Kodak ColorPlus 200 Film Review

Kodak ColorPlus is the cheapest colour film on the market. And not that long ago, it was the cheapest film, period.

So how does the price stack up against quality?

In this review, I’ll break down all the technical characteristics of this film and how it compares to others in its class. I will also explain exactly what makes this film special and why I believe it will remain the most affordable photographic choice for the foreseeable future.In this review: Kodak ColorPlus packaging and markings. Grain structure, resolution, and sharpness. Dynamic range. Colour reproduction. Exposure guide. Scanning Kodak ColorPlus. Where to buy Kodak ColorPlus. Support this blog & get premium features with GOLD memberships!☝️ Do you know the difference between Kodak Gold and Kodak ColorPlus? The two films are packaged in similar red and yellow boxes with large “KODAK” letters and priced similarly, but there’s a slight distinction between the two!

Kodak ColorPlus packaging and markings.

Today’s Kodak ColorPlus originated from a line of films developed in the 1980s with the “VR” labelling, which means that it uses a T-grain emulsion. Kodak later used the “VR” label with films like Kodacolor VR-G 100 (which was sold as Kodak Gold 100) and Kodacolor VR-G 200 (now sold as Kodak Gold 200).

The “VR” labelling stuck, despite the fact that neither the box nor its contents carry it anymore, and so you may find ColorPlus labelled and sold as Kodak VR135 even today.

If you have a strip of developed colour-negative film, you can identify it as ColorPlus by the “200-8 KODAK” markings on the side.

Without the box, Kodak ColorPlus film is packaged in yellow 35mm film cartridges with printed “Kodacolor” and decorative black lines behind the large type “200” below.

Oddly, that’s not the same¹ film as the new Kodacolor 200, released on October 1, 2025. The new Kodacolor 200 uses a slightly different design on the cartridge (no black lines, “KODACOLOR” typed in all-caps, red Eastman Kodak logo). But that’s a story for another article.

¹ — The packaging is different, but the product may be the same. Kodak does not specify what exactly is in each cartridge; they did admit that the new Kodacolor films use existing emulsions, although it’s uncertain which one. An upcoming article will provide a detailed comparison between all the ISO 200 colour-negative Kodak film options. Don’t miss it, Subscribe!

Grain structure, resolution, and sharpness.

T-Grain films, like ColorPlus, are made with a unique process that shapes and arranges the photosensitive crystals into efficient structures that absorb more light without relying on larger granules.

As a result, Kodak ColorPlus renders fine-grained results, comparable or exceeding those of any modern ISO 200 colour-negative films, including the new Harman Phoenix 200 and KONO Color 200/OptiColour 200/ORWO NC200. The only film that renders finer grain than ColorPlus in this speed is Kodak Portra 160.

ColorPlus and Kodak Gold have identical grain size and structure.

Whereas most Kodak films have matching datasheets with technical information that say exactly how large the grain may appear, ColorPlus does not. However, assuming it is identical to Kodak Gold (based on detailed observations), this film’s PGI index is ~44. This means that when printed on a four-by-six-inch paper or smaller, there will be no visible grain for most viewers.

Dynamic range.

While I’m quite certain that Kodak Gold and Kodak ColorPlus have the same or similar grain structure (having seen the scanned samples of both at 10,000 DPI), I’m not so sure about their dynamic range.

The dynamic range is a property that describes the film’s ability to simultaneously render shadow and highlight detail in the same frame, and often, its perceived contrast when scanned. It can also inform how easy it would be to shoot and get good results as a beginner.

This property can be measured. Kodak Gold lists it at eight stops, which is enough for most photographic applications, although not nearly as impressive as the widest DR of all films: 12.5 stops for Kodak Portra 800.

While you can meter Portra 800 as ISO 400, 1000, or even 200 and develop it normally without significant quality loss, films like ColorPlus should be exposed carefully using a decent light meter or via the Sunny 16 Rule.

Colour reproduction.

Colour reproduction of photographic film depends on its sensitivity to various wavelengths, the dyes and the couplers that develop into colours on the negatives, the scanning hardware, and the film inversion software that makes a positive.

The scans you see in this article were made with either Pacific Film PrimeFilm XAs or Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 5000ED, both of which are among the best-resolving dedicated film scanners on the market, with the added benefit of high bit depth and excellent colour rendering. I used film Q to invert the negatives — an app I built from scratch that does not alter or distort picture colours, sharpness, or saturation and does not hide the exact mechanics of its inversion algorithm. In other words, these samples are clean representations of what the film can do without the hidden or explicit digital enhancements.

Based on the above and in the context of other colour-negative films scanning using the same techniques, ColorPlus renders colours reasonably accurately — better than some films but slightly worse than others.

For example, I could tell that Kodak Gold is a little better at rendering skin tones than ColorPlus, producing at least one more shade of tan hue. This difference is extremely hard to spot, which is why ColorPlus can be considered nearly identical to Gold (unless your software presets colour each differently — but that’s not the film’s fault!)

At the same time, ColorPlus can produce much more accurate colours than the new Harman Phoenix and KONO Color 200/OptiColour 200. This difference is so significant that it will persist across various scanners and software edits. Whereas good scans of Kodak Portra films, Ektachrome, Vision 3, or Fujifilm Velvia films will reveal a much greater depth, which can better distinguish between skin tones and details such as light blemishes and imperfections that make us human.

Kodak ColorPlus falls in the middle among all the modern colour-negative film choices in terms of colour accuracy. It’s more precise than some of the newest options, but not as expressive as the top-tier films, with an evident warmth that may appear as an increased sensitivity to reds, vivid greens, and slightly subdued blues.

Exposure guide.

ColorPlus is the cheapest Kodak-branded film you can buy today, making it a good choice for beginners. If that’s you, ensure that your camera’s light meter is properly adjusted, and that you’ve set your camera’s ASA/ISO dial to 200 (if it has one; point-and-shoot cameras will read this film’s DX code and set it automatically).

Like most colour-negative films, ColorPlus will tolerate overexposure better than underexposure, which is why it’s often suggested to meter for shadows — but that doesn’t mean that you can’t overexpose this film with something particularly bright.

I recommend selecting well-lit scenes with minimal shadows for ColorPlus unless you’d like to render high-contrast images (like the ones immediately above and below this paragraph). Well-scanned ColorPlus negatives show minimal noise in the dark/underexposed areas, which is a good thing for this type of lighting.

I would avoid grey, low-contrast, badly-lit, or indoor scenes without flash, as these types of images may end up looking muddy once scanned.

Scanning Kodak ColorPlus.

ColorPlus negatives dry flat and are generally easy to scan. Typically, there isn’t much to do when it comes to editing, as the images often produce fairly strong contrast and saturation.

As with the rest of Kodak films, certain exposures may need a slight colour correction if you invert your film with film Q or manually with histogram stretching (depending on your scanning hardware).

If you care about archiving your photos, consider the digital negative method, which involves saving a completely unedited, unaltered image next to its positive pair for easy touch-ups in the future.

Where to buy Kodak ColorPlus.

Ten years ago, this film was mostly sold in Asia and South America and had to be imported to be bought in the US, Canada, or Europe. But that’s not the case anymore, and you can find this film at most shops across the world.

As of this writing, Kodak ColorPlus is still the cheapest colour-negative film on the market, selling for an average of $11 per roll in the US.

If you’d like to support this blog, you can buy it using the links below.

❤ By the way: Please consider making your Kodak ColorPlus 200 film purchase using this link so that this website may get a small percentage of that sale — at no extra charge for you — thanks!