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The Best Film for the Kodak Ektar H35

Chris Gampat
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Last updated on 05/31/2024
07/03/2024
5 Mins read
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If you’re looking for a way to save money but still love shooting film, we’ve got you covered. That seems to be the biggest problem with shooting film, right? It always has to do with expenses. But what makes the Kodak Ektar H35 so much better is the fact that it shoots half-frames. That means that a 36-exposure roll will give you 72 photos. They’ll all be half frame, but that’s part of the fun with it. Over the years that we’ve been around, we’ve reviewed tons of film emulsions. So we’re rounding up the best film for the Kodak Ektar H35. Head below to see our selection.

The Phoblographer may receive affiliate commission payments for links clicked in this article upon making a purchase.

How we Selected the Best Film for the Kodak Ektar H35

Here’s some insight into how to use this guide to the best film for the Kodak Ektar H35:

  • The Phoblographer’s various product round-up features are done in-house. Our philosophy is simple: you wouldn’t get a Wagyu beef steak review from a lifelong vegetarian. And you wouldn’t get photography advice from someone who doesn’t touch the product. We only recommend gear we’ve fully reviewed in these roundups.
  • If you’re wondering why your favorite product didn’t make the cut, there’s a chance it’s on another list. If we haven’t reviewed it, we won’t recommend it. This method keeps our lists packed with industry-leading knowledge. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
  • The Kodak Ektar H35 brings back the idea of the half-frame camera. It doesn’t have many exposure controls at all. So we don’t recommend using slide film because of this. Slide film is really for manual cameras that let you really get your exposure right. Instead, color negative and black and white film are better here. They give you more flexibility.
  • So what makes a film emulsion the best film for the Kodak Ektar H35? This guide is gauging a few things. First off, there’s affordability. Our favorite selection is taking a new spin into making film affordable for photographers everywhere while also giving photographers great results. The rest are versatile, more easily found, and still can give photographers great results.
  • The products in this list of the best film for the Kodak Ektar H35 were all tested by us. In most cases, we ran rolls of the film through the camera. But we’ve indeed tested all of these film emulsions.

The half-frame camera takes a little getting used to using. Once the brain adapts to the shooting style, it is a lot of fun to use. It provides sharp images with plenty of detail. Pair it with some Kodak Ektar film for some added fun, and enjoy the muted, vintage colors. Photographers who want contrast will enjoy the results when using high-contrast film. The 1/100s shutter speed can easily create blurry photos if you aren’t careful. 

Our Kodak Ektar H35 review

the Best Film for the Kodak Ektar H35: Atlanta Film Co 250D

Tech Specs

These specs are taken from the website’s listing and it’s available for $9.99/roll:

We’re excited to release the new Atlanta Film Co. 250D. This film is the result of a collaboration between Dunwoody Photo and Kodak Film Lab Atlanta. Traditional C-41 processed films have seen massive shortages we have found a way to safely process ECN-2 film through traditional motion picture linear processors. In collaboration with these two labs, this motion picture film has been cut down to fit traditional 36-exposure film cartridges.

  • 250 ISO (Daylight Balanced)
  • Motion Picture Film with the rem-jet
  • ECN-2 Process Only
  • Recommend Dunwoody Photo for return processing and Scanning: Order Form

Recommendations: If your camera does not have a 250 ISO setting, you may set your camera to ISO 200.

PROS

  • It’s an affordable film.
  • Beautiful colors
  • Sharp and rich details
  • I mean, look at the photos. How can you complain?

CONS

  • There’s no way in heck you’re developing this at home.

What We Think

We’re choosing Atlanta Film Co 250D because of the fact that it uses the EC2N film processing method. This isn’t as common here in America, but it’s growing. If you’re not familiar, it’s the same kind of processing that’s done for movie film. Because, well, this is movie film after all! But it’s different from CineStill where the remjet layer isn’t removed. The result is more consistent results.

Here’s the conclusions to our review of Atlanta Film Co 250D.

The real big picture is the fact that most Daylight film is super expensive. Prices keep going up, but Bill Manning, who heads up AFC, is doing Robin Hood’s work. He’s taking from the rich and giving to the poor. Want your Kodak Portra? Well, it’s going to cost you. Looking for Ektar? That’s going to cost you too. But somehow or another, Cinema film is still affordable. And Atlanta Film Company 250D is respooled cinema film that’s gorgeous to behold.

It will help you make the cinematic memories of your dreams. That’s why we’re giving it five out of five stars. As I told Bill when I got my scans back, I nearly shed a tear.

A woman in a colorful shawl looks at her phone while walking past shops in bright sunlight.

3 Other Great Options for the Kodak Ektar H35

Here are three other great options that photographers will enjoy. These film emulsions are more pricey overall. But for some photographers, these might be best film for the Kodak Ektar H35 because of image quality, balance, or personal taste.

Fujifilm Acros II 100

In our review, we state:

First things first; Fujifilm Acros 100 II is simple to use. Just load it into the camera, set the ISO, and shoot. It’s got lots of versatility for street photographers, landscape photographers, candid shooters, portrait photographers, etc. It’s challenging to take a bad picture with this film if you know what you’re doing. Generally speaking, this film needs more light than ISO 100. Give it up to a stop of extra light if you’re in a very shadowy, overcast area. Otherwise, expose it according to your light meter. Personally speaking, I adored using this in my Leicas, but I probably would’ve had even more fun with it in my Natura S. That camera does all the decision making for you. (And it is pink. Who doesn’t like a pink camera?) This camera has a flash built-in and a fantastic light meter. With it, you’re going to get even sharper photos.

Kodak Ektar 100

In our review, we state:

Kodak Ektar 100 is a pretty beautiful film. It’s best used in the old school way of doing photography: with a camera on a tripod, a special light meter used to judge the highlights and shadows, and then a single very care and calculated exposure being made. It delivers very saturated colors that I’m sure many digital photographers will really like–especially if you’re a Sony shooter.

Ilford Delta 100

In our review, we state:

Ilford Delta 100 is a superbly sharp black and white film with fine grain and beautiful contrast. It creates gorgeous fashion images when paired with a Hasselblad 501cm in the studio. The film is so sharp that it is also an excellent choice for an inexpensive 35mm point-and-shoot with a plastic lens. It is perfect for portraits, landscapes, travel, and street photography. 

atlanta film co best film Best Film for the Kodak Ektar H35 fujifilm kodak Kodak Ektar review
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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