Kodak Portra 400 35mm Film (C-41)

Kodak Portra 400 is a professional 35mm colour negative film and one of the most widely used and trusted emulsions in the world. It's daylight-balanced, C-41 processed, and built around fine grain, accurate skin tones, and a forgiving exposure latitude that makes it hard to get wrong.

Whether you're shooting a wedding, travelling, or just walking around with a point-and-shoot, Portra 400 delivers consistent, beautiful results across all kinds of light.

Price is per roll.

Why photographers love Portra 400

Portra 400 is one of those rare films that works for almost everyone — beginners and professionals alike. The skin tones are its headline act: warm, natural, and flattering without looking processed or artificial.

Its exposure latitude is genuinely impressive. You can overexpose by two stops and the negatives still scan beautifully. Underexpose a little and it holds together well too. That forgiveness makes it an ideal everyday film, especially if you're shooting in mixed or unpredictable lighting.

It pushes reliably to 800 or 1600, which makes it a solid choice for indoor and evening shooting without switching to a faster stock. It pairs well with virtually any 35mm camera — from the Canon AE-1 and Nikon FM2 to the Olympus Stylus Epic and Contax T2.

A bit of film history

Kodak's Portra line has been around since 1998, originally launched to replace the older Vericolor and Ektapress professional films. The current Portra 400 emulsion — reformulated in 2010 — introduced T-GRAIN technology and became an instant benchmark for colour negative film. It's now one of the most-discussed and shot films in the analogue photography community worldwide.

Processing

Portra 400 requires standard C-41 colour negative processing. We process C-41 in-house at Ikigai Film Lab in Melbourne, with scanning available on our Fujifilm Frontier and Noritsu HS-1800 scanners.

Common questions

Can I push Portra 400? Yes — Portra 400 pushes very well. Shooting at 800 gives you a little more contrast and slightly warmer shadows. Pushing to 1600 is also viable, though grain becomes more visible. We offer push processing as an add-on when you send your film in.

How does Portra 400 handle overexposure? Very well. Overexposing by 1–2 stops is a popular technique with Portra — it keeps highlights from blowing out and often gives a softer, more luminous look to skin tones. It's a film that rewards giving it more light.

How does Portra 400 compare to Ultramax 400? Both are ISO 400 colour negative films, but Portra is a professional emulsion with finer grain, better latitude, and more neutral colour rendering. Ultramax is a consumer stock with a warmer, punchier look and a lower price point. Portra is the pick if skin tones and scanning quality matter most.