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EKTACHROME 7240
"Kodak Introduces Super 8mm Movie Film," the September
3, 1997 press release announced. Introduced as a replacement for the twenty-something
year old Ektachrome 160, the new high speed Ektachrome 7240 is a delight
for users who need a higher speed film than the fairly slow Kodachrome,
but a mixed bag of blessings when it comes to results.
First, the 7240 film stock may be new to Super-8,
but is anything but new, as it has been available to 16mm users since 1975.
Called VNF 7240 by Kodak, which stands for "Video News Film", it was formulated
when local television news departments were shooting 16mm film, and needed
an existing-light film stock that could be processed in-house quickly for
the nightly broadcast. Now, of course, all of that is history, but
Kodak kept producing the film in 16mm, re-marketing it for documentary
applications. With the demise of Super-8 Ektachrome 160, it
was easier for Kodak to take their existing 16mm film, re-slit, re-sprocket,
and repackage it for Super-8 rather than create something brand new to
appease the film students and Super-8 aficionados in need of a higher speed
film than Kodachrome.
What was easy for Kodak, however, is going to require
more patience and practice for Super-8 users, as this stock has quite different
characteristics than the old Ektachrome. Ektachrome 7240 is rated
ISO 125 indoors without any filter, and 80 outdoors with a filter.
This makes the film slightly slower than Ektachrome 160, which was rated
with an indoor ISO speed of 160. The difference amounts to about
40% of one f/stop. Because nearly all Super-8 cameras will read the
notch on the cartridge as an exposure rated film of ISO 160 instead of
125, it is necessary to manually adjust the exposure for each shot by opening
the lens anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 f/stop more than the camera light meter
reads. I found the best results occurred at the 1/2 stop increase.
A lower f/stop opens the lens more, increasing the light to the film, so
by adjusting the aperture to a 1/2 lower f/stop than the in-camera light
meter reading, proper exposure can be achieved.
VNF 7240 is a "professional" film stock, and while
that lofty title may sound impressive, it doesn't imply that it is better,
or will yield better results than an "amateur" stock. Kodachrome
and the old Ektachrome 160 are so-called "amateur" stocks, and considered
"Type A" films. The "professional" Ektachrome 7240 is a "Type B"
film. Type B films have different color balances and may require
more attention than Type A films. Kodak lists the correct filter
to use for outdoor photography as an 85B, and not the 85A typically built
into most Super-8 cameras. The two filters are very close in color
correction, however, and the built-in 85A filter can be used satisfactorily.
In several test results I alternatively spliced together exact scenes shot
with both the 85A and the 85B filter and could tell no perceptible difference.
The film is also balanced for "professional"
indoor lighting with a Tungsten temperature of 3200 Kelvin. Typical
indoor lights and amateur photofloods have a temperature of 3400 Kelvin,
which are slightly cooler to the camera lens. The correct compensating
filter for this is an 81A, which will warm up the colors, but also drop
the ISO rating down to 100, as any filter will restrict some light emitting
the lens. I did not run any indoor tests with this filter, but simply
shot test footage without a filter, using standard home movie lights to
supplement regular incandescent lighting. The colors looked fine
to me, and I would imagine the slightly warmer look of an 81A filter might
perform better, but is not necessary for adequate results, and the loss
of light involved is definitely a deterrent.
The colors themselves looked better at the warm
end of the spectrum. The blues and greens appeared a little dull,
but the warmer oranges, reds, and yellows were pleasing. One has
to remember that this stock does have a documentary look to the colors
-- somewhat bland, but very natural and real, a true-to-life look, as opposed
to Kodachrome's almost M-G-M Technicolor appearance. Proper exposure
is critical, as even an overexposure of one f/stop seemed to fade the colors,
even though the film didn't look washed-out by the slight overexposure.
The biggest disappointment with 7240 is the grain.
Motion picture film is made of silver-nitrate crystals, which are used
to make silver-halide grains. The size of each grain is relative
to the light sensitivity and speed of the film. The larger each grain
the more light that is sensitized, allowing the film to capture an image
in less light. This is why films with higher ISO speeds, so-called
low-light or existing-light films, have a grainier look to them.
In motion pictures the grain is even more noticeable than still photography,
as the grain seems to move around with every frame of the film, creating
an unwanted pattern in the background. Kodachrome with an ISO speed
of 40 is the standard which many films are measured in sharpness and grain,
but the film requires a lot of light. Ektachrome 160 always showed more
noticeable grain on the image, as could be expected of a film two full
stops faster. Ektachrome 7240, rated at ISO 125 is not as fast as
the old Ektachrome 160, so one would expect it to have a finer grain.
Unfortunately, this is not the case. This film is every bit as grainy
as Ektachrome 160, and though the image can be very sharp, the grain seems
to be magnified if the image is not in razor-sharp focus, or if the film
is improperly exposed. Focus and exposure are so critical with 7240
that if one is not careful, the result can often be an image that looks
grainier than the Ektachrome 160 this film replaced.
Ektachrome 7240 can be purchased for around $13
a cartridge, or around $3 more than Kodachrome. Processing generally
runs around $10-12 per cartridge, which is higher than a Kodachrome PK-59
mailer (Kodachrome has just announced it will discontinue selling PK-59
mailers), and about the same as the few independent labs that can process
Kodachrome. Ektachrome 7240 can be processed many places, and some
labs will do same-day processing, which seems a miracle compared to two-week
turn-around at Kodak, which now sends all its Kodachrome to Switzerland.
Hopefully, the continuation of an Ektachrome film by Kodak will keep the
independent labs busy enough to remain in business.
Ektachrome 7240 is a welcome addition to the dwindling
number of Super-8 film stocks offered by Kodak. With care, the grain
is no worse than its predecessor is, and the colors are similar if not
quite as flattering. It's a shame the film is not an improvement
over the old Ektachrome 160, especially given its slower speed. The
film is priced right, it can give acceptable results, there are still labs
to process it quickly, and with its release, Kodak is showing some commitment
to the Super-8 market. With that much going for it, I am very thankful
for Ektachrome 7240. If it proves successful, perhaps Kodak will
consider reconfiguring some of their better 16mm or 35mm film stocks for
Super-8 users.
--- Chris Cottrill
E-mail: chris_cottrill@yahoo.com