Kodak Portra 400BW Reviews

Rating
Reviewed by: leroys
(Intermediate)

Review Date
August 8, 2003

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Review 1 of 6

Price Paid: $26.00 from B&H Photo

Summary:

I purchased my first pro-pack of Portra 400B&W after reviewing my options as a Fuji Frontier 330 minilab system became available in my neighborhood. Great combination for my existing light B&W portraiture. Clean whites with dense blacks and very satisfying tonality. Almost grainless and wide exposure lattitude to boot. A great all around film.

Strengths:

Scans very well, good exposure lattitude

Weaknesses:

none

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Rating
Reviewed by: Bele
(Expert)

Review Date
August 5, 2003

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
1.00 of 5,
1 votes

Review 2 of 6

Price Paid: $0.00

Summary:

As everyone else who's written a review on this film, my main purpose when buying this film was to save money on development. What convinced me to keep using it was the qualities! I still believe T-Max 100 ist the greatest BW film ever, but Kodak now has the runner-up as well. This film can without a doubt fulfill serious professional desires for BW photos! It takes a lot of experience to tell that it has been developed in C-41 when looking at a BW enlargement. Nice grain, and great enlargement capabilities!

Strengths:

Enlarges almost as good as T-Max 100!

Weaknesses:

Don't let your lab print on colorpaper! Development is fine, but enlargement on colorpaper very unpredictible!

Similar Products Used:

Agfapan 50, T-Max 100/400, Tri-X, Agfa Scala 200

Customer Service:

Your regular photolab knows what to do with this film! But as I said, tell them you want handmade enlargements on BW paper for best results.

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Rating
Reviewed by: Jason
(Intermediate)

Review Date
July 8, 2003

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5,
1 votes

Review 3 of 6

Price Paid: $6.00 from B&H

Summary:

I really like this film as an alternative to traditional b&w in a darkroom. I just finished taking a photography course and afterwards realized that I would not be able to maintain a darkroom at home, due to cost and space. I've only shot one roll, so this may be a premature review, but here goes....This film really handles outdoor portraits well, with or without flash. I had it printed on matte surface paper (Kodak Endura) by a local pro lab. Looks great, no color cast that I can see. Full tonal scale is apparent in the prints. When I look at the prints compared to some of the prints I made in the darkroom, I must say that they hold up very well. I did take the portrait shots in early evening light which were all great. Had a few frames left over that I burned in midday light which didn't turn out as well. Harsh shadows didn't have much detail, but were still acceptable. Sharp film too.

Strengths:

Great skin tones and displays full tonal range. Saves one hell of a lot of time over darkroom processing. For a 400 speed film, I was surprised by how much detail was captured by the negatives. Portraits with flash really pop and stand out from the background.

Weaknesses:

Not cheap, hard to find locally.

Similar Products Used:

Kodak T-max 100

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Rating
Reviewed by: hslev
(Intermediate)

Review Date
June 20, 2003

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Review 4 of 6

Price Paid: $4.00 from Adorama (on-line)

Summary:

I have had trouble finding a reliable and affordable way to get Tri-X processed, as I don't have my own darkroom. I tried tihs film and was very pleased. I couldn't tell any difference in the prints from Tri-X, and found a remarkably wide exposure latitude. I used the 120 version in my Hasselblad and bracketed a test photo by a full two stops up and down. It was hard seeing any difference in the three photos, despite the four stop exposure range.

Strengths:

Can be developed at a lab as quickly and no more expensively than color film. Wide exposure latitude, no perceptable grain.

Weaknesses:

None so far.

Similar Products Used:

Tri-X

Customer Service:

Available in NYC at most pro shops, online at B&H and Adorama.

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Rating
Reviewed by: JLPhoto
(Professional)

Review Date
January 15, 2003

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
1.00 of 5,
1 votes

Review 5 of 6

Price Paid: $6.00 from Christians- Des Moin

Summary:

I have been nothing short of impressed by this film. I use it mainly for candid type work along with my 120 color jobs and it never ceases to surprise me. Rarely do I ever see grain, even if it is underexposed and the tonal range is smooth and deep. My result are even better when I use it in my 645.

Strengths:

-Sharp -No grain -Smooth gradiation of tones

Weaknesses:

None

Similar Products Used:

other Kodak "true" B/W's

Customer Service:

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