Hi folks, Anchell & Troop in The Film Developing Cookbook recommend Ektapan as a good flexible B&W film. Does anyone have any experience with this film. I'm wondering how it would be for field shots and portraits in natural light. Thanks, David

-- david clark (doclark@yorku.ca), June 18, 2001

Answers

David: Go down to the bottom of this page to the Older Messages and go to the Film catagory. A question about Ektapan was answered a few weeks ago. It is a good general purpose film, but apparently has been dropped by Kodak. It was primarily a commercial applications film.

Regards,

-- Doug Paramore (dougmary@alaweb.com), June 18, 2001.

Ektapan IS a beautiful film but as Doug stated... Kodak discontinued.

-- Scott Walton (f64sw@hotmail.com), June 18, 2001.

According to Kodak's website, Ektapan has not been discontinued.

-- Ken Burns (kenburns@twave.net), June 18, 2001.

Yeah... I saw that post a while back & thought the same thing. Kodak has done away with both Pro Copy, and SO-132 this year, but I think Ektapan is still available. FWIW, if you pull up Pro Copy's tech sheet, there's a statement about it's being discontinued, but there isn't one for SO-132...I'm not sure why, because there was one online for a while, and I exchanged emails with a Kodak tech who said they discontinued that film as well...and gave me very detailed instructions why...

David, can't say how Ektapan will do in natural light, but this was a big studio portrait film at one time, as well as one used for copywork.

-- DK Thompson (kthompson@moh.dcr.state.nc.us), June 18, 2001.

That Kodak lists a product on its website does not necessarily mean the product is available for the average consumer. For example, the Kodak website lists 5 x 7 as one of the sizes of T Max 400 film. But that film has been discontinued in 5 x 7 except for "special orders." John Boeckeler

-- John Boeckeler (boeck@midcoast.com), June 18, 2001.

I wanted to use Ektapan, but chose not to becuase it appears to be next on Kodak's soon-to-be discontinued list.

-- William Marderness (wmarderness@hotmail.com), June 18, 2001.

The great yellow rat-bastards are also showing 8X10 tech pan available on thier site. I asked a distributor and they laughed.. said its been unavailable for years in 8-10.

-- david o'connor (dco@definitive-security.com), June 18, 2001.

I asked Kodak & got this reply:

Kodak Ektapan Film continues to be available in many sheet sizes, and I have heard no information as to a pending discontinuance of this film.

Thank you for visiting our Kodak web site. If you should have any questions on Kodak products or services, please be sure to revisit our site as we are continually adding information to enhance our service.

Sincerely,

Peter Vimislik Kodak Information Center (USA) Kodak Professional

800 Lee Road Door C Rochester, NY 14650-3109

1-800-242-2424 ext. 19 (Monday-Friday, 9am-7pm EST) http://www.kodak.com/go/professional

-- Charlie Strack (charlie_strack@sti.com), June 19, 2001.

B&H has it in stock in 4x5, 8x10 and 11x14! For 5x7 you'd have to wait 7-14 business days.

-- Sal Santamaura (bc_hill@qwestinternet.net), June 19, 2001.

Ektapan. Responds well to pmk/pyro develpment (stains well). I love it. Great tonal qualities. I have only started using it so I haven't extensive experience yet but I love what I've done so far. I only do outdoor landscapes. If I had a bunch of money I would go buy a ton of ektapan in 4x5, 8x10, 11x14, and I dream of 16x20 sheets. Oh Man!

-- David Vickery (vickeryphoto@cs.com), June 20, 2001.

David,

Kodak Ektapan is a great BW film for landscape. Not just because of its sharpness, but also its tonality. I love it. You can get it from B&H and Badger Graphics, they have 4x5, 5x7, and 8x10 in stock. Cheers,

-- Geoffrey Chen (DB45TEK@AOL.COM), June 20, 2001.