Kodak Ultramax 400 Film Review

Our Kodak Ultramax 400 film review wraps up the 35mm films included in the Analogue WonderBox Film Subscription for October. Read on for a summary of the community thoughts, recommendations and results with Kodak Ultramax 35mm!

Kodak Ultramax 400 is one of Kodak's 'consumer' films - along with Colorplus and Kodak Gold. This means that it is aimed at the casual shooter versus the professionals, with a corresponding lower price point compared to Portra or Ektar.

However this doesn't mean the film is basic! Ultramax has T-grain emulsion technology, the same as in Kodak T-Max, which allows it to capture great colours and detail at ISO 400. We've written up a detailed summary of Gold vs Ultramax so you can see the difference.

Kodak describe the film as follows:

"Kodak Ultra Max 400 film gives you the flexibility you need to take consistently better pictures in more picture taking situations—better low-light picture quality with fewer underexposures, better results with zoom lenses, greater flash range, better "stop-action" photos, and reduced impact of camera shake."

This highlights the importance of the ISO 400: all of these features are made possible by the film's speed.

(c) John Guppy

(c) John Guppy

The over-riding theme of the community's reviews and sample photos is: 'Holiday Film'!

This is down to the characteristics of Ultramax: great colours for landscapes and portraits alike. You're not going to get the vivid greens of Ektar or the beautiful warmth of Portra, but this makes for a wonderful 'all-round' 35mm film that might be aimed at a huge variety of subjects across 24 or 36 exposures. I've had great success shooting the 24 exposure version with my Pentax 17 camera - the half-frame nature allows for 48 photos in total and it responds really well with the modern lens.

It will also respond well to dim lighting and fill-flash, so you can load your camera in the daylight with full confidence that it can perform in the evening as well

(c) Tia Payne

(c) Dominic Moss

You can download the official Kodak UltraMax 400 technical sheet here.

As I mention in the accompanying YouTube video - Ultramax 35mm is a wonderful 'middle-ground' film that is great at many things without excelling in a niche, unlike the more expensive Portra or Ektar. A 'premium snapshot' film - I would take this on holiday for evening and party shots, knowing that it's high speed gives me more wiggle room on lighting and shutter speed than slower colour films. To understand more check out our simple explanation of the exposure triangle.

If you found this Kodak Ultramax Review informative then check out our other WonderBox film reviews here: https://analoguewonderland.co.uk/blogs/film-review