Kodak Ultramax At 1600 Film Review

Here is our Kodak Ultramax At 1600 Film Review. We shot a roll of Ultramax rated at 1600 ISO on our Contax G2. So, have a look at our film test and see what you think.

Kodak Ultramax 400 is a great everyday film. We’ve shot it before at its boxspeed of 400 ISO. This time around we decided to take it out at night and push the film two stops to 1600 ISO. So, for our Kodak Ultramax At 1600 film review, we put a roll of Ultramax in our Contax G2 and took it out around Canary Wharf in East London.

Lights At Night

We took our camera along when looking at the lights in Canary Wharf at night. As it was so dark out, it seemed like a good opportunity to try pushing the Ultramax we had with us. Because the lights were the main feature we exposed for the highlights, knowing the shadows would go very dark.

Unsurprisingly, we got a lot more contrast and grain than normal. Being colour film there is also a noticeable increase in saturation. Some of the very bright highlights have blown out, and there is very little detail in the shadows. However, it did emphasise the dramatic light installations. And there is more information in the shadows than we expected.

This was quite an extreme situation when it came to highlights and shadows. The benefit of the extra two stops of speed did make it possible to hand-hold the camera in quite a dark situation. Maybe a one-stop push would have resulted in a bit less grain and more clarity.

Our results show there is flexibility when it comes to film speed. You just need to keep in mind how pushing will affect your final image. We’d try this again with Ultramax, but next time with a subject that had more balanced light.

Film: Kodak Ultramax 400
Format: 35mm
Rated at: 1600 ISO
Shot on: Contax G2
Location: Canary Wharf, East London
Developed and Scanned: Photofusion

We review the most popular films in the shop, as well as some new and lesser-known ones to see how they compare. Have a look at the full list of our Film Reviews.

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