Let's Compare Some Film!! Fuji vs. Kodak - FIGHT!!

As I was setting up for a shot the other night, I realized I still had one shot left in my film back, and thought that this might be a good opportunity to do some film comparisons! The film I use probably more than anything else is Fuji 400H PRO, at least for all my night stuff (which I clearly do a lot of). It's my favorite. The latitude is great, it has really nice and fine grain, and I love the colors it produces. Not crazy like Velvia but still beautifully saturated. So imagine my dismay at being in Custom Color the other day, needing to buy film, and they were out. All they had was the Provia 400, and positive film just doesn't work well for night shots using long exposures. The guy recommended I try the Kodak 400VC and I thought "what the hell?" I give Kodak shit all the time so I might as well put my camera where my mouth is. Hit the jump to hear my two cents....


Let's just say I won't be switching brands anytime soon. While I found no clear difference in terms of sharpness or grain, I found the Kodak to be far too yellow, and really absorbing the orange streetlight of the roof I was on. I found the Fuji had a much better color and was overall waaayy cooler (I guess that's why people use Fuji, isn't it) but I was surprised at how much more saturated the reds were as well (the crane looks like a goddamn light saber!). Also the clarity of objects like the tree in front of VGH have much more definition compared to the Kodak. I guess it's all just about personal taste, but I can't see myself picking the VC up again if I have a choice. Anyway, click the image to get the Hi Res version, and if your interested in the technical stuff, both shots were 10 second exposures using my Zeis Planar 80mm 2.8 wide open on my 'Blad. Hope someone found this interesting!