Years ago, you could buy Kodak's Gold 100 color negative film almost everywhere. When I needed a color film that always produced excellent prints, Gold 100 was my usual choice. For the ultimate resolution in 35mm, I used the famous Kodak Ektar 25 (also long discontinued), but the 100 was more versatile and easier to use. Late in its life, Kodak relabeled it as Bright Sun 100, but I think it was the same Gold 100.
As long-term readers know, I have a weakness in experimenting with older films. With some checking on eBay, I found a 4-pack of Bright Sun/Gold 100 (both names on the same package - not confusing at all) that expired in 2004, near the end of production for this film. The seller claimed it had been in room temperature all its life. It was certainly worth an experiment.
Here are some examples from the Olympic Peninsula in the grand Pacific Northwest. During my July trip there, I loaded a roll in my little Voigtländer Vito BL camera with its remarkably capable 50mm ƒ/3.5 Color Skopar lens and took snapshots. Please click any picture to expand.
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| Wishkah Blue Artists Studio, Hoquiam, Washington |
I photographed the little studio in 2022. This year, it looked a bit more forlorn. I am not sure how active it is.
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| Waiting to get moving, Hwy 101, Humptuips |
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| Pizza Grill, Route 101, Lake Quinault |
Lake Quinault is a gorgeous elongated lake in the west edge of the Olympic Mountains. I photographed the old
Kestner-Quigley homestead farm near the lake in 2022.
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| Sunsets West Co-op, Clallam Bay (with polarizing filter) |
We stopped here en route to Neah Bay and bought some nuts and dried fruits. The food options in the far northwest of the Olympic Peninsula are rather limited.
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| Fixer-upper house, Woodland Avenue, Neah Bay |
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| Tall house, Bay View Drive, Neah Bay |
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| Red house, Bay View Drive, Neah Bay |
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| Native Grounds and breakfast stop, Neah Bay |
We stayed two nights in Neah Bay. It is a quiet little town on the Makah Reservation in Clallam County. From town, it is a short drive to Cape Flattery, the furthest point west on continental USA (excluding, of course, the Hawaiian Islands and Alaska, where Sarah Palin* could see Russia). At Cape Flattery, we saw some new birds for us, the Pigeon guillemot and Pelagic cormorant. And in town, we saw the Glaucous-winged gull.
The Gold 100 experiment was a success. It is probably lower contrast than when new. I definitely like this version better than the new Gold 200, which is too grainy for my tastes. The 100 looks similar in resolution to the contemporary Portra 160, which I will probably use in the future once my 3 remaining rolls of Gold 100 run out. Maybe Kodak can reintroduce it (we can hope). My little Vito BL camera, with its 50mm ƒ/3.5 Color-Skopar lens, performed well, as usual.
In the future, I will post a series of Gold 100 frames from the 1990s in New York City. Stand by.
* Sarah Palin was a former Alaska governor. She was a genuine ding-a-ling and doomed John McCain's presidential hopes. How does the R party generate these brash goofballs and then champion them? Is it a political death wish?
