I’ve always been a fan of Kodak Gold, sharing a lot of my early work with this film because it had been so affordable at the time. Like many of you, I was really excited when Kodak announced they were releasing Kodak Gold 200 in Medium Format.
It’s been very rainy and gloomy, but we caught one clear day. Kelsey and I went to our usual place on the water to relax and test out the 120 gold. Watch the video at the end to see footage from our day.
Kodak Gold by the Ocean
When we got to our favorite spot on the hill overlooking the water, we found the area to be pretty crowded and our usual bench was taken. Instead, we sat on a picnic bench under a tree listening to the water over the voice of a woman talking about her failed affair with a married man. What a town!
I couldn’t pass up the chance to take a couple portraits of Kelsey. She is 21 weeks pregnant and glowing. The Fujifilm GF670 can’t get too close, so I couldn’t take proper portraits, but these are still lovely in my opinion.
This film does have a lot of Magenta tones to it which gives skin tones a lot of warmth. I tried to tone it down in post a little, but still couldn’t get rid of it completely. I’ve also heard people compare it to Kodak Portra 160. See photo below to compare.
Floral Gold
These beautiful Royal Poincianas don’t stay flowered for long, but when they do, boy are they beautiful! This particular one was in the middle of the parking lot shading the cars, and littering them with buds. I couldn’t get enough shots of it.
Please take a moment to sign up to get my articles in your inbox!
The canopy from underneath was particularly striking and some tourists nearby saw me taking photos and suddenly got out their own camera and started shooting. It was like they didn’t realize it was there until they saw me giving it attention. That’s why you should always slow down and take in your surroundings.
This photo makes me think of a patterned wallpaper. I can’t wait to print it out and frame it. This was also the last photo I took that afternoon and my favorite, so you never know what you’ll get until you develop and scan.
Still Life Gold
I think by now, if you’ve been following me for a while, you know I love doing still life photography. Of course I had to try Kodak Gold 200 in medium format in this setting. At first, I wasn’t sure if it would suit it because of the low ISO, and I was only using natural lighting from a window. However, I think some of these came out really nice.
These still life compilations are part of a project I am doing. The items belonged to loved ones I’ve lost. This setup in particular is for my father Al.
A Note on Kodak Gold
According to Kodaks Tech Sheet
It is designed for general picture-taking situations in daylight or with electronic flash. You can also expose this film under photolamps (3400 K) or tungsten illumination (3200 K) with filters. It also features wide exposure latitude—from two stops underexposure to three stops overexposure.
In my experience with this film, especially in 35mm, it can be very easily under exposed. In the case with these still life photos, I would go from one exposure being pretty light to closing down the lens one stop and being under. The shadows would instantly be muddy. I’ve experienced this with both formats. That could be because I tend to shoot in low lighting.
One thing that is different with Kodak Gold 200 in medium format compared to 35mm is the grain. As with most 35mm films, grain can be prominent, but in medium format you get a much smoother look because of the larger negative.
I was surprised once I scanned the film to see that it was actually on the cold side. All the Gold I’ve shot in 35mm was always very warm. In fact I had to do some color correction in post to get some of the blue out. I’m not sure if that is the look of the film, or if it could be the scanner, but it was this way in all the rolls I’ve shot.
Final Thoughts on Kodak Gold 200 in Medium Format
All that being said, I love Kodak Gold 200 in medium format. I’ve always been a fan. It isn’t the affordable film it once was at around $10 a roll for 35mm and near the same for 120, but it’s still cheaper than Kodak Portra 160. These days it may be worth it to you to save a couple bucks.
I like my results and hope you did too. If you would be interested in prints let me know in the comments or message me. I’ve wanted to offer prints for a long time now, but I am not really sure if that is something you’d be interested in or how to go about it.
If you have found this article or any of my articles helpful, please consider supporting my work by clicking any of the links below. Purchasing a zine or even just subscribing to get my articles in your email helps me out. Either way, thank you so much for reading.
Until next time, stay motivated and keep shooting.
Shop Ebay to get your own Fujica GF670
To Shop for 35mm format film camera on KEH – CLICK HERE
Shop for 35mm format film camera on Ebay – CLICK HERE
To Shop for Medium Format film camera on KEH – CLICK HERE
Shop for Medium Format film camera on Ebay – CLICK HERE
These are affiliate links to KEH Camera, Ebay, and Amazon. Simply purchasing through these links, you’re supporting my work with no additional cost to your purchase. It’s greatly appreciated.
Absolutely beautiful photos (and Kelsey looks beautiful, too!), and the information about the film’s color biases and how you worked with or corrected for it was professional-grade useful.
Thank you 🙏
Great shots! That one really does look like floral wallpaper. I’ve only shot one roll of Gold 120 so far and I liked the results. At my local camera shop it’s only a dollar cheaper than Portra 160 so I’m going to try both and see which one I prefer.
Thanks! Yea at this point it’s personal preference.