Testing Kodak Portra 400 on the Nikon AF600

Finally the last color roll that I’ve been interested in testing, the legendary Portra 400!
This roll was developed at home using standard c41 process, and scanned at home on a Fujifilm X-T5 and the Nikon 60mm AF-D Macro lens. Negatives were converted using Negative Lab Pro with basic color profile and the Portra preset.

The Portra series of films was released by Kodak in 1988, mainly for use in weddings. This is the only film I’ve used that is considered a professional film. What makes it “professional” is the accurate color reproduction (especially skin tones), super fine grain, lots of exposure latitude, and is easier to scan.

Now for the part of the review that is my opinion. The colors to me definitely seem to favor orange and blue tones. When I’ve looked at other peoples work shot on Portra, it seems to take on a more pastel dreamy tone. I think with the way I process it, or possibly how my camera meters it, I find the film to be very saturated and contrasty.

I couldn’t find any fault except that it doesn’t really match my style of shooting. One thing I really liked about the film is how consistent it is across many lighting situations. It never takes on any strange or unexpected tones.

This is the only photo (above) that came out in a way that really looks like Portra to me. It’s so soft yet so full of detail.

I think for the price, I would only shoot this film for actual professional purposes, because I can rely on it to give me accurate colors. I actually enjoyed the character and imperfections of both Gold and Ultramax more than Portra (at half the price as well).

But it’s time for the reveal of my favorite color film, and (unfortunately for my wallet) it’s Cinestill 800T! I won’t go more into it here, but you can read the review here. There will be more Cinestill 800T content after I get a roll of it through my new Contax camera (my Nikon AF600 has died).