Kodak Ektar 100 vs Kodak Portra 400

Updated October 14, 2026 · 8 figures compared

Ektar 100 and Portra 400 are both Kodak professional color negatives for C-41, two stops apart: Kodak sells Ektar on “high saturation and ultra-vivid color” and as the finest-grained color negative film available, Portra 400 on its skin tones A1 B1. Ektar’s grain stays under Kodak’s visibility threshold for a 4×6 print from 35 mm, where Portra 400 scores 37 A1 B1. Casual Photophile finds Ektar more contrasty than Portra, although on Kodak’s graphs its curve is about as steep A7 A1 B1.

A GA — 007 Color negative

KodakEktar 100

In production

Film sheet Preset GA — 007 / P

B GA — 004 Color negative

KodakPortra 400

In production

Film sheet Preset GA — 004 / P

Compare other films

From the Kodak Ektar 100 sheet, on Kodak Portra 400: “Two stops faster, with much softer contrast and saturation in reviews, and grain above the visibility threshold (PGI 37)”
From the Kodak Portra 400 sheet, on Kodak Ektar 100: “Kodak's other professional negative, sold on 'high saturation and ultra-vivid color', with grain below the visibility threshold at 4×6”

Side by side

2 of 8 rows differ

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Kodak Ektar 100 and Kodak Portra 400, documented figures side by side
Identity
	A Kodak Ektar 100	B Kodak Portra 400
Brand Same	Both Kodak
Manufacturer Same	Both Eastman Kodak
Type Same	Both Color negative
Process Same	Both C-41
ISO Differs	100	400
Kodak Portra 400 is rated 2 stops faster than Kodak Ektar 100 (ISO 400 against 100).
Formats Same	Both 135, 120, 4x5, 8x10
Both are listed in 120, 135, 4×5 sheets and 8×10 sheets.
Status Same	Both In productionchecked September 29, 2026 [A2]: source 2 of Kodak Ektar 100 [B2]: source 2 of Kodak Portra 400
Also known as	None	Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 (rename, 2026, reported) [B4]: source 4 of Kodak Portra 400
Character
Grain Differs	Print Grain Index under 2535 mm, 4×6 print [A1]: source 1 of Kodak Ektar 100	Print Grain Index 3735 mm, 4×6 print [B1]: source 1 of Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Ektar 100 shows less grain: under 25 against 37, 35 mm, 4×6 print (lower is finer). [A1]: source 1 of Kodak Ektar 100 [B1]: source 1 of Kodak Portra 400
Contrast	Strong in most reviews, though not steeper than Portra on the datasheet	Low to medium
Latitude	Medium; avoid underexposure (reviews)	About −1 to +3 stops in published tests
Resolving power	Not given; MTF curves published [A1]: source 1 of Kodak Ektar 100	Not given; MTF curves published [B1]: source 1 of Kodak Portra 400
Reciprocity	No correction from 1/10,000 s to 1 s [A1]: source 1 of Kodak Ektar 100	No correction from 1/10,000 s to 1 s [B1]: source 1 of Kodak Portra 400
Look	Highly saturated, vivid blues, greens and reds; skin tends to redden	Warm and natural; reviews call the saturation restrained
Best for	Nature, travel, outdoor, fashion and product photography (Kodak)	Portraits, fashion, travel and outdoor work (Kodak)
Datasheet and preset
Datasheet	E-4046, edition 2025-01 (PDF)	E-4050, edition 2025-01 (PDF)
Spectral curve	Published	Published
Preset	GA — 007 / P · darktable and Photomator	GA — 004 / P · darktable and Photomator
Both have a preset.

Source numbers carry the film: A3 is source 3 of Kodak Ektar 100, B3 is source 3 of Kodak Portra 400. Not published: none of the sources on file gives this figure.

Same scene, two presets

SceneBeach cabinBeech forest

Beach cabin under storm clouds, with the preset inspired by Kodak Ektar 100 (GA — 007 / P) applied (simulation). — **A · GA — 007 / P** · Kodak Ektar 100

Beach cabin under storm clouds, with the preset inspired by Kodak Portra 400 (GA — 004 / P) applied (simulation). — **B · GA — 004 / P** · Kodak Portra 400

The same beach cabin under storm clouds, base development without a preset. — **Reference** · base development, no preset

Same RAW file, two presets · rendered in darktable 5.6 · simulations on a digital RAW, not film scansPhoto: seume on discuss.pixls.us, CC0 1.0 · Photo credits

Both images start from the same RAW file, with the same base development: darktable’s default exposure and sigmoid. Each side then has one The Grain Archive preset applied. They show our interpretation of each film, not scans of real negatives. Real film also depends on exposure, processing and scanning.

Look and color

Saturation. On Ektar, blues and greens “are especially vivid” and reds are rendered “more strongly” A5. Next to Ektar or slide film, one review finds Portra 400 “fairly subdued in both contrast and saturation” B15.
Skin. Ektar “can make faces look redder than usual” A6, and lighter skin “may come away a bit pink” A7. Kodak markets Portra’s “spectacular skin tones” B1, and reviews agree B7 B8.
Contrast. Casual Photophile finds Ektar “more contrasty than Portra” A7. On the datasheets, though, Ektar’s green slope, about 0.57, is barely steeper than Portra 400’s, about 0.55, and eases to about 0.49 in the highlights (read from Kodak’s graphs) A1 B1.

Exposure

Ektar dislikes underexposure. “I do not recommend underexposing it”, writes Analog.cafe A6; The Darkroom warns that underexposure “can lead to dense shadows and overly strong contrast” A5.
Portra likes overexposure. Dehancer found acceptable color from −1 to +3 EV B11, and Casual Photophile writes that it can still make “astounding images even four stops over” B8.
In Aukje’s comparison below, both films were rated at EI 100, which overexposes Portra 400 by two stops E1.

Which one for what

Kodak recommends Ektar for nature, travel and outdoor photography, as well as fashion and product work A1, and Portra 400 for portrait, fashion, travel and outdoor photography B1.
Aukje’s own split after the test: Ektar before sunrise and when a colorful subject such as a boat is in the frame, Portra’s “softer tones for the landscapes” E1.

Real film, side by side

On a three-day trip to Greece, Aukje “more or less shot one day with Ektar, and one day with Portra” in a Leica M2, trying to match “the used lens, time of day that the photos were taken, and viewpoint with respect to the sun”; the scenes “are not exactly the same” E1. AG Photolab developed and scanned both. Aukje’s finding: “Ektar has deeper, more saturated colours, specifically in the blues”, with “a hint of red haze”, “but generally the results are closer than I expected” E1.