I cannot explain how amazing Ektachrome E100 and Provia 100F look when developed. There’s something very captivating about it!

I shot both these films with my wonderful Bronica Zenza ETRS 6by45 camera. I shot with the 75mm f2.8 lens on location in a studio.

I am comparing these film stocks to see the differences in colour, saturation. In terms of pricing in the UK Kodak E100 comes in at £18 a roll whereas Fuji Provia 100F comes in at £10 a roll. There's a significant difference in price so this will be useful for you to consider the next time you will be shooting with colour slide film!

I wanted to try Provia 100F because I know Fujichrome film stocks tend to be more on the warmer side and less contrasty. I have heard Ektachrome can be more contrasty and have more of a blue tinge to the results. So let’s find out how I got along.

Metering for these films can be a bit tricky. I was using my Sekonic L-308X. As these film stocks tend to have a dynamic range of about 3-4 stops you need to make sure that you meter correctly otherwise the images won’t come out well. In practical terms in the studio this would mean taking at least two meter readings one for the highlights and one for the shadows. For film photography it's super important to make sure the shadows are metered in particular because you will not be able to raise or correct these in post as you would with digital cameras.

Every shot was taken on the same shutter speed, aperture and I even tried to keep framing and posing as identical and humanly possible throughout the shoot. Using the studio strobe lights helps when switching the film backs unlike in a natural light setting. I was really trying to get the most consistent results possible. At the end of the shoot I decided to play a little and get some different shots on each one.

I always get a separate contact sheet with my film negatives so I can see the images in colour or black and white. The beauty of slide film is that it is a colour positive film so you can see all the radiance of the images in front of you. Ektachrome and Provia are 100 ISO daylight balanced films. They deliver extremely fine grain as well as, whiter, brighter whites, and an improved tone scale. Both films claim to produce exceptional results for advertising, fashion, editorial, architecture, nature/wildlife, and other commercial applications. As well as this they are specifically designed for exposure with daylight or electronic flash.

I think the runner up would be the shot of her looking up, Provia has really highlighted the blue in her eyes but also a very true red represented in the chair and carpet too. You may be aware that I do like my black and white photography and just for fun I wondered how these images would look in black and white. They did not disappoint. The clarity and detail in both these images is incredible. The image of Natasha standing and rest her head slightly on her left hand also was great.

Overall the reds came out more pronounced, along with a warmer tone to the images throughout with the Ektachrome whereas the Provia came out with more cooler tones in studio conditions. Next time I would like to see how these films perform again in the studio or outside with strobe lighting without a plain white backdrop setup.

One of the reasons for shooting in a studio setting was to help you to save time and money before you jumped into the world of slide film photography. Now that you have seen this setup I hope you are encouraged to push yourself and dive into shooting these film stocks too.

Thank you for watching all my videos, do go ahead and comment below. Have you shot with the Bronica Zenza ETRS or similar 6by45 camera or either of these slide film stocks?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this shoot, the images, how you have shot with either of these film stocks? which are your likes and dislikes about them? What do you recommend I shoot next with it?

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