Ektar 100 is a classic among films. So I made a film preset.
It’s considered great for landscapes and street work and it’s one of the few films still available in 2023. But those who know it well, also love it for portraits. Lots of prestes have been called Ektar inspired. Today I’ll show you the essentials of this recipe of my authentic and detailed Ektar 100 preset.
Get this film preset in my Filmist pack. Or make your own based on what I show in the video. You can get Classic Negative and Portra 160 presets in my FREE Filmist Sampler Here.
Why Ektar over Portra or Fuji Film preset recipes?
The first version of the Ektar 100 presets I made for the Filmist film presets pack was good. But it was now perfect and may not have been your go-to like the Portra Gen.2 presets. When I want something a bit more robust than Porta, Finer than Natura 1600, and more complex than film presets like Classic Chrome, I’ll be going to Ektar.
Rather than being designed for people like Portra, Ektar is more of an all-use film. But despite its rich reds, it makes great portraits, streets, and landscapes all in one film.
Here’s How I made the Ektar 100 like Gen2
Kodaks Ektar has come in various versions, but the most famous and still made is Ektar 100. It’s not an easy look to replicate digitally, but it has complex color magic that is great. Most of the Ektar variants are no longer available, but you still can buy the 2000’s era Ektar 100 version.
So in Filmist v1.8 I went back to the basics. As I show in the recipe overview in the video, it’s mostly about ultra-detailed curves and HSL. I’ve shot Ektar myself in my 4×5 work so I am familiar with its deep colors and often slightly red tint. But the secret to really getting a digital film look right is to refine it tirelessly until it works on all image types.
I researched deeper and watched reviews on the film, and how different people use and process it. How each process works differently to get slight variants. Then you combine all that to make the look really good.
What goes a Gen.2 Film Simulation Preset Mean?
Most companies make presets, you buy them and that’s what you get. But I keep refining and updating them and in Filmist I’ve spent hundreds of hours creating free updates since it launched.
Every Gen.2 film preset I make takes more hours of tinkering and study to make that film look perfect on digitally. In Filmist 1.8 I finished the Gen.2 versions of Classic Chrome and Classic Negative presets as well as vastly improved the color nuances of these popular fuji profiles. More on that in this post.
But Ektar 100 is about making the presets for Lightroom and Capture One represent the actual chemical film in every use case. And it’s fantastic. This new version is so much more subtle, and you’ll find that whether you’re shooting the streets of glamorous portraits, it has that natural fine-grain film feel with deep reds and nuanced color gradients. It’s a true Gen.2 film preset and will quickly become a go-to.
Why should you be using Film simulations as your editing baseline?
I make a lot of good presets, like Silver black and white and PowerFlow presets and more. Then there are actions. You may have those or you’ve made your own.
The film is something special. Using film presets as a baseline for color and black-and-white edits make you see color and shadow. It will make your editing more subtle and you’ll see the nuance that gentle changes make.
Try the Ektar film preset or make your own from the recipe essentials that I show in the video. There are different ways to interpret this film look as a preset, but I this this Ektar 100 like Gen.2 really conveys it well. If you still shoot film, go shoot a roll and tell me how you think this rates.
Thanks for coming and keep shooting – Gavin Seim
