KodakEktachrome E100

Kodak Ektachrome E100 is an ISO 100 color slide (reversal) film for E-6 processing, balanced for daylight and electronic flash. Kodak describes it as extremely fine-grained (RMS 8), with moderately enhanced saturation, a neutral color balance and a low-contrast tone scale [1]. It is a new film released in 2018, after Kodak had discontinued every Ektachrome by late 2013, and not the older E100G or E100VS [7] [14].

Look and color

• Neutral on paper. Kodak lists “moderately enhanced color saturation with a neutral color balance”, matched color records for a consistent gray scale, and natural skin tones [1].
• Vivid, not garish. Reviews speak of “incredibly vibrant color but rarely goes too saturated” [15] and of colors that are “deep, rich, and vivid, but never cartoon-esque” [9].
• Neutral or cool: the sources disagree.
  • Neutral: “very accurate, neutral, and even”, with no “overall color cast” [12]; a “natural colour rendition” [8].
  • Cool: “a slight emphasis towards blue” [9]; “too cold”, with a cold sky “even with the 81C warming filter” [10]; a tonality that “tends to blue and green” [16].
• Exposure moves the color. Analog.cafe reports that overexposed areas may shift cooler and shadows warmer [8]. 35mmc saw frames shift “a little blue”, which the author links to underexposure compounded by shaded daylight [11].
• Reds and pinks. Next to Velvia 50, E100 showed “better saturation for pinks and some reds”, Velvia for yellows, oranges and purples [10]. Another reviewer found the red “not vivid but muted” [16].
• Skin is “perfect, true-to-life” for Casual Photophile [9].
• Family resemblance. Kosmo Foto found the new film “most closely resembles E100G” [14]. Kodak says its dye sets are no different from older Ektachrome films, so existing scanner settings still work [2].

Tonality

• Curve. On the datasheet’s characteristic curves, D-min sits near 0.15 and D-max reaches about 3.25 (red), 3.6 (green) and 3.75 (blue). The three curves overlap up to a density of about 2.5, hence a neutral gray scale [1]. Our reading of the graph:
  • a long, soft toe in the highlights (slope about 0.5 over the brightest 1.7 stops);
  • a slope of about 1.15 in the upper midtones, 1.85 in the lower midtones and 2 in the shadows;
  • a gradual climb to D-max, with no hard wall, and about 5.7 stops between densities 0.3 and 3.0.
• Contrast: the sources disagree. The Phoblographer found E100 “pretty low contrast” compared with Fujifilm’s slide films, with more shadow detail than Velvia 100 [13]. The Darkroom writes that it “has good contrast”, so shadows go black when metering for the highlights [15].
• Latitude is narrow. Kodak gives about half a stop either way [2]. Casual Photophile saw the film “blow highlights and crush shadows if exposure is a half stop off” [9]. From the curve, Analog.cafe computes 5 stops of effective dynamic range [8]; PetaPixel’s reviewer advises keeping scenes within 5 to 7 stops [12].
• Long exposures: no correction from 1/10,000 to 10 s, and CC10R filtration at 120 s [1].
• Push: Kodak suggests EI 200 with a one-stop push (8 minutes in the first developer) as a starting point, and notes that a short push also raises contrast slightly [1].

Grain and sharpness

• All five figures are read at a density of 1.0 with a 48 µm aperture, but by two manufacturers and over several decades: treat them as roughly comparable only. Kodak calls 8 “extremely fine” [1].
• Reviews: “grain is very restrained” [14]; smaller and more even than Provia 100F [12]. Casual Photophile disagrees, with “a bit more grain than would be expected for a modern film” [9].
• Sharpness: Kodak publishes modulation transfer curves but no resolving power figure [1].

Spectral sensitivity

The blue-sensitive layer peaks near 428 nm with a second maximum near 459 nm, the green-sensitive layer has a nearly flat top from 545 to 575 nm, and the red-sensitive layer rises to a sharp peak near 649 nm. The blue and green curves cross near 490 nm, green and red near 588 nm [1]. The Grain Archive style is tuned from the datasheet and the reviews above; it is not computed from these curves [21].

Names, status and history

• The end of Ektachrome. Kodak discontinued its color Ektachrome films in stages; by late 2013, all Ektachrome products were gone [7].
• The return (2017 to 2019). Kodak Alaris announced the return of Ektachrome on January 5, 2017. The launch slipped to 2018 because the film needed reformulating [7]; Kosmo Foto writes that the recipe had to change significantly to meet stricter environmental rules [6]. The 35 mm film shipped again from September 2018, and 120 and 4×5 followed on December 10, 2019 [7].
• Who makes it. Eastman Kodak manufactures the film; Kodak Alaris marketed the 35 mm still version [7] and published the datasheet, E-4000, revised in August 2018 [1].
• 2026: Eastman Kodak. Since February 2026, Eastman Kodak sells E100 directly to distributors in 135 and 120, and PetaPixel reports no formula change [5]. On September 29, 2026, Kodak’s page listed 135-36 and 120 five-roll packs [3], while Kodak Alaris still listed 35 mm, 120 and 4×5, 5×7 and 8×10 sheets [4]. The name did not change, unlike Portra and T-Max.
• Bases. Kodak’s FAQ gives a 4.92 mil acetate base for 135, 3.94 mil Estar for 120 and 7 mil Estar for sheets [2].