Colour negative · 1990s
Kodak Vision 250D
Daylight Vision colour without a conversion filter.
Kodak Vision 250D, a daylight cine negative, printed on its default Vision 2383. Original vs Ashigrain.
At a glance
- Exposure index
- 250
- Daylight
- Introduced
- 1997
- Discontinued 2005
- Process
- ECN-2
About the film
Kodak Vision 250D is a medium-speed, daylight-balanced colour camera negative for daylight or mixed light, coded 5246 in 35 mm and 7246 in 16 mm.
Kodak's chronology lists it under 1997, and the Timeline of Historical Film Colors, independent of Kodak, dates it from the same year. Kodak's first sheet for it is dated April 1997. That sheet presented it as a direct route to daylight pictures, avoiding the need to filter a tungsten film. Kodak likened its grain and sharpness to those of slower stocks and kept its colour consistent with its other motion-picture films. It was made by Eastman Kodak Company. Later Kodak 250D films carry other codes and are different emulsions; the film modelled here is the 5246 of the 1997 sheet. Kodak's chronology lists 5246 and 7246 as discontinued in 2005, the year the Timeline's span also ends.
Sources for this history
- KODAK VISION 250D Color Negative Film 5246 / 7246 Technical Data (H-1-5246, April 1997), Eastman Kodak Company
- Chronology of Film, Eastman Kodak Company
- Kodak Vision 250D Color Negative Film 5246 / 7246, Timeline of Historical Film Colors, University of Zurich
The look
Kodak Vision 250D is a daylight-balanced colour negative rated EI 250, or EI 64 under tungsten with an 80A filter. Kodak offered it as a direct route to daylight colour, without filtering a tungsten film. It prints on Kodak 2383 by default.






Best for
- Daylight exteriors without an 85 filter
- Mixed daylight and window light
- Late-1990s cine colour by day
Compare camera films
Science & sources


A daylight-balanced colour negative with an exposure index of 250. Its curves and spectral sensitivity are digitised from Kodak's 1997 sheet. It prints on Kodak 2383 by default.
Response curves and the evidence behind the model
Compare manufacturer data with Ashigrain’s response on the same axes. These curves show how the model is calibrated to its sources; they do not establish a match to photographed film.
Characteristic response
RMS granularity
Density variation (σD) measured through a 48 µm aperture. Where the datasheet gives a single grain value, the response away from that point is an approximation.
| Channel | Density | Datasheet-based σD | Model σD |
|---|---|---|---|
| R | 0.3 | 0.009875 | 0.009764 |
| G | 0.3 | 0.009394 | 0.009193 |
| B | 0.3 | 0.017683 | 0.017428 |
| R | 0.6 | 0.008077 | 0.007986 |
| G | 0.6 | 0.007822 | 0.007654 |
| B | 0.6 | 0.013967 | 0.013765 |
| R | 1 | 0.007195 | 0.007115 |
| G | 1 | 0.007018 | 0.006868 |
| B | 1 | 0.013018 | 0.01283 |
| G | 1.5 | 0.007619 | 0.007456 |
| B | 1.5 | 0.008612 | 0.008488 |
Model limits
These images show the film model in use. Spectral response, lighting and viewing conditions include approximations. Halation, bloom, grain size, weave and flicker are not fully measured for each film. The look of real film also depends on development and print timing.
- Custom lighting spectra, camera metering and the spectral reflectance inferred from fixed-white-balance footage are assumptions used by the model, not measurements of this film.
- Colour-print timing and scan balance under arbitrary lighting are modelled. Scanner colour balance has no standard physical unit.
- Conversion-filter spectra (80A for daylight films under tungsten, 85 for tungsten films in daylight) come from separate measured filter data, not from this film’s source. Applying those filters to this film remains modelled.
- Individual dye amounts, layer interactions and push/pull behaviour are approximated where the datasheet provides no calibration. Grain size is assumed; published RMS granularity does not specify dye-cloud size.
- The characteristic response beyond log H −3.72 to 0.07 is extrapolated.
- The sheet prints reciprocity corrections at a few exposure times; the correction between them is interpolated, and the colour-compensating filter it prescribes is taken at its nominal value.
- Halation strength, radius and layer weights are not quantified by the datasheet. The effect of removing antihalation and the bloom response are also approximations.
- The printer lamp and filter spectra and the Status A grey aim used in this preview are approximated; the source does not publish the required spectral or laboratory aim data.
Reciprocity: modelled from 1/1000 s to 10 s, following the datasheet's corrections for long and short exposures. Exposure time stops at the ends of that range.
Film guide: assumptions and practical choices
Sources
- Exposure index: KODAK VISION 250D Color Negative Film 5246 / 7246 Technical Data, H-1-5246, New 4-97-BX, p. 1
- Process: KODAK VISION 250D Color Negative Film 5246 / 7246 Technical Data, H-1-5246, New 4-97-BX, p. 1
- Characteristic curves: KODAK VISION 250D Color Negative Film 5246 / 7246 Technical Data, H-1-5246, New 4-97-BX, p. 3
- Diffuse RMS granularity: KODAK VISION 250D Color Negative Film 5246 / 7246 Technical Data, H-1-5246, New 4-97-BX, p. 3
- Granularity density: KODAK VISION 250D Color Negative Film 5246 / 7246 Technical Data, H-1-5246, New 4-97-BX, p. 3