Kodak Ektachrome 100D

Original (datasheet + characteristic validated). See the notes, the cinema README, and the Knowledge base.

The stock

Kodak Ektachrome 100D Color Reversal Film (5294/7294) is a positive/reversal motion-picture stock. Process E-6, the same reversal chemistry as still-photo slide film. This is structurally different from every other cinema stock in this bank: Vision3 (250D/500T/50D) and Double-X are all negatives. Kodak's datasheet (archived: kodak-motion/ektachrome-100d_5294.pdf, pub. H-1-5294) describes it as offering "moderately enhanced color saturation while maintaining a neutral gray scale and accurate flesh reproduction," with "exceptional sharpness that is unsurpassed by any other 100-speed reversal film," recommended for "advertising, nature cinematography, documentaries, music videos... telecine transfers and television filming."

Why it's on the "most notable and pleasing" list

Researched directly, not assumed: Ektachrome's cinema reversal stock has a specific, well-documented recent credential. Poor Things (2023) used it, and critical/technical writeups describe its "elevated colour, contrast and grain" as central to the film's sensory visual style. That's a strong, checkable signal distinct from generic "people like slide film" reasoning.

Why Provia, not Eterna

Every other cinema recipe in this bank (Vision3 250D/500T/50D, Double-X) is built on a negative-modelled base (Eterna for colour, Acros for B&W). Eterna specifically exists to mimic the low-contrast, soft-shouldered character of negative motion-picture stock. Ektachrome 100D is the opposite kind of film: a reversal stock with the firmer, shorter latitude and punchier response characteristic of slide film. Provia. Fuji's own balanced-slide simulation. Is the structurally correct analogue, the same logic used for the still Kodak Ektachrome E100 original (which is also Provia-based). This is a deliberate, documented exception to "cinema recipes use Eterna."

How the settings embody it

— + neutral Highlight/Shadow (rather than the Vision3 family's — + Highlight —) reflect the reversal stock's shorter latitude, there's no long negative-style shoulder to protect. Color —+ Color Chrome Effect — deliver the "moderately enhanced saturation" the sheet describes, more than a neutral reading, short of Velvia-level punch. The small warm WB nudge (—/—) protects "accurate flesh reproduction" against Fuji's cooler native lean. Sharpness —eflects the sheet's own "unsurpassed" sharpness claim. A slight underexposure bias in the EC guidance follows universal reversal-film shooting discipline: protect highlights, since (unlike a negative) there's no latitude to recover them afterward.

The Poor Things variant

The film's specific grade reportedly pushed further. Heavier grain, more saturation, than the stock's native, accurate-flesh-tone character. The recipe notes a stylised variant (Grain —/—, Clarity —, Color —) for anyone chasing that particular film's look specifically, while keeping the primary recipe faithful to the emulsion as Kodak documents it.

vs the rest of the cinema collection

Validation status

Datasheet-validated (saturation/sharpness/balance language, archived PDF) + characteristic-validated against a specific, recent, well-documented production (Poor Things), an independently-checkable evidence class. No Commons frame-grabs exist for cinema footage; scan-validation would need a user-supplied reference.