To start, it’s cheaper by half than many professional films, and while it’s true that it’s more expensive than Fuji’s consumer-grade film, I think Ultramax creates better and more predictable images. Its wide exposure latitude allows for capturing vibrant colours in daylight, and beautiful portrait shots too. I’ve always preferred the colors of Ultramax and have often wished that Kodak would make a professional version with a grain structure like Portra 400.

You notice tons of grain in the Kodak Gold and the colors aren’t as vibrant as the Kodak UltraMax (or really, the other Kodak Gold images taken in the sunlight). But as film shooters, we get to choose each time we load film; plus, there’s some value in narrow DR/high-contrast films for the look you can get with them. Like most Kodak films, its warm tones make UltraMax a good portrait film and its strong saturation works well for landscapes as well.Back in the days when film was the most popular way of taking photos, Kodak popularly had three consumer-grade films in the market – ColorPlus 200, Kodak Gold 200, and UltraMax 400.

Colour-balanced for smooth skin tones and natural hues, it delivers bright blues, greens and reds out of the box - perfect for all kinds of photography; from portraits to action scenes.The fine grain structure, deep and balanced color saturation, great color accuracy, and wide exposure latitude make working with this film a great experience. Another advantage that ISO 400 has is that it allows you to use freeze your subject with crisp details intact. Unfortunately, I can’t remember which type of a minilab machine it was or if the people who processed my rolls did anything special. Kodak Ultramax 400 is a good go-to film for me when I want something where I do not want to be “that person”.