Kodak Portra 800 Film Rated 4 Ways : A Review for Photographers

This blog post shares the results of an experiment I did with Kodak Portra 800 film rated 4 ways.  A major business goal of mine this year is to be able to photograph family sessions with film 100% of the time this Fall.  I am so hooked on everything about film photography.  Everything from the tonal range, the luminosity & highlight retention, the depth of field, to the creamy skin tones!

A huge part of getting a consistent ‘look’ with film, besides picking one lab to work with, is choosing your go-to film.  Different films render colors, highlights, and shadows in different ways.

Kodak Portra 800 Film

I’ve narrowed down my favorite outdoor film for shooting in Seattle (which tends to have blue/green light).  I’ve picked gorgeous, warm Kodak Portra 800 medium-format film.  But how should I rate it? Some film photographers said box speed, some said 640, some swore by 400, and a few even said 200!  

Feeling a bit overwhelmed, I decided to do my own test.  I recruited my amazing, beautiful friend to be my model one sunny day at noon.

How I Rated & Metered Portra 800 Film

I shot five rolls of Kodak Portra 800 film rated at 800, 640, 400, 200.  Second, I shot one roll of Kodak Portra 160 rated at 160.  I photographed part of the roll in full-sun and the second part in open shade.  This was to see which rating would give me the best results and best ideal shutter speeds for shooting locally.  

How did I meter, you ask?  For each roll, I compared four ways to meter:  

1. bulb-in @ 45 degrees
2. bulb-in in the darkest shadow of my subject
3. in-camera meter (+2) on subject’s forehead (I use the Pentax 645n)
4. and the Sunny-16 rule. 

For the most part, all four metering methods were giving me the same reading.  (All rolls were developed and scanned by Richard Photo Lab: **Get 15% off your first film dev/processing order!)

Portra 800 Film Comparisons

This first comparison also shows how color and skin tones rendered in full sun with p800 and the last roll – Portra 160:

Comparison of Portra 800 only:

Look at how forgiving Kodak Portra 800 is!  I was blown away when I saw the results and thought I would see more differences.  Why?  Because rating the film at 200 is already two stops over box speed.  In addition, I’m amazed at how well a good photo lab can make your film scans look consistent, even when rated differently.  There is a 4-stop difference between the p800 rated at 800, shot at f2.8 @ 1000 vs. p800 rated at 200, shot at f2.8 @ 250!  So develop a relationship with and love your lab. :)  Please see my straight-scan comparison I added at the end of the post.

Here are the same comparisons of Portra 800 in the shade with the last comparison on Kodak Portra 160 film

Comparison of Kodak Portra 800 only:

Edited to add Richard Photo Lab Re-Scan:

Later, I found out RPL tried to match up scans from the Kodak Portra 800 film rolls into one cohesive set since all rolls were submitted in one order.  So I asked them to re-scan one image from each roll and do a straight scan since I was testing exposure.  A straight scan means that the photo lab doesn’t do any adjusting.  Here are the results:

Kodak Portra 800 Film Can Be Rated Differently, But DON’T Underexpose it!

Lastly, I’m still quite surprised to see there is not much difference in exposure, colors, or contrast.  There is a slight difference in skin tone but that may be attributed to the difference in the color of the field. The Kodak Portra 800 rated 640 photo was taken in an adjacent field with less green.

What differences do you see?  Which is your favorite?

Other Film Articles you may Like:

I also love to rate Ilford HP5 several different ways depending on lighting conditions and you can check out the versatility of this film by clicking the link.  It’s my go-to b/w film, in 35mm or 120 format!  Feel free to check out other film-related tutorials and articles like:

5 Steps to Improve Your Film Photography 

The Zone System 

 Using Artificial Light with Film here.

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