KodakPortra 800

Kodak Portra 800 is an ISO 800 color negative film for C-41 processing, the fastest of the Portra family. Kodak recommends it for low light and long lenses, and claims “best-in-class underexposure latitude” [1]. Since March 2026, Eastman Kodak also sells a film called Ektacolor Pro 800, which the photo press describes as the same Portra 800 under a new name; Kodak Alaris still sells the Portra-branded boxes [2] [4] [6].

Look and color

• More saturated than Portra 400, for most reviews. Kodak promises “well balanced color saturation” [1]. The Darkroom finds “more saturation” than Portra 160 and 400 [7], and Max’s Photo Blog “more saturation” with “a very slight yellow hue” [10]. Hamish Gill expected it to be less saturated than the 400, “but that didn’t seem to be the case” [9].
• Warm reds, yellows and oranges. Emulsive’s reviewer was impressed by how it “handled the bright reds, yellows, and oranges” [12]; Cultured Kiwi notes “vibrant oranges and reds” [13]. Long Weekend sees “just the right amount of saturation through the entire range, without any one color dominating” [11].
• Skin: sources disagree. Kodak markets “natural skin tone reproduction” [1]. Long Weekend finds skin “rich” [11]; The Phoblographer finds it “pretty accurate” and says it is Portra 400 that “warms them up” [14].
• A traditional look, with casts when underexposed. Casual Photophile finds that its images “look more like a traditional color negative film”, and that underexposed frames “take on the dreaded green shadows” [15]. Cultured Kiwi sees “muddy shadows and heavy grain” [13]. When scanning, Analog.cafe finds that whites, grays and blacks are “more likely to conform to greyscale after inversion” [8].
• Halation. A UK lab notes that light sources “can also produce slight glowing effects” [16].

Tonality

• Curve. On the datasheet, the three curves run almost parallel, with a short toe and no shoulder up to about 6.5 stops above middle gray, the end of the plotted range. Slopes read at about 0.52 (green, red) and 0.60 (blue); read the same way, Portra 400 gives 0.55 and 0.63 [1] [20]. On paper, Portra 800 is not more contrasty than the 400. The EI 800 graph also swaps its −2.0 and −3.0 axis labels; our reading assumes a regular scale.
• Reviews disagree on contrast.
  • More: “slightly higher contrast than Portra 160 and Portra 400” [7], “a slightly more stark and contrasty image” [15].
  • Not more: its “contrast level is pretty normal” for Blue Moon Camera [17], and Analog.cafe finds “a natural contrast profile” [8].
  • A possible explanation, not tested: the film is mostly used in low light, often underexposed.
• Latitude. Kodak claims “best-in-class underexposure latitude” [1]. Long Weekend still finds that shadows “start to thicken up” in dark scenes, but has overexposed rolls by 2 stops “and still gotten beautiful results” [11].
• Push processing. Kodak publishes curves and density aims for EI 1600 and EI 3200 [1], and Kodak Alaris advertises “the ability to push to 1600” [2].
  • Analog.cafe: a push of “a stop or two” does not overwhelmingly degrade contrast or color; at EI 3200 colors got more saturated and shadows lost much more detail [8].
  • Cultured Kiwi, at EI 1600: “Grain increases and contrast picks up” [13].
• Daylight. The Darkroom says it keeps “performing well in daylight when properly exposed” [7], and Film Processing shows daytime examples [16].
• Long exposures: no correction from 1/10,000 s to 1 s [1].

Grain and sharpness

Kodak rates grain with the Print Grain Index (PGI), a perceptual scale for prints viewed at 14 inches. 25 is the approximate visibility threshold, and 4 units make one just-noticeable difference [1].

• Eleven units above Portra 400: close to three just-noticeable differences. From 35 mm, the index reaches 70 at 8×10 and 99 at 16×20; a 4×6 print from 120 scores 36 [1].
• Reviews: grain “more noticeable than the other films in the lineup” but “well-controlled for an 800 speed film” [7]; “grainier than Portra 400” [17], though neither film has “a ‘crunchy’ or ‘harsh’ grain” [10]; “surprisingly smooth results for ISO 800” [16].
• Sharpness: Kodak publishes modulation transfer curves but no resolving power figure [1].

Spectral sensitivity

The blue-sensitive layer stays on a plateau from about 400 to 475 nm, the green-sensitive layer peaks near 547 nm and the red-sensitive layer near 659 nm, with a tail drawn out to 705 nm. The blue and green curves cross near 486 nm, green and red near 585 nm [1]. Kodak lists “human eye spectral sensitivity” among the film’s technologies, without giving details. The Grain Archive color style is tuned from the datasheet and the reviews above; it is not computed from these curves.

Names, status and history

• 1998 and 2006. The Portra family dates from 1998 [18]. At the PMA show of February 2006, Kodak announced an improved Portra 800 “with new high-efficiency emulsions” [19]; Wikipedia notes several upgrades since [18].
• An older emulsion than Portra 400? Several reviews say so: Portra 400 “is derived from Vision 3 film and Portra 800 is from older technology” [10]; it is “apparently based on Kodak’s VISION 2 technology” [14]; “the 800 never received the same refresh” [13]; “an older emulsion” [9].
  • The Darkroom agrees that it is “the oldest of the Portra/Ektacolor family” but says it “is still based on Kodak’s Vision3 technology” [7]. Blue Moon Camera says it “has steadily undergone revisions” [17].
  • Kodak names no generation. Unlike the Portra 400 datasheet, which lists Kodak Vision film technology [20], the Portra 800 datasheet does not mention Vision [1].
• Two Kodaks. Eastman Kodak had handed the distribution of its still films to Kodak Alaris since 2012, and Kodak Alaris owns the Portra name [5].
• Ektacolor Pro 800 (March 2026). On March 24, 2026, Eastman Kodak launched Ektacolor Pro 160, 400 and 800 [4].
  • Kodak’s product page promises “excellent low-light performance while maintaining natural skin tones and balanced color” but does not mention Portra [3].
  • PetaPixel writes that the films “appear to be rebranded versions” of the Portra line [4]. Digital Camera World, citing a Los Angeles lab, says the emulsions stay the same [6]; The Darkroom calls them “the exact same emulsion” [7].
  • We found no official Kodak statement that the two are identical: treat it as reported, not confirmed.
• Both names on sale. On September 29, 2026, Kodak Alaris still listed Portra 800 in 135 and 120 [2], and Kosmo Foto reported in April 2026 that Alaris keeps distributing its films [5]. Ektacolor Pro 800 is listed in 135 and 120 [3].