I rarely shoot on Kodak Ektar 100. When I reach for a color film it’s usually something a bit more muted, like Portra 400 or Fujicolor Pro 400H. I also like the CineStill 50D and 800T. On a whim I picked up a roll of Ektar 100 (35mm) from B&H Photo and loaded it into my Konica FT-1, which was alternately outfitted with the Knoica Hexanon 28mm f/3.5 and the Konica Hexanon AR 50mm f/1.7. I then proceeded to traipse the city streets from Hell’s Kitchen down to the Battery, composing (sometimes loosely) shot after shot, with the expectation that I was going to end my day with a decent number of keepers. After I squeezed off my 36th shot, I slipped my camera into my bag and headed toward the Bowling Green station. A moment later, I was stopped dead in my tracks by the realization that the ASA dial on my camera was still set to 1600. I mercilessly berated myself the whole train ride home, incredulous at my failure to thoroughly check my camera settings before shooting a new roll of film. I went from looking forward to seeing those previously mentioned keepers I assumed I had, to hoping I had a few salvageable shots. Long story short, I developed and scanned the film and came out of the whole experience amazed at the exposure latitude of Ektar 100. I got some unexpectedly clean photos (and a few super grainy ones) to say I shot the film at 1600. I’ll confess to having made that mistake before, but it was with black and white film so the thought of an accidental “push” didn’t cause me too much anxiety. My traumatized (yet unbreakable) roll of Ektar 100 acquitted itself beautifully for the most part. I’m not saying I’ll ever purposely shoot Ektar at 1600, but should another settings check oversight occur in the future, I won’t bother freaking out. Here are a few shots from that roll. 

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