Agfa Ultra 50 - 35mm
Agfa Ultra 50 was a color negative film produced from the about the early to mid 1990s until 2005. It was noted for having incredibly intense color saturation, arguably the highest saturation of any film on the market, beating out even the vaunted Fuji Velvia slide film. In particular Agfa Ultra 50 had a field day with reds, oranges, yellows and blues. Blue skies could render deep, rich tones even if one was not using a polarizing filter. Of course, this intense saturation had its tradeoffs. Agfa Ultra 50 was not a film that reveled in subtlety or nuance. If you photographed a red rose, the image would have about one shade of red and it would be intense. It was therefore not an ideal film where true-to-life colors or nuanced color gradation were the goal. However, take it out into a landscape that you wanted to pop out of the image and Ultra 50 could deliver.
The film also featured high contrast, which only further heightened its already intense color saturation. This made it a bit tricky to use. Already harsh lighting could be rendered with undesirable contrast if not careful. Then again, the extra contrast really helped on overcast days or flat, soft light. It was not really intended as a portrait film, due its characteristic harsh qualities.
Agfa Ultra 50 had average reciprocity characteristics, requiring about a stop of additional expose at 10 second shutter speeds. It is also a grainier film than its speed would indicate. Agfa Ultra 50 has an RMS rating of 4.3 for granularity, which made it almost as grainy as Agfa's Optima II 200 film (RMS of 4.5). Despite its slow speed, this was not a film to use for fine grain or sharp detail.
Sadly it was discontinued about 2005.
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