Kodak ColorPlus Film Review

Our Kodak ColorPlus review combines the community's comments, recommendations, sample images and feedback to give you an excellent overview of Colorplus film's strengths and weaknesses!

Produced for Analogue WonderBox subscribers in April 2021 but helpful for everyone wanting to learn more about the world-famous budget colour film Colorplus 200 😊

Kodak Colorplus is a fantastic colour film - renowned worldwide for producing great colours, classic aesthetic, without breaking your bank account.

It springs from the same historic Kodak sub-brand as Kodak Gold - a product range that was called Kodacolor VR 200. Although the specific details aren’t clear, it appears that the technical specifications of Colorplus and Gold diverged in the late 80s as technology improvements were added to Gold, but Colorplus was left as the budget option.

This meant that it didn't get the same upgrades as the rest of the Kodak range, but it also meant that the cost could be kept as low as possible in the following years.

So if you look at the sample photos and think that ColorPlus 200 looks and feels like a 70s or 80s throwback... that's because it is! Which gives it the aesthetic that many people think of as archetypal ‘colour film’.

Part of this look comes from the Kodak colour palette (tending towards warm), and part of it comes from the technological drawbacks that Kodak ironed out in their premium ranges.

So edge details aren’t great - this means you won’t get perfectly crisp lines. You might get some colour shifts in particularly strong or weak light.

Colorplus won’t cope well with underexposure i.e. when your shutter speed is too fast or your aperture is too small (see Exposure Triangle for details). It tends towards warmth. It's less colour-saturated than Gold. It doesn’t have particularly strong contrast.

But as you’ll know by now - the WonderBox isn’t about finding the ‘perfect’ film. It’s about understanding what films work well in different situations! And this film will work well in most situations - providing you with that throwback look.

ColorPlus is a wonderful film for capture your daily life. You can happily load it in a high-end Leica, a 70s SLR, or a plastic reloadable film camera like the Reto Ultra Wide and Slim and know that you're going to get good and consistent results without having to think too hard!

It's fantastic for capturing snapshots throughout the week. Commuting to work, family life in the garden or around the house, trips to the pub, daily walks in your local area - they will all be photographed with the consistent vintage look.

Personally I’d always err towards giving it more light than less, as it can quickly look muddy when underexposed. You can also throw a flash on - ColorPlus won't give particularly nuanced results with the harsh light of a flash, but it'll capture the moment!

Otherwise - load it up and have fun 😊

Kodak ColorPlus 200 is a budget colour film that performs admirably in a wide range of settings, consistently delivers a wonderful vintage colour aesthetic, and really shines in sunlight! And for the price - you will not be disappointed with the results.

If you enjoyed this Kodak ColorPlus review and found it informative then you can check out our other WonderBox film reviews here: https://analoguewonderland.co.uk/blogs/film-review