8x10 Slides?

[bvy]

Why do (or did) people make 8x10 positive transparencies? In the days of Ciba, I could imagine them being used in the obvious ways -- contact prints or really big enlargements. But today, what's the appeal? They're kind of big for most scanners and overkill for projecting. And you can't easily print them.

It's primarily a matter of curiosity. I'm thinking I may learn something or be inspired to try something new.

 

[MattKing]

In the past, for commercial work.
Now, for backlit display.

 

[bvy]

Now, for backlit display.

I wondered about that. Apparently it's more of a thing than I realized.

 

[Lachlan Young]

Two words: Drum Scanning. Gigabytes of resolution.

And with that, it falls outside the remit of this forum.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Backlit display of a "pure" transparency does not work well. You need a translucent support. Kodak and Fuji both make such a print material. My memory does not serve me well on the names as I seldom refer to them, but I believe that one of them is Duratrans.

PE

 

[dpurdy]

One of my first jobs was shooting 8x10 transparencies of maps to be used by the military. Then when I worked in a commercial studio the 8x10 camera was used to shoot usually cover shots at a particular percentage magnification to match the magnification of smaller shots. I also shot quite a lot of 8x10 copy transparencies of art work for reproduction. All those applications are now obsolete.

 

[locutus]

Extra resolution from 8x10 over 5x4 for scanning also becomes a very debatable item, are you stopping down that 8x10 far enough that diffraction robs you of any information you might have gotten more? Are the lenses sharp enough over the whole field, is your camera and support rigid/stable enough.

Its possible ofcourse, but the kind of cases where you really get more resolution out of a 8x10 seems to me to require very very very exacting methods and standards.

 

[Lionel1972]

I shoot 8x10 color slides for the pure pleasure of diving into them with a loupe on a light table. Mind blowing.

 

[Prof_Pixel]

Why do (or did) people make 8x10 positive transparencies?

Before the days of well color managed digital files, large color transparencies were used as 'the gold standard' in the 4-color printing business to insure advertising images sent around the world were printed properly.

 

[Bob Carnie]

I made 8 x10 , 11 x14 and 16 x20 transparencies for advertising layouts, using 6121 and 6118 kodak trans film. This was all photo comp by hand and the precursor of PhotoShop.

They were things of beauty I might add.

 

[MattKrull]

As has been mentioned, printing for magazines. Not that a magazine needed the resolution, but because they wanted the 8x10 look, and the print processes required a positive image.

 

[mshchem]

Playboy centerfolds were shot on 8x10 Ektachrome in the way back. I read that if they could make 6 good shots a day that was an accomplishment. Of course this was in the pre porn days, makeup, costumes, lighting, art director, it must have been like a moon launch with some poor half naked young woman in the middle. Chromes popped, made the color separation work easier. When I was in high school in the 70's, a buddy showed me what was involved in making color separations for a printing operation, unbelievable!
Mike

 

[tezzasmall]

They're kind of big for most scanners and overkill for projecting.

And there was me hoping that someone local would read this thread and ask me around to see their holiday slides that they took on a 10 x 8 camera...

 

[bvy]

And there was me hoping that someone local would read this thread and ask me around to see their holiday slides that they took on a 10 x 8 camera...

There's always those overhead projectors that teacher used to roll into the room circa 1980.

 

[bvy]

Of course this was in the pre porn days, makeup, costumes, lighting, art director, it must have been like a moon launch with some poor half naked young woman in the middle.

This made me laugh. We've certainly come a long way!

 

[MattKing]

There's always those overhead projectors that teacher used to roll into the room circa 1980.

Those overhead projectors are still around, and they work reasonably well for this purpose.
Historically, there were projectors designed for large hall presentation of large positive materials.
In the 1970s I attended a talk given by Yousuf Karsh in the Instructional Resources Centre at the University of British Columbia. My understanding is that the reproductions of his famous prints that were used in support of the talk were 8x10 transparencies - they were projected on to huge screens.

 

[Ian Grant]

Before the days of well color managed digital files, large color transparencies were used as 'the gold standard' in the 4-color printing business to insure advertising images sent around the world were printed properly.

Taking that a step further the large UK catalogue companies shot every thing actual size for printing. I knew the head photographer at Kays (now long gone) a very large Worcester based catalogue company and saw the set up, they shot to their own design artists pre-visualised drawings and all the transparencies for each page were stripped in together. They ran their own E4 and later E6 lab to have a very fast turnaround to ensure all the transparencies on a page matched and they would be different formats so sometimes a re-shoot with colour correction filters would be needed, before moving to the next pages. They had about 6 or 7 studios and more than one set in each studio, this was a big business and there were a few equally large UK competitors.

Ian

 

[henrysamson]

Easily retouched and then scanned for reproduction.

Henry

 

[fdonadio]

I believe that one of them is Duratrans.

Duratrans is Kodak's product for backlit display. I think it uses an acrylic base (metacrylate).

It's still available for sale here in Brazil.

 

[Sjixxxy]

I mainly shoot C-41 in 8x10. But there are a lot of times I wish I was keeping some transparencies on hand for when the lighting is a crazy hue due to sunset/sunrises so that I don't have to try to remember what stuff looked like when I print.

 

[removed account4]

back in the day it was for a need and purpose,
nowadays because someone with a big camera ... can

someone i worked for had a full length portrait of his wife in a cheap plastic
slide in frame against his window in the kitchen by the sink. it wasn't
8x10 but 5x7 and a portrait of terry's foot dipped in a pool of water and her
on rocks ... it was like stained glass. the sun came up and illuminated the slide
and it was a thing of beauty.
its been nearly 30 years since i saw it last. terry has moved away, dan died of a
massive heart attack maybe 25 years ago ... and i think about that chrome all the time.

probably that's what lionel was talking about ... mind-blowing

 

[AgX]

The most basic use for 8x10 transparencies is what the OP said in his title himself: slides

Such is done when projections with images of extreme dimensions are needed.
The reason is typically not the resolution issue (image is looked at in common scale, solid angle), but the immense illuminace of the slide.

 

[LAG]

... But today, what's the appeal? ... It's primarily a matter of curiosity. I'm thinking I may learn something or be inspired to try something new.

... to dress your walls and windows at home! (for instance)

 

[Alan Gales]

Playboy centerfolds were shot on 8x10 Ektachrome in the way back. I read that if they could make 6 good shots a day that was an accomplishment. Of course this was in the pre porn days, makeup, costumes, lighting, art director, it must have been like a moon launch with some poor half naked young woman in the middle. Chromes popped, made the color separation work easier. When I was in high school in the 70's, a buddy showed me what was involved in making color separations for a printing operation, unbelievable!
Mike

I remember seeing a Playboy photographer interviewed on tv. They asked him what it was like having a dream job where you look at beautiful naked women all the time. The photographer replied something like that he didn't know. He was too busy working to notice.

 

[removed account4]

I remember seeing a Playboy photographer interviewed on tv. They asked him what it was like having a dream job where you look at beautiful naked women all the time. The photographer replied something like that he didn't know. He was too busy working to notice.

i think in the last ICK 10 years they sold off all the 8x10 cameras used in those shoots too.