Kodak Ektachrome 200 (Daylight) Expired Film Review

Kodak Ektachrome 200 Daylight reversal (slide) film has been out of production for decades, though is still a relatively easy-to-find stock. Notably, this is not the same as Ektachrome E200, with the difference becoming plain once you try to cross-process it.

Whereas Kodak Ektachrome Professional E200 delivers over-exposed, colour-shifted results when cross-processed (similar to what you’d expect from the new Eketachrome E100), the Daylight Ektachrome 200 shows beautiful, realistic colours with little distinction from the native E-6 chemical bath. The only downside of developing Ektachrome 200 in C-41 is the massively enlarged grain.

Grain structure, resolution, and sharpness (when developed normally).

Developed normally (in the E-6 chemicals the film was made for), Ektachrome 200 has a very fine grain. Its size and sharpness are on par with fresh Ektachrome E100.

The grain is reasonably sharp yet barely noticeable, which creates well-resolving images, especially on cameras with excellent lenses (like the Kyocera T-Proof I used for this review).

Unfortunately, there are no datasheets available for this film, so I can not tell the exact measurements for the granules. But the samples should make that clear nevertheless — especially if you’re reading this on a large screen.

I’m very impressed with how well this film held up despite being deemed expired for nearly 30 years!

Grain structure, resolution, and sharpness (when cross-processed in colour C-41 chemicals).

I love the results I got with this film when I cross-processed it in C-41. What I got is far from perfect, especially if you pay attention to the edges that appear lighter and grainier than the middle of the frame (due to my poor agitation technique). The grain is significantly more noticeable here, but it’s not to the point of looking awful.

But along with appearing large, the granules are also significantly sharper than when the film was developed in E-6. This means this film may resolve better in cameras with soft lenses or in pinhole cameras when developed in C-41. It looks almost as if this is a newspaper print.

Ektachrome 200 colours (when developed normally).

Thirty years past expiry, and the film still holds up exceptionally well. When developed normally, Kodak Ektachrome 200 looks as good as new, even better than many modern emulsions in terms of colour reproduction and the overall look. I may go as far as to say that it’s better than the brand new Ektachrome E100 as the results look a little more saturated while still very realistic and not overly punchy like those of Ektar.

I even like the results from this film better than many of my Kodak Portra 400 frames. There’s zero colour correction work that needs to be done with this film. It’s fantastic right out of the box.

Ektachrome 200 colours (when cross-processed in colour C-41 chemicals).

Though the increased grain and my development technique mistakes are plain in the sample shots here, Ektachrome 200 holds up the colours really well when cross-processed in C-41. I can’t say how well this would’ve worked thirty years ago when the roll was fresh, but as you can see, there are no weird colour shifts or anything strange-looking in the results.

The colours look like they may have lost some fidelity, yet they are still quite accurate. In fact, they are better than some of the brand-new films created recently, such us Lomochrome Color’92 and the ORWO pair.

Again, I’m very impressed.

Ektachrome 200 dynamic range (when developed normally).

I used two enlarged frames above to demonstrate the dynamic range of this film when developed in E-6. The first one (apples) illustrates how it handles over-exposures, and the one of a Mini shows some under-exposure response.

In both cases, the film shows no colour shifting as it fades gracefully into white or black. If I were to guess its dynamic range, I’d probably call it a range between 5 and 7, which is a reasonably high number for slide film. It feels like this film can do as well as (or better than) the brand-new Ektachrome E100, which has a DR of 5.

Ektachrome 200 dynamic range (when developed normally).

The film may have lost some of its ability to preserve the shadows when cross-processed in C-41 — but that’s mostly because of the grain that renders them messy (but not lacking in information). The highlights still look good, so probably it’s still a 7. Who knows. I certainly don’t plan to waste any of my limited supply on an imperfect home testing setup.

How much does Ektachrome 200 cost, and where to buy it.

We are lucky to still have a bunch of this film available on the secondary market. How all this stuff can survive for 30 years and still produce results of this quality is beyond me. So, if you’re looking for an expired slide emulsion in ISO 200 that looks good cross-processed, this is the one to get.

As of this writing, you can get a box of 135 Kodak Ektachrome 200 Daylight for about $10 plus shipping.

Just remember that the version reviewed in this blog is Kodak Ektachrome 200, not E200, and not Elite Chrome — as the latter two are different emulsions.

❤ By the way: Please consider making your Kodak Ektachrome 200 (Daylight) half-frame film camera purchase using this link  so that this website may get a small percentage of that sale — at no extra charge for you — thanks!