FlicFilm Elektra 100

Elektra 100 is Flic Film's respool of Kodak Aerocolor IV, the aerial reconnaissance and survey color negative Kodak still manufactures in bulk. Because Kodak holds the Aerocolor trademark, Flic Film cannot sell it under that name; the Lomography Santacolor 100 release is the same base stock under different branding, as is Popho Luminar 100 and Film Washi X. Several small respoolers are buying the same master rolls.

The film originated as an aerial emulsion, engineered for long working ranges, wide latitude, and good color separation against haze. Translated to ground-level photography that turns into noticeably forgiving exposure behavior and a slightly contrasty, saturated palette with strong reds and greens. The grain is fine because the base is T-grain architecture; in 35mm, Elektra resolves closer to Portra 160 than to Ektar 100 in texture, though the contrast curve is steeper than either.

Color rendering sits between the two named Kodak peers. More punch than Portra, less aggressive saturation than Ektar, with a slight tendency toward warm midtones. Skin reads natural in daylight. Greens lean cool. Blue skies render rich without going cyan. The film caught on partly because at roughly five dollars cheaper than Ektar in Canada, it occupies a clear price/quality slot for photographers who liked Ektar but wanted to use less of it per shoot.

One quirk: Elektra is unusually sensitive to fogging from oblique light leaks because aerial film is loaded under controlled darkroom conditions, not by hand off a counter. Load in subdued light and the film behaves.

Available in 35mm 36-exposure cassettes only. No 120, no sheet sizes. In continuous production at Flic Film since 2023.

Reciprocity exponent is 1.1. Zone Light Meter applies the correction past one second. A metered 8-second exposure becomes about 10 seconds at the negative, which lines up well with the kind of tripod work where you might pull this out instead of Portra: architectural detail, late golden hour, museum interiors.