2024's Best Colour Film Stocks Every Analogue Photographer Should Try

Are you keen to find the best colour film for your photography? Colour film has been available for amateur film photographers since Kodachrome was introduced in 1935, and although many suppliers didn’t survive the digital revolution there are still plenty of options for you to choose from today! They will give you different looks, different light sensitivity, and some might require specialist development (although don't worry: all of the films below can be safely processed with our WonderLab). So to guide you through the choice I’ve pulled hundreds of customer reviews to give you a rundown of the best colour films available today, according to the ratings scores from the community! How many have you already tried?

The Top 5 Colour Films In Our Store

1. Portra 160

A surprising top placing! Portra 160 is often seen as the poorer Portra sibling - not as flexible as 400, not as useful as 800. But when we drill into the customer ratings we can see that although it hasn’t attracted as many sales as its relatives, the scores show that this is an unbeatable colour film: the feedback score of 4.96/5 for Portra 160 35mm is the highest for our store across all films with more than 20 reviews, and a perfect 5.00/5 for Portra 160 sheet film shows that it’s not a one-format wonder!

Photographers talk about Portra 160 film’s colour expression and tight grain, its ability to turn well-lit scenes into analogue magic, and its uniquely beautiful visual palette.

Photo (c) HazyDaze Weddings

For example this is Jamie G: “Portra 160 is dynamite, rated at 100 it goes easy on the shadows and still has plenty of highlight detail. The name suggests portrait use but if you love green scenes, the green dyes and couplers in this emulsion will make that foliage sing.” Or James V “Perfect for bright days but I was also surprised by how versatile it is in shade & lower light. Colours are warm and vibrant, but without feeling over-saturated and are true to life. The low grain is particularly pleasing for crisp shadow detail, adding to the clarity of the highlights.”

I think it’s time to pull Portra 160 out of the shadows of its famous Portra brethren and crown it a champion in its own right!

I promise it's not just a summer film, but at the moment all the reviews are showing GORGEOUS sunny colours! This one (c) @jfvockins

2. Kodak Gold

In recent years Kodak Gold has leapfrogged Colorplus as the most popular entry-level 35mm colour film. It offers an incredible value for money: strong colours, an effortless ‘70s’ aesthetic, good grain, and excellent flexibility. Kodak received global adoration for bringing the emulsion back in medium format in 2023 and this gave the film stock a popularity boost across 35mm as well.

So regardless of your camera - 120 format or 35mm - you’ll be able to enjoy Kodak Gold. I often use Kodak Gold as test film to understand what a new camera is able to do - but I also will always have multiple rolls in both formats in my camera bag as back-up. Gold is often compared with Ultramax - but in terms of real photographer's scores at the moment Gold comes higher!

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3. Portra 400

This is probably THE most famous Kodak film for the modern photographer. Not necessarily the one that is used most (that honour sits with Gold) but the one that folks use when they want to be ‘serious’ about the shoot. It delivers unbelievable analogue vibes with enough quality and flexibility to bend to your creative vision.

Do you want to shoot sunset silhouettes overlooking a cityscape? Portra 400 has got your back. Going on safari and need to jump between dusk and bright sunlight on the same roll of film? Portra 400 makes it look easy. Taking once-in-a-lifetime photos of a family wedding or new baby? 100% I would trust Portra 400 to deliver.

See also: Kodak Portra 800 which has very similar scores and feedback

Family photo taken by our very own - and super talented - @Goodyshootsfilm 🥰

4.Lomography Turquoise

I love using Lomography Turquoise films, and an average customer rating of 4.86/5 shows I’m not the only one! Yes the colour shifts are just as noticeable as Purple, but I find the oranges and turquoises much more pleasing - and they often elevate the scene in surprising and aesthetically pleasing ways.

According to Paula K “the pictures look like they could be straight out of some 60/70s psychedelic folk rock album cover. Awesome results.” Lomography held off on rereleasing this emulsion for a long time, but I am thrilled that the community convinced them to give it another run.

