Kodak Portra 400 vs Kodak Gold 200

Updated October 14, 2026 · 8 figures compared

Portra 400 is Kodak’s professional ISO 400 color negative, Gold 200 its consumer ISO 200 B2, one stop slower A1 B1. Gold is grainier on Kodak’s scale, 44 against 37 for a 4×6 print from 35 mm A1 B1, and warmer for the reviewers who compare the two E1 E2. They also tolerate exposure errors differently: in Dehancer’s tests, Gold stayed acceptable from −2 to +3 EV and Portra 400 from −1 to +3 EV B10 A11, and Casual Photophile writes that Portra 400 can still make “astounding images even four stops over” A8.

A GA — 004 Color negative

KodakPortra 400

In production

Film sheet Preset GA — 004 / P

B GA — 008 Color negative

KodakGold 200

In production

Film sheet Preset GA — 008 / P

Compare other films

From the Kodak Gold 200 sheet, on Kodak Portra 400: “Kodak's professional ISO 400: finer grain (PGI 37) and, for Analog.cafe, 'more overall fidelity and colour accuracy'”

Side by side

3 of 8 rows differ

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Kodak Portra 400 and Kodak Gold 200, documented figures side by side
Identity
	A Kodak Portra 400	B Kodak Gold 200
Brand Same	Both Kodak
Manufacturer Same	Both Eastman Kodak
Type Same	Both Color negative
Process Same	Both C-41
ISO Differs	400	200
Kodak Portra 400 is rated 1 stop faster than Kodak Gold 200 (ISO 400 against 200).
Formats Differs	135, 120, 4x5, 8x10	135, 120
Both are listed in 120 and 135. Only Kodak Portra 400 is listed in 4×5 sheets and 8×10 sheets.
Status Same	Both In productionchecked September 29, 2026 [A2]: source 2 of Kodak Portra 400 [B2]: source 2 of Kodak Gold 200
Also known as	Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 (rename, 2026, reported) [A4]: source 4 of Kodak Portra 400	None
Character
Grain Differs	Print Grain Index 3735 mm, 4×6 print [A1]: source 1 of Kodak Portra 400	Print Grain Index 4435 mm, 4×6 print [B1]: source 1 of Kodak Gold 200
Kodak Portra 400 shows less grain: PGI 37 against 44, 35 mm, 4×6 print (lower is finer). [A1]: source 1 of Kodak Portra 400 [B1]: source 1 of Kodak Gold 200
Contrast	Low to medium	Medium to neutral in reviews; highlights compress on the datasheet curve
Latitude	About −1 to +3 stops in published tests	2 stops under to 3 stops over (Kodak)
Resolving power	Not given; MTF curves published [A1]: source 1 of Kodak Portra 400	Not given; no MTF curve published [B1]: source 1 of Kodak Gold 200
Reciprocity	No correction from 1/10,000 s to 1 s [A1]: source 1 of Kodak Portra 400	No correction from 1/10,000 s to 1 s [B1]: source 1 of Kodak Gold 200
Look	Warm and natural; reviews call the saturation restrained	Warm, golden to orange tint; saturated colors (Kodak)
Best for	Portraits, fashion, travel and outdoor work (Kodak)	Everyday pictures in daylight or with flash (Kodak)
Datasheet and preset
Datasheet	E-4050, edition 2025-01 (PDF)	E-7022, edition 2023-06 (PDF)
Spectral curve	Published	Published
Preset	GA — 004 / P · darktable and Photomator	GA — 008 / P · darktable and Photomator
Both have a preset.

Source numbers carry the film: A3 is source 3 of Kodak Portra 400, B3 is source 3 of Kodak Gold 200. 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 Portra 400 (GA — 004 / P) applied (simulation). — **A · GA — 004 / P** · Kodak Portra 400

Beach cabin under storm clouds, with the preset inspired by Kodak Gold 200 (GA — 008 / P) applied (simulation). — **B · GA — 008 / P** · Kodak Gold 200

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

Warmth. Gold is known for its “much-loved golden tones” B10 and an “orangey warm teint” B9; reviews of Portra 400 speak of a “warm, natural color palette” A7 and one review finds it “fairly subdued in both contrast and saturation” next to Ektar 100 or slide film A15. Analog.cafe adds that Gold looks “fairly neutral” on a sunny day at box speed B7.
Accuracy. “Portras will give you more overall fidelity and colour accuracy”, writes Analog.cafe in its Gold review B7. Bjørn Joachimsen, an ambassador of Kodak’s Nordic distributor, writes that Gold’s colours are “warmer, a bit more “retro,” and not as technically accurate as Ektar 100”, adds that “this can also be seen in comparison with Portra 160 and 400”, and gives Gold “somewhat higher colour saturation” than both Portras E2.
Skin. Kodak markets Portra’s “spectacular skin tones” A1. Brooklyn Film Camera, a camera shop with its own lab, puts it bluntly: “Gold is wrong for anything needing neutral skin”, and “Portra 400 exists for this” E1.

Tonality and grain

Highlights. Gold’s datasheet curve has a shoulder from about 3.5 to 4 stops above middle gray, so highlights compress; Portra 400’s shows none up to about 6 stops (read from Kodak’s graphs) B1 A1.
Latitude. Kodak claims latitude “from two stops underexposure to three stops overexposure” for Gold B1. Dehancer found Gold’s best color between −1 and +1 EV, and wrote that it “withstands underexposure quite well (slightly better than professional films)” but “does not tolerate overexposure very well” B10. On Portra 400, it found lost shadow detail below −1 EV A11.
Grain in both formats. On Kodak’s Print Grain Index, Portra 400 shows less grain than Gold in each format: 37 against 44 for a 4×6 print from 35 mm, and 25 against 33 for a 4×6 print from 120 A1 B1.

Which one for what

Kodak designs Gold for everyday pictures in daylight or with flash B1, and recommends Portra 400 for portrait, fashion, travel and outdoor photography A1.
Both are sold in 35 mm and 120; only Portra 400 also comes in sheet sizes A2 B2 B3.
Brooklyn Film Camera’s advice: “One film for everything, outdoors, on a budget: Gold.” … “Somebody is paying you: Portra.” E1

From people who shoot both

None of the sources on this page is a same-scene test of the two films. Brooklyn Film Camera compares them from its staff’s use and from Kodak’s grain figures E1; Bjørn Joachimsen shot Gold in 120 on a Mamiya 6MF and compares it with the Portras without showing Portra frames E2; Optik Oldschool compared Gold in 35 mm and 120, in photo pairs captioned with the same Düsseldorf locations, and, showing Gold frames only, writes that “in 120 medium format Kodak Gold 200 is quite close to Portra 400” E3.