It probably won’t surprise anyone that I have a ton of love for Kodak Professional film and the people behind it. They do so much when to comes to embracing the photography community and keeping film photography going strong – least of all bringing out several new film stocks in the last few years! When they reintroduced T-MAX P3200 a few years ago and I had the chance to shoot a roll just before the release date, I felt like I had won the lottery. So you can only imagine how I felt when Kodak Professional sent a message last year asking me to be a part of the trial for another new film, Kodak Gold in 120. I pinched myself and immediately said YES!
Now before I go on about how excited I am to be a part of this launch and share some photos from my first rolls of Kodak Gold in 120 format, here’s a little info about this beautiful film.
Kodak Gold is an ISO 200 speed film that has been a staple in photography going back to the days when you would grab a few rolls along with a gallon of milk at the grocery store. The current emulsion of Gold has never been offered in a format other than 35mm. An older version of the film was produced in 120 format up until 1997, but even then it was hard to find in North America. My good friend and podcast co-host, Bill Manning found and shot a roll of the old stuff back in 2020. He made some gorgeous images and wrote about it for Emulsive.org, which you should definitely check out.
Gold 200 has always been marketed as a consumer grade film – meaning that it was less expensive and more accessible to the everyday person looking for a solid film to capture life. Does this mean that it’s a worse film than something marketed to professionals? Fudge no! Like every different kind of film stock, Gold has characteristics all it’s own. Unlike something more specialized like Portra or Ektar, it was designed to be a general purpose film – which means that it’s good for pretty much any kind of subject matter.
Here’s what Kodak Professional had to say about the release of Kodak Gold in 120:
“The 120 film format was introduced back in 1901 for the Brownie No. 2 camera” said Thomas Mooney, Manager Film Capture Products, Kodak Moments Division. “Although it’s been around for 120 years, it’s still one of the most popular film formats in use today. One main reason for its popularity is that the larger film negative can be enlarged significantly without losing image quality. This is a great opportunity for aspiring photographers looking to make the jump from 35mm to medium format photography ”. The new 120 format Kodak Professional Gold 200 is an affordable, entry-level color film featuring an ideal combination of warm saturated color, fine grain, and high sharpness. It is designed for photographers shooting at any level for daylight and flash capture.
You can read the full press release here.
Alright, now here’s a few of my favorites images from my test rolls!
Kodak Gold 200 and it’s speedier sibling Ultramax 400 are my go to color films in 35mm format for walk-around and everyday shots, so that’s exactly where I started out with my first rolls Kodak Gold in 120.
I decided to take another roll with me on a hike at Redtop Mountain State Park, just north of Atlanta.
I took this next shot on a whim because I liked this gnarly tree, but also to see how well the film did with really contrasty light. Kodak Gold in 120 did not disappoint!
This was from an unedited scan. Look at that detail in the shadows!
The color pallet on this film is seriously so nice.
Back in early fall we took a family vacation up to the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina. I made sure to save a few test rolls for the trip!
Color negative film, especially something like Gold 200, really shines on bright and sunny days. I was hoping to get plenty of sunshine on our trip, but the mountains had other plans. They’re called the Smokies for good reason!
Once again, Gold in 120 surprised me and handled some really flat and tricky lighting beautifully!
The weather finally started to turn around on the day we checked out Fontana Dam.
Gold captured the bright sun just like I knew it would, but how it handled cloudier times like these is why I’m always going to have a few rolls of it in my bag!
No batch of test photos would be complete without a couple portraits of this little dude right here!
Speaking of portraits, I wanted to make sure and try out how Kodak Gold in 120 performed on photos of people.
Luckily I was able to set up some collaborations with a couple of friends!
The way this film handled skin tones was one of the best surprises of my whole trial. Gold 200 has been an everyday film for me, but I never used it specifically on a portrait shoot. The colors it captured were so warm and accurate at the same time. I loved how it made these portraits come out!
Huge thanks to my friends Brooks and Layah for modeling these tests!
Final thoughts:
I’m incredibly humbled and thankful to have been a part of the trial of Gold 200 film in 120 format! The results I got from this film were everything I was hoping for. It has the perfect balance of warmth and saturation while still having natural vivid colors that makes me feel like I could capture just about any subject on this film. My medium format cameras are going to be getting a whole lot more love when it comes to everyday shooting!
Credits and technical info:
All of the photos here were taken with my Pentax 645n using various lenses. I rated the film at ISO 100 just to make sure it had plenty of exposure. The film was developed and scanned at the lab I trust for all of my work, Dunwoody Photo.
Product photos were provided courtesy of Kodak Professional Film.
Make sure to head over to Studio C-41 and ready more about Kodak Gold in 120 and plenty of other exciting photos news!
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