AshigrainColour reversal · Vivid & saturated
Kodak Ektachrome 100D
Slide-film colour, back on the movie set.
Saturated, contrasty slide-film colour, viewed directly with no print. Original vs Ashigrain.
At a glance
- Exposure index
- 100
- Daylight
- Introduced
- 2018
- In production
- Process
- E-6
- Prints on
- Reversal, viewed directly
About the film
For Yorgos Lanthimos's Poor Things (2023), Robbie Ryan shot Bella's elopement and travels with Wedderburn on Ektachrome 100D and had it developed as reversal in E-6, which Kodak calls a first for a major feature since 35 mm Ektachrome returned.
It is a daylight-balanced colour reversal camera film from Eastman Kodak Company, rated EI 100 and coded 5294 in 35 mm and 7294 in 16 mm and Super 8. Kodak discontinued the earlier Ektachrome 100D, coded 5285 and 7285, in 2012. Kodak announced Ektachrome's comeback in January 2017 and released the revived 7294 in 2018, when Super 8 went back on sale, with 16 mm to follow. Relaunching it, Kodak pointed to the look of Tony Scott's Domino and Spike Lee's Inside Man. For the second season of Euphoria (2022), Marcell Rév's production worked with Kodak to get Ektachrome back in 35 mm, cross-processed it as a negative at FotoKem, and paired it with Vision3 500T. Rév described it as very contrasty and about two and a half stops slower than the 500T, so it needed far more light. Kodak then made 65 mm Ektachrome for Ryan Coogler's Sinners (2025), and Autumn Durald Arkapaw became, by Kodak's account, the first cinematographer to shoot it in 15-perf IMAX.
Sources for this history
- KODAK EKTACHROME 100D Color Reversal Film 5294 / 7294 Technical Data, Eastman Kodak Company
- KODAK Motion Picture Products Price Catalog for the United States (effective 28 August 2026), Eastman Kodak Company
- Chronology of Film, Eastman Kodak Company
- EKTACHROME 100D Color Reversal Film 5294/7294, Eastman Kodak Company
- Kodak Ektachrome Resurgence, American Society of Cinematographers
- DP Robbie Ryan ISC BSC conjured up colorful, atmospheric looks for 'Poor Things' using KODAK 35mm B&W, color negative and EKTACHROME Reversal film stocks, Eastman Kodak Company
- LED Wall Evokes Early-Cinema Effects for Poor Things, American Society of Cinematographers
- Marcell Rév adopts an EKTACHROME approach for 'Euphoria' in pursuit of a nostalgic view, Eastman Kodak Company
- Euphoria Season 2 Cinematography: Marcell Rév Interview, IndieWire
- Autumn Durald Arkapaw ASC created an immersive experience and slices of cinematic history shooting KODAK large format 65mm film for Ryan Coogler's sensational 'Sinners', Eastman Kodak Company
- Sinners: Big, Bold Blues and Blood, American Society of Cinematographers
Shot on Kodak Ektachrome 100D
Poor Things
Bella's elopement and travels with Wedderburn, the ship-deck scenes included, were shot on 35mm 5294 and developed as reversal.
Euphoria
Season two's core look: 35mm Ektachrome made for the show, cross-processed and paired with 500T 5219.
Sinners
Kodak made a few rolls of 65mm 5294 for the film, shot in 15-perf IMAX for handheld shots of workers heading to the juke joint.
Die My Love
About two-thirds of the film, mostly daytime scenes, was shot on 35mm Ektachrome 5294 for the nostalgic haze of an old home movie.
The look
Kodak Ektachrome 100D is a daylight colour reversal film rated EI 100: the camera film itself becomes the positive, with no print stage. Kodak promises enhanced saturation over a neutral grey scale, and cinematographers describe it as very contrasty and hungry for light.
Hard daylight and bold colour on a reversal film.
Contrasty reversal colour on skin in daylight.
Best for
- Saturated daylight exteriors
- Hard sun on bold colour
- Music-video and fashion looks
Among the films
Science & sources
A daylight colour reversal film with an exposure index of 100. Its positive image is shown directly, without a print stage, with a slight veiling flare that lifts the deepest blacks.
Response curves and the evidence behind the model
Compare manufacturer data with the Ashigrain model on the same axes. This shows the calibration to source curves; comparison with photographed film is a separate question.
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 | 0.006171 | 0.006419 |
| G | 0.3 | 0.003997 | 0.004166 |
| B | 0.3 | 0.005821 | 0.006035 |
| R | 0.6 | 0.012008 | 0.012491 |
| G | 0.6 | 0.008061 | 0.008403 |
| B | 0.6 | 0.014487 | 0.015021 |
| R | 1 | 0.017872 | 0.018591 |
| G | 1 | 0.013493 | 0.014065 |
| B | 1 | 0.024946 | 0.025867 |
| R | 1.5 | 0.026508 | 0.027575 |
| G | 1.5 | 0.020845 | 0.02173 |
| B | 1.5 | 0.038043 | 0.039446 |
| R | 2 | 0.030619 | 0.031851 |
| G | 2 | 0.027955 | 0.029141 |
| B | 2 | 0.056441 | 0.058523 |
Model limits
These images show the film model in use. Spectral response, lighting and viewing conditions include approximations, while halation, bloom, grain size, weave and flicker are not fully measured for each film. A real film capture also depends on development and print timing.
- The model assumes custom lighting spectra, camera metering and the spectral reflectance inferred from fixed-white-balance footage. These inputs are not measurements of the film.
- The reversal base-density spectrum is approximated: the source publishes dye curves but no minimum-density spectrum. The 80A filter transmission is also modelled.
- Where calibration data is missing, the model approximates dye amounts, interactions between layers and push/pull behaviour. Grain size is an assumption: published RMS granularity does not determine dye-cloud size.
- Characteristic response outside the published exposure range is an extrapolation, not measured film data.
- The source names an acetate base but no antihalation layer. An undercoat is assumed; halation and bloom are not measured.
- Modelled projection flare raises screen blacks. Its strength is assumed because the available sources do not measure it, so it does not establish measured projection contrast.
Film guide: assumptions and practical choices
Sources
- Exposure index: KODAK EKTACHROME 100D Color Reversal Film 5294 / 7294 Technical Information, H-1-5294, Revised 3-26, p. 1
- Process: KODAK EKTACHROME 100D Color Reversal Film 5294 / 7294 Technical Information, H-1-5294, Revised 3-26, p. 2
- Characteristic curves: KODAK EKTACHROME 100D Color Reversal Film 5294 / 7294 Technical Information, H-1-5294, Revised 3-26, p. 3
- Diffuse RMS granularity: KODAK EKTACHROME 100D Color Reversal Film 5294 / 7294 Technical Information, H-1-5294, Revised 3-26, p. 3
- Granularity density: KODAK EKTACHROME 100D Color Reversal Film 5294 / 7294 Technical Information, H-1-5294, Revised 3-26, p. 3