Reliable film that came out nice after photographing some evening light

Kodak Portra is known for reliability, but at ISO 400, I’d say in a Holga it still needs bright even lighting conditions. These are the best pictures from the reel. There is something wrong with my shutter top left.

I love the Blues !

litterally my favourite film stock

Though increasingly rare and expensive, it continues to hold a sacred place in the hearts of many professionals I know, and for good reason. There is something deeply intentional about how it renders light. It doesn’t rush to impress; it breathes, it listens, it honours tone and atmosphere in a way that feels human.

I photographed this particular roll on a Contax 645 and metered in-camera at ISO 400. The film handled every nuance of contrast and exposure with composure, highlights rolled off gracefully, shadows retained their quiet detail, and the midtones carried that unmistakable neutrality that makes this stock a benchmark for colour harmony.

What continues to strike me most is its emotional intelligence. It doesn’t exaggerate warmth or coolness, it simply interprets the world as it is, with honesty, calm, and refinement. Every frame feels cinematic yet restrained, luminous without ever being loud.

It’s easy to understand why, even at a premium, so many photographers still seek out this film. It rewards precision and care. It invites you to slow down, to meter deliberately, to trust in the interplay between light and feeling.

For me, this film represents the quiet craftsmanship that defines the soul of analogue photography; elegant, consistent, and effortlessly timeless.

I liked it

This is by far my favourite film stock for outdoor photography. The quality is incredible and it does its job even in the gloomy UK weather.

Very nice realistic ,vibrant colours with a reasonably fine grain. Even looks good when I multiple exposed one shot (forgot to wind on!!)

I've used the various Porta range on my 35mm camera (They're great!) but was not expecting such high quality and fidelity with the 120 variants. I almost was ready to let myself down easily as I am using lomo lubitek 166b - which is the cheaper end of medium format but wow, these came out great even after I accidently opened the back of the camera early.

Portra 400 is the best-reviewed and one of the most used films in the world. And it is easy to see why. It is on the pricier side but the results are spectacular.

Portra can handle almost any light conditions and reproduces beautiful, accurate colours that match what was in your mind when you took the photo.

This was my first roll of Portra 400 at 120, having very much enjoyed one at 35mm. It's been waiting for a special occasion and an evening trip to a bluebell wood (with tripod) seemed an appropriate time. As I hoped, the colours were just lovely, in a mature and restrained way, capturing the variation from purple to blue according to the incident light. The scans came back with all the range I needed to tweak some of them in post, to match even more closely the feelings I remembered. The grain is so fine at 120 that cropping to landscape or panoramic both felt entirely feasible options.
Yes, it's expensive, but, as a treat now and then, it will make me try especially hard to do the best I can, and seems like it will always be on my side to deliver a beautiful version of what I was attempting to capture.
Yashicaflex C, and AW dev & scan.

Definitely among the highest quality going. Always a good idea to use a better lens than I did here though!

Honestly, is there anything better than Porta 400? Great all rounder, fantastic tones, very versatile and pleasing results always.
Highly recommend!

I used the film and took some nice photos to try and get some cool colours around where I was shooting used my camera that I have used a lot and is in perfect condition but when I sent the film to get processed the film had destroyed all the photos. the ones that survived came out looking ok.

First roll I shot through my new RB67. Came out amazing. Shot some at a lower iso and they still came out with great colour even in low light

Never fails to impress. Great sensitivity for variable light conditions, beautiful tonality for both portraiture and scenery. Get your best lens ready!