A couple weeks back I recieved a package from Michael Raso of the Film Photography Project, in addition to the flash bracket I had ordered for my Polaroid Auto 250 there were a couple rolls of film, 2 120 format Kodak Ektachrome E100G and E100GX, some E100G in 35mm and a roll of ProPhoto XL. The E100G series I was well aware of and now sadly Kodak has ended it’s entire line of E-6 films, but the ProPhoto XL was one I had not seen before.
With good reason, some searches on the Internet revealed that the film was aimed at International markets and was simply a rebrand of their Gold line of films. I don’t say this like it’s a bad thing, I’ve used the Kodak Gold and Royal Gold line of films in the past with great results. The one thing that I really like about the Gold line of film is the warm cast that it has which really helps bring a punch to the images. So I wasn’t too concerned about the image that would come out of this ProPhoto XL.
Although the day itself was pretty grey and dull. Rainy, miserable, I figured I’d give it a shot, as one person commented, a grey day is perfect for testing films.
Like most Kodak films upon scanning there is a clear majenta shift in the shadows, that’s an easy fix in Photoshop, give the colour balance slider a bit more green on the shadows area to correct that. Images are fairly sharp, grain is acceptable for the speed. Just don’t let the name fool you, although it may say “ProPhoto” this is not one of Kodak’s Professional line of films, also don’t let that scare you, this is a great everyday film that can be used to test or just shots out on the town.