This is from of my favourite rolls I've ever taken on Turquoise 35mm - the entire set of images elevated a simple hike into magical fairyland

5. Cinestill 800T

Cinestill 800T is one of the most Instagrammable films on our list, and is rightly seen as iconic for modern film photographers. You can’t go far without hearing about its halation - the wonderful glow around lights, particularly artificial red light - and ‘gas stations on 800T’ is a genre by itself.

But if you look behind the hype you will still find an outstanding film. Based on Kodak Vision emulsion the quality is top notch and the results can blow you away. Cinestill 800T takes more care than many others - because of the halation and other differences versus traditional C-41 films - but it will reward the right shot with instant magic.

Tokyo on Cinestill 800T - yes please! (c) Dom G.

The Best Colour Films: Places 6-10

6. Kodak Ultramax

An absolute workhorse of a colour film. Kodak Ultramax is affordable, flexible, and ISO 400 so can be shot in sunshine, cloud, with a flash, and in most situations you’ll find yourself in!

Variable weather and light? Kodak Ultramax FTW!

Because of the flexibility it’s usually the colour film that I recommend for beginners to find their feet with analogue photography, but it shouldn’t be pigeon-holed as a basic emulsion. I’ve seen an incredible array of subjects brought to life with Ultramax, and it can be happily scanned and printed up to A3 size with minimal grain.

7. Cinestill 400D

The newest Cinestill is also the most flexible in terms of film speed. Available in both 35mm and 120 it retains the Cinestill ‘look’ summarised really well by Max H. “This has to be one of the best film stocks that I have used so far! the dynamic range of this film makes it so versatile and looks great in full on sunshine or low light conditions. I love the colour tones also, which give a real cinematic looks to the pictures.”

"Love this film - it's great for street stuff" - (c) Hobby

8. Kodak Pro Image

Kodak Pro Image 35mm sits at the lower end of Kodak’s “Pro” range, but still delivers unbelievable results versus Ultramax or Gold. Its score with consumers is lower than others in the Kodak arsenal as folks often find it sits happily in the middle without being exceptional at any one thing. However a score of 4.8/5 from over 130 reviews is still very strong, and personally it’s one of my favourites for summer holidays and city breaks.

Marseilles on Kodak Pro Image is just incredible. Look at those blues! And the shine from the cathedral! Gorgeous (c) Paul McKay

9. Candido 800

Candido burst onto the scene a couple of years ago, with the simple-yet-effective message to ‘Buy Flights Not Film’. They stand for affordable emulsions, minimalist packaging, and community focus, and I’ve always enjoyed talking to their founder Harry. They have a few different stocks (with more on the way) and Candido 800 is their best-seller, filling the need in the UK for a cost-effective high speed film.

Oh hello halation (c) @benj_35mm

It isn’t always as consistent as Cinestill or as high quality as Portra, but I expect its ratings and reviews will continue to rise over the coming months and years.

10. Harman Phoenix

Phoenix is a really interesting emulsion. It launched in 2023 with a very clear message from Harman that it was not a technically perfect emulsion. However it IS the first colour emulsion that has been entirely produced in the UK, and is an incredible achievement.

The Phoenix 35mm version has had encouraging scores - an average of 4.46/5 - but personally I think the more recent 120 format is going to do even better. The larger negative size rewards great light, and allows some of the quirks of the emulsion to fade in significance without losing its unique look. I’m really excited to see what Harman do next…

Lovely evocative colours (c) Paul McKay

Honourable Mentions

These are all colour stocks that sit outside the official top ten but I still believe are fantastic colour films that deserve a spot in your camera bag.

Cinestill 50D

The low-light horse in the Cinestill stable, Cinestill 50D captures daylight photos beautifully. It scores lower than other Cinestill films with some criticism of the way images often come back looking slightly greenish. But a combined score of 4.64/5 across 35mm and 120 from the community is still exceptional - and it will reward bright light better than most emulsions!

