Ode to Gold, A Kodak Gold 200 Review

Ode to Gold, A Kodak Gold 200 Review

Kodak Gold 200 doesn’t seem to get a lot of love. We hear endless praise about ektar, portra, Ektachrome, portra, fujifilms… and did I mention portra?

These films are beautiful and I am in love with them myself. Each have their own characteristic. Having only shot a little bit of Portra, from what I’ve seen, it’s worthy of all the praise it receives. The same goes for the other films mentioned above.

Kodak gold 200 is a consumer film. It’s much more affordable than the professional kodak line, and isn’t without its cons. It doesn’t have the dynamic range or latitude that, say, portra has, nor the incredibly realistic look of portra either. So sure, there’s obvious reason why this film is cheap. But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t GREAT.

Affordability

One of the things that makes Kodak Gold 200 so great is it’s cheap. Like, super cheap. Right now, (pre kodak price increase..) B&H sells the 3pack, 24exp roll for $8.99usd. Thats $3 a roll. Compared to the price of Portra or Ektachrome, that’s SO cheap. As a beginner film photographer, that’s exactly what you need. Or, even if you’ve been shooting for a while and find the film leech really starting suck things dry.

Great Color

Kodak Gold actually produces quite beautiful colors. It’s a bit more saturated than portra, but not quite as saturated as Ektar. Its right in the middle, right where I like it. It handles skin tones beautifully, but can also give excellent vibrancy with a tiny bit of persuasion in post without looking too fake.

Potentially Fine Grain

This can be a bit of an iffy one. Its exposure latitude can be one of the cons compared to a film like Portra. If you miss exposure too badly, yuck. The grain is quite harsh. However, depending on the content, maybe that works for you! I like grain, and like my photos to FEEL like film, but not sandpaper. While it’s rare that I’ve missed exposure that bad, it happens. A film like portra can have you’re back.

With Gold, when you get you’re exposure right, you just might hear celestial singing in the distance when you see the results. It really can be quite beautiful, and the grain is really nice and fine.

Great For Testing

The cost effectiveness and it’s lack latitude can be used to your advantage. Testing an old camera with a very flexible film like portra may make it a bit difficult to know exactly what the camera is doing, not to mention pricey when you find out the camera is a dud. With Gold, you’ll know pretty quickly if the light meter or shutter is a tad off and its not going to hurt so bad.

I always use gold when testing out point and shoot cameras. In fact, I love this film in point and shoot cameras. Thats the classic combination. Nothing takes you back to the 90’s more than loading a roll of Gold into a point and shoot. But used in an SLR, you can really start to see the beauty in this film.

Ideal Use For Gold

To be honest, Gold is great for almost anything I’ve used it for. It’s main limitation being a 200asa film, so it’s not that great for low light unless using a tripod, which I’ve never done. Once, I forgot to change the asa on my camera from 400 to 200, it still didn’t look too bad. It was certainly underexposed and the grain really started to show, but they were still pleasing and usable images. Other than that, I’ve never actually put this film “through the ringer,” so I can’t say much on what it can or can’t do. However, it’s handled everything I’ve thrown at it so far; landscape, portraiture, still life and street photography. It’s my go-to.

I’ve always stuck with the box speed with Gold. In doing so, it has never let me down. It gets a bad reputation of being a “boring” film, but I think thats nonsense. I’m always surprised by the results. I’ve been able to get the look I want in many of the different styles I’ve used it for. I think it possesses the same magic that a lot of it’s more expensive brethren share, but on a very affordable level.

Great For Beginners, Great Forever

If you’re just starting into film photography, spending $14-$15 on a roll of ektachrome or cinestill is really hard to swallow. While I’ve recently bitten the bullet and finally ordered a brick of Portra, Gold constantly kept me from doing so. Every time I would look at my results, I would be so pleased and kept thinking to myself “why bother spending that much on portra when Gold makes me so happy?”

Don’t feel like you need these films to be a part of the cool kids, or to make beautiful photos with film. Go to walmart and grab a pack. Throw it in a camera and have fun with it. Give this film the love it deserves. As much as I enjoy shooting beautiful films like Ektar, (and long to get my hands on some Ektachrome) I will always go back to Gold. If I’m rushing out the door but want to shoot a bunch of fun pictures, not knowing what I may see, it’s going to be Gold.