I Still Shoot Film

Kodak Portra 160 Review: Part 2 - Plastic Camera

After my natural portrait test with the new Kodak Portra 160, I decided to see how it performs in a plastic camera. I have an original Holga 120S and a Woca (amongst many other plastic cameras), but I must admit I prefer the Woca’s glass lens. Ironic, no? So I popped a roll of Portra 160 into my Woca and headed out to the Jardin du Palais Royal. The first thing I am noticing about this film is that it basically reproduces the actual conditions you see. When the sun was out and everything was bright, I got this super vibrant result:

This has no adjustment for contrast for the sake of this review and as you can see the color is significantly more intense than the natural portraits I did for the first test (the sky was cloudy). To prove my point, have a look at this shot (also from the Jardin du Palais Royal) taken 10 minutes later when the sun ducked behind a cloud:

This is a lot more muted and flat compared to the first shot. Granted, the color palette is also muted compared to flowers, but this shot doesn’t quite pop like the first one. So far my official opinion of the new Kodak Portra 160 is that you definitely get what you see.

Up Next: I am pushing Kodak Portra to 3200 to see if it lives up to the Portra Push reputation.

*Now, as for comments about my current scanner, I test with what I have. That’s what a real test is. I think there are a lot of people who would like to know how this film performs with the equipment they have, as opposed to how it performs with top-of-the-line inaccessible scanners. That being said, if you would like me to use a higher quality scanner for future film reviews, feel free to buy me one :)