Kodak Ektachrome 160T EPT (120, 160 iso) User-Review

A Tungsten slide film. Can it survive without tungsten light?

I came across this film while fishing for goodies on eBay. I have never heard of it before, and since I also never played with a tungsten film, AND because it was expired in 1988, I decided I should test it and got myself a one 5-pack out of the available 3. It was not too long before I regretted not buying all 3…

The first test round I shot 2 rolls on a winter’s sunny day, and got them cross-processed. The results were very pleasing. I was expecting a strong blue tint to dominate the photos, but either because of the age or the crossing, it was quite a soft purple/pink that tinted the images. The crossing also produced a more coarse grain, which I found quite nice, adding to the somewhat vintage feel on the photos. The colors came out bold and lively, with no real shift to any direction (except the expected one mentioned above, due to the T balance).

On the second go, I shot another 2 rolls, developing them in E-6 process. This time the blue tint was indeed blue, and I found it to be more pronounced than by the crossed images, giving a gloomy touch to the images. Nothing wrong with gloomy. The grain is very fine and colors are bold and bright (though a bit subdued by the blue tint). Indoors, it does what its supposed to do and the colors come out quite nicely balanced.

So? If I’ll get my hands on some more of this film, I am definitely buying it! Add it to your shopping list, too!

written by paramir on 2010-04-29 #gear #medium-format #120 #review #tungsten #160-iso #slide-film #ektachrome #e-6 #120-film #kodak #x-pro #cross-process #ept