Our Method

We recently acquired two Nikon F-301 bodies and a couple of 50mm 1.8 lenses so we could accurately do some side by side tests of different films. If you have any suggestions on what you’d like to see next be sure to let us know on Instagram

To test, we’ve made sure each of the cameras has accurate speeds, the settings on both match and both shots are taken within a short time frame so the lighting doesn’t change and affect our final result.

For all colour negative film its best to lean towards slight over exposure as a general rule. When in doubt, we went half a stop over box speed.

For this test we’ve scanned on our Noritsu HS-1800. For those that don’t know, we use two different scanners at Ikigai. The profiles on our SP-3000 were made by Fujifilm and the profiles on our Noritsu were made in collaboration with Kodak.

While this can slightly affect the final result due to differing profiles being selected by the scanner, we decided this was a good base to start our tests.

Colour Comparison

The first thing that was immediately apparent to us was how each of these films renders certain colours quite differently. We found the Superia 400 showed more accurate reds immediately whereas the Ultramax leaned towards orange reds.

This is fairly noticeable on the first set of chairs and the backboard which has turned quite orange in the Ultramax example. You can see the rest of the scene is quite evenly balanced.

Similarly with yellows, we found the Superia had a deeper, stronger yellow while the Ultramax had an almost fluro or neon yellow in some examples.

In some examples this type of yellow works really well, but in others it can be quite jarring. Ultimately it comes down to personal preference. If you prefer accurate yellows, we’d suggest the Superia. If you like larger than life yellows, the Ultramax might be your best bet.

Skin Tones

Superia 400 brings out red and pink in skin, so that’s something to keep in mind if you’re shooting portraits of someone fair or pale.

Ultramax amplifies the yellows considerably which can look quite nice in the right circumstances. It’s unlikely either of these films would be used primarily as a portrait film, but if you had to make do this is what you can expect.

Grain Comparison

The second thing we noticed was that Ultramax 400 seemed to be quite a bit grainier than Superia 400. Both grain size, intensity and chromatic noise was more apparent in the Ultramax scans than the Superia. In the below Ultramax example you can see that the grain is particularly strong in the out of focus areas below the life ring and even more noticeable in the in focus areas than the Superia.

For general small prints, this type of difference would probably not be noticeable but it’s interesting that there’s quite a significant difference between these films.

In our stress test Superia 400 did show a slight edge in resolution at a truly insane crop (check the green square!) and also seemed to exhibit less chromatic noise than Ultramax.

Colour Slope Comparison

For better or worse, Superia does lean towards red initially and generally requires a cyan adjustment during scan, especially if you’re over exposing at all. This can be seen in some of the scans, in particular the highlights. Ultramax definitely scanned a little easier with the Kodak profiles straight out of the gate.

Conclusions

Both films perform well, especially at their respective price points and speed. Consumer film like this is said to be less colour accurate than “professional” line films, but both performed well enough that we wouldn’t hesitate to use either.

You would have no trouble making large prints from both, although we have to give a slight edge to Superia for its sharpness, nicer grain and more accurate colours.

Colour accuracy, grain and sharpness isn’t everything though! We’d recommend you try both to see what you like. Next time you’re reaching for the Portra but want to save a few bucks, it’s definitely worth giving both of these films a crack.

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