Kodak's revised version of Portra 800 is replacing the existing Porta 800 as dealers sell out their old stock. The new version has 'Now with better skin tones' on the box. The previous version (800-2) has 'Now with finer grain' on the box.
Something that may be of interest to some of you because they can be used in still cameras: Kodak are continually improving their colour negative motion picture films. These are not intended for optical printing on paper, but digital printing (whether to light sensitive media or inkjet) gets round that mismatch. Because of the Rem-Jet backing they cannot be processed in normal C-41 machines, but they can be processed in C-41 by hand. Some labs will process them in short lengths, notably Dale in Hollywood, Florida who charge $4 for develop only. 'Short Ends' can be purchased for very low prices - for example 14 cents a foot, which means that a 36 exposure film costs less than a dollar. New-ish colour negative films in 35 mm that may be of interest are 5201 Vision2 50D (a 50 speed daylight film) and 5229 Vision2 Expression 500T (a wide latitude 500 speed tungsten film). There is an even wider latitude fast film, 7299 Vision2 HD Color Scan, but that is only available in 16 mm.
Fuji and Kodak have announced more new films that are not yet available. Fuji will soon release an ISO 1200 colour negative film and an improved ISO 400 colour reversal film (Provia 400X).
Kodak have been demonstrating an ISO 12,000-24,000 B&W reversal film in experimental form. If they think that there is sufficient demand this may be put into production. The film is processed by simply heating it to 160°C for 35 seconds.
"The direct-positive photographic speeds can be as high as ISO 24,000 and are believed to be the highest yet reported for a silver halide recording system. This ultra high-speed system will be shown to result from a new two-stage amplification mechanism." The grain structure is reported to be similar to that of existing ISO 400 materials.
Best,
Helen
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