Kodak Portra 400 Archives

Drinking districts in Japan II – Nagasaki with a Leica iiig, 50mm Summitar and Portra 400

By Geoff Chaplin / April 15, 2023 / Photos & Projects / 10 Comments

My photography is about people but often without people – stories in objects and surroundings about their lives and lifestyles.

Nagasaki (city) is a historically famous port. The only place in Japan to allow foreigners entry for trade (albeit to a small controlled island ‘Deshima’) for three centuries. The Portuguese brought new cuisine (‘Tempura’ – food in batter – and ‘Castella’ – a type of pound cake), the Spanish brought Christianity, but the Dutch and British were were more interested in making money so traded without religious connections.

Drinking districts in Japan I: Tokyo with a Leica iiig, 50mm Elmar f3.5 and Portra 400 – By Geoff Chaplin

By Geoff Chaplin / March 26, 2023 / Photos & Projects / 16 Comments

My photography is about people but often without people – stories in objects and surroundings about their lives and lifestyles.

Japan probably conjures up many thoughts – crowds, temples (Buddhist) and shrines (Shinto), Shinkansen, mount Fuji, and more. City workers’, ‘salarymen’ in Japanese, lifestyles are centred around their employment, traditionally at the same company for their entire lives, with a wife and children at home. And make no mistake, Japan is a very traditional society still, with by far the majority of girls giving up their careers on getting married, staying at home, cooking, cleaning, bearing and looking after children. After work husbands continue ‘work’ with their colleagues in a favourite izakaya – the Japanese equivalent of a pub/restaurant in the UK.

5 Frames on the Kodak 66 Model iii and Portra 400 – By Stevie Keen

By Stevie Keen / February 21, 2023 / 5 frames with... / 5 Comments

As an early foray into film photography, the Kodak 66 Model iii was a steep learning curve. No light meter, no way of measuring distance and a sequence of buttons and levers than need to be pressed and set to be able to capture your first frame. After ten years of using this camera, I still forget a step each time I pick it up again.

Cinestill 400D vs Kodak Portra 400 – Film Review – By Ted Ayre

By Ted Ayre / December 21, 2022 / Film / 16 Comments

Let’s face it, Kodak Portra 400 is the predominant colour negative film of the decade. When Fujifilm inexplicably pulled Pro400H off the market, it left Kodak to dominate the medium-speed colour negative film market. It’s so ubiquitous that those looking for an alternative might be hard pressed to find it. Well with Cinestill 400D we have been provided a warm Californian alternative to Portra’s cool East Coast vibes.

Popping off a Roll of Colour Negative – Portra 400 pushed +2 – By Phil Harrison

By Phil Harrison / October 23, 2022 / Photos & Projects / 12 Comments

It seemed like a good idea to drop a roll of 35mm colour negative into my camera and go and pop off 36 exposures in a couple of hours, or at least it would have been two years ago. Two years ago you could choose from a number of budget films for under a fiver or posh films for a tenner. Now there are no budget films to be had just poshly priced films at around £16 a roll, such is the shortage of 35mm colour negative film. All that seems to be readily available in the UK as I write is Kodak Portra 160 & 400. Then there’s the used film camera prices which have steadily increased over two years, some extraordinarily so – a 1990’s Leica M6 35mm Rangefinder body was £1600 now £2850…what?!