the freezer when I got home.

The first 3/4 rolls I had developed at Sams club were awful. I gave about half of it away, especially to people I thought were know it alls. A couple of years later I shot a roll and took it into Rite Aid and had it developed. I couldn't believe how much I liked it for cheap film. I wished I hadn't given so much away. Sadly Rite Aid was bought out by Walgreen and doesn't develop film any more.

My go-to cheap color film is Fuji Superia 400 X-tra but I still like the ultramax. I like the saturated colors of the Fuji but the Kodak looks more realistic to me. I don't know!!!!

Here are some shots from the ultramax scanned with my old Canon fs4000us at I don't remember what resolution, Canon A1 with FN 50/1.4.







Here are some Fuji Superia 400 X-tra scanned with the Minolta multi pro with Scanhancer insert. Kiev IIa with Helios 103.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

"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

Agreed. Ultramax 400 is my most often used C-41 color film.

Chris

 

[Swift1]

I used to shoot a lot of Fujicolor C200 because I could buy it from Walmart for $1.70/roll. It's good film, but nowadays I usually go for Lomo 400 or Fuji Superia 400 for my cheap film. I need to order some of the newest Superia 400.

Here's a photo I took 3 years ago on Fujicolor 200.

Pentax KM
SMC Pentax 35/3.5
Fujicolor C200
Epson V750-M Pro​

 

[Huss]

Here's a photo I took 3 years ago on Fujicolor 200.

Pentax KM
SMC Pentax 35/3.5
Fujicolor C200
Epson V750-M Pro​

I love that image Colton. It looks like it was for some magazine spread, with the girl's outfit matching the trampoline. Also the layering is excellent with the dog in the front, immobile, contrasting with the energy of the girl in the middle, and the stationary rocking horse in the back.

Your low camera angle really makes these photos happen.

 

[Huss]

Did u crank on the saturation levels in post process? Those neon greens and funky blue sky is not what I normally see from film.

 

[Swift1]

I love that image Colton. It looks like it was for some magazine spread, with the girl's outfit matching the trampoline. Also the layering is excellent with the dog in the front, immobile, contrasting with the energy of the girl in the middle, and the stationary rocking horse in the back.

Your low camera angle really makes these photos happen.

Thanks Huss.

 

[Ron-M]

Did u crank on the saturation levels in post process? Those neon greens and funky blue sky is not what I normally see from film.

I shouldn't have showed these since they are not a true representation of the colors of Superia 400 Xtra.

No, saturation was not touched. I scan as a positive, invert with color perfect, bring the highlights and shadows to just touch the histogram in levels, a slight S curve and sharpen a minimal amount if needed.

I scanned these with my Nikon 5000 that I really like first and the green cast was a little worse. I re scanned them with my Minolta multi pro that I have only had a couple of weeks using the Scanhancer insert and got a little better results. This roll sat on my desk 8 months, getting about 4 hours of sunshine a day before I developed it. I don't know what effect that would have, since I have never done that before. Just sort of forgot it was there. I posted these since they were the last thing I scanned and liked the way the Helios 103 was sharp and showed detail.

An old family friend who was a pro photographer told me when I was just a kid and getting into photography " never show anyone anything but your best pictures, because if their is a bad one in the bunch they will always remember the bad one". I never learned the lesson.

So with all that said, here is the results I normally get with Superia 400 Xtra. This was just a walk to exercise my Canon A1 since I hadn't used it in about a year so don't expect a lot.

 

[Huss]

No, saturation was not touched. I scan as a positive, invert with color perfect, bring the highlights and shadows to just touch the histogram in levels, a slight S curve and sharpen a minimal amount if needed.

So with all that said, here is the results I normally get with Superia 400 Xtra. This was just a walk to exercise my Canon A1 since I hadn't used it in about a year so don't expect a lot.

That makes sense. I've noticed by bringing down the highlights often concentrates colour. But it can be used for effect and intensity. I think the greens are wild from it, but that's cool. You go for the look that you want. The only thing is that doing that changes the feel of the image, and it loses the personality of the film base. If it matters for that shot.

 

[James1]

Perutz Primera 200 (Fujicolor C200), expired 02/2011 but kept frozen from new. I was testing the film, the camera - an Olympus 35SP - and the scanner, a Pakon F135!

 

[taomei]

I voted Superia400 because the results are more consistent for me than Kodak Gold400 / UltraMax 400 we have in the USA. However, I like the Kodak 'Super / Royal Gold 400' that they sell in Japan the MOST of all 400 speed consumer stuff (I don't think it's available in the USA though).

Smoky Kabukicho Side Streets by Letao Tao, on Flickr

I also love Kodak Gold 200 and 100 - there's little bits of Ektar-like color in them that have this classic feel that Agfa and Superia doesn't do as well.

 

[Swift1]

Inspired by this thread and the thread about the Fuji industrial color film, I recently bought a new 36 frame roll of Fuji Superia 400 from B&H. I have only ever shot the stuff that Walmart carries and most of that wasn't very fresh, so I wanted to try some new fresh stuff.
It is excellent film, and it scans really well/easy.

Here's one from the roll,

Contax G2
Carl Zeiss Planar T* 35/2
Fujicolor Superia 400
Epson V500​

 

[Archlich]

Hi,

Did you know about this site:-

http://dexter.pcode.nl/?dx=806253

That's the page where I put in 806253 from a cassette of Agfa Vista. The 6 digit number's under the bar code on the metal tub.

And 806253 is a very popular one, you'll find it everywhere.

Regards, David

Thanks a lot David, never knew there's such a handy site.

Put the code of a Vista 400 in:

http://dexter.pcode.nl/?dx=806284

Although I think the Agfa looks a bit greenish but it's close enough. Looks like we do have an alternative!

 

[pixelvandal]

first test shots from a nikon FM i picked up cheap.
kodak 400 cheapies to test the meter. no editing or cropping, just as is, and a crappy scan by the local dept store. they came back ridiculously grainy. ill try scan them again with a dslr...

 

[pixelvandal]

oh, if anyone is interested, That was an old country club that shut down approx 20 years ago, they went bankrupt and since then it has been left like this.

 

[leica M2 fan]

I have used Superia much more than Gold because I liked it better.
Can't say that I've used it much in the last 4 years though.