Kodak Ektar

I received quite a few comments when Ektar wasn't even included in the first edition of this list. So I've gone back to work out why...and yes it was an oversight 😅 "Bright vibrant colours" is the most common phrase when talking about Kodak Ektar - and it has more than 200 5* reviews at the time of writing.

However...it has a lower average score than many of the other Kodak films and I think this is down to two aspects. Firstly, Ektar is part of the professional range and therefore more expensive than the consumer range that includes Gold and Ultramax. Secondly it often renders white skin tones as very red - giving portraits an unnatural look - and some folk "find it a little hard to scan and colour balance."

Still - a fantastic emulsion and a very worthy Honourable Mention!

Photo shot on Kodak Ektar 35mm by (c) kayatstudio4art

Lomography Purple

Purple is the most polarising of the Lomochrome series thanks to its stark colour shifts. Nick M captures its unique take in his review: “The weird colours are a great way to get a fresh take on subjects you wouldn't bother with or feel they're done to death. I had fun with my first roll just wandering around a local park with a macro.”

Kodak Colorplus

There has been a sharp fall from grace for the 35mm film that was the best-selling emulsion five year ago. This is predominantly because of the (Kodak Eastman) price rises that have robbed it of its role as a sub-£5 roll of film. However Kodak Colorplus is still one of the affordable options from Kodak, and delivers great natural colours with high flexibility. Lewis D gives a nice tip “This film certainly punches above it's weight and performs well as the Kodak entry colour film. It does have grain but not unpleasantly so. I always give it a little extra light and shoot it at 160iso.”

And while it feels strange to have it in Honourable Mentions, 376 5* customer reviews at the time of writing are not to be sniffed at!

FPP Blue Ultra

Our friends in FPP are famous for unearthing rare rolls of emulsions and cutting them down into formats for wider use. Blue Ultra is one of their colour offerings: although its speed rating of ISO 3 means I can’t recommend it for most cameras or lighting situations, in the hands of the right photographer it is a wonderful creative tool. Alina W had this experience: “The result is magical, literally and figuratively. The red colour appears depending on the lighting. The day turns into a fabulous twilight. Magic!”

This is enchanting... (c) @@street_and_event_photography

Kodak Ektachrome

Kodak Ektachrome is another emulsion that has suffered in recent years thanks to Kodak Eastman’s pricing strategy, it is now unfortunately out of reach for most casual film shooters. However I would highly recommend it as a special treat - especially for summer holidays! Marco R summarises it well: “I honestly consider this to be the highest technical quality colour film stock available on the market today, all things considered (sharpness, grain, colour fidelity, etc.) No colour negative film compares.” Marco is referring to the fact that Ektachrome is a colour positive (slide) film that requires developing in E6 chemistry.

This gives wonderful results that really shine. Robert S wrote that he “recently used one roll on my trip to Rio De Janeiro and I was really impressed with the colours and the unique look that only slide film can give you. I was so impressed that I wish I had used it more”

Why No FujiFilm?

There have undoubtedly been some incredible Fujifilm colour emulsions over the years. I personally shot a ton of Velvia 50 through the mid 2010s, and Superia 400 used to be one of my everyday staples. However in recent years availability and confusion over production locations has made it very difficult to reliably source well-priced Fujifilm products. Hopefully that changes soon (there are positive signs!) - and when it does I look forward to the community getting the chance to shoot and rate a lot more Fuji films.

The Best Colour Film Stocks Every Analogue Photographer Should Try: Conclusion

Hopefully this article has given you some clear guidance and inspiration for where your colour film journey might take you next.

I'll reiterate what I hope has come through already: while these films are ranked based on average feedback scores, the only thing that actually matters is whether you enjoy the look that your photos have! So please don't worry if you have a totally different priority list - that would be expected - and finding your own creative aesthetic is all part of the fun 😊

So with that frame of mind, are there any films in our list that surprised you with their position?