Considering Color

I shot the last roll of color film I had on hand this past weekend. It was Kodak’s ColorPlus 200 which I bought for about nine dollars earlier this year. I like ColorPlus, but not as much as I like Portra 400. I’ve made some of my most satisfying color photographs on Portra 400, setting my camera to meter at 200 ISO to coax a little more sizzle out of the film.

Portra 400 sells for about $15 a roll as I write this and I think that is a lot. Processing and scanning costs another $15. That’s nearly a dollar a frame!

I see that Kodak’s Pro Image 100 is available again for $8.99 a roll and I like that film, but not as much as Portra. Fujicolor 200 is about the same cost. It’s just me, but I like the flexibility of 400 speed color film.

Right know, I am pondering using my Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera for color photography and shooting black and white exclusively in my film photography. I have a nice supply of Kodak Tri-X, T-Max, Plus-X and Ilford in the chiller. Maybe by the time I shoot that up, color film prices will come down a bit. If not, I’ll be content with monochrome analog photography.