Kodak Ektar 1000 (pre-1996)

Ektar 1000 was the high-speed entry in the original Ektar line that Kodak rolled out in 1989. The family launched in 25, 125, and 1000 ASA, with a 400 added later and Ektar 100 replacing the slow-selling 125 in June 1991, marketed as semi-professional color negatives with T-grain crystals and the same DIAR coupler chemistry Kodak had refined for Ektar 25. The 1000 speed surprised reviewers, because it landed grain that competed with ISO 400 consumer stocks of the time in 35mm and saturated color that pushed toward what Royal Gold would later claim.

The T-grain architecture made the speed work. Conventional cubic emulsions at ASA 1000 produced clumpy grain and muted color. Ektar 1000 used flat-shaped crystals that absorbed light more efficiently per silver mass, which translated into finer grain at the same speed and more accurate dye-layer rendering. It was not the finest grain ever produced at 1000; Fuji's Reala had a tighter look at lower speed and Konica SR-V tested cleaner in some labs. For available-light wedding and event coverage in 1990 it was the sharpest 1000 you could buy through a pro counter.

Color ran warm with slightly boosted saturation on reds and yellows. Skin tones held up under tungsten and mixed light, which is part of why event shooters loaded it. Where it underperformed was clear daylight skies; the blues went toward cyan and cloud structure tended to flatten. That tradeoff carried through the whole 1989 Ektar line.

Kodak discontinued the 35mm Ektar 1000 in 1994 and the 120 in 1997. The Royal Gold series replaced it. Surviving rolls are at least three decades old and show the typical color shifts of long-stored C-41 product: green crossover in shadows and a red-magenta cast in highlights.

Reciprocity exponent is 1.20. Zone Light Meter applies the correction past one second. A 30-second meter reading lands at roughly 60 seconds at the negative. At ASA 1000 the threshold rarely arrives handheld, but for tripod work in low light the correction matters and the narrow color crossover at long exposures matters more.