Arrggh! Which ISO100 slide film?

cooltouch · Oct 5, 2009

Welp, being the OP and all, and wanting to make some sense of all the suggestions, I made a tally of the film recommendations. Those folks who mentioned more than one film, I tallied the first one they mentioned.

And guess what? It's a dead heat between Kodak Elite Chrome 100 and Fuji Astia 100F. So the only sensible thing to do will be to buy at least one roll of each, and put them through their paces. I imagine I'll like both, albeit for different reasons. Ah, such is life, eh?

But y'all keep your suggestions coming, by all means. I'll wager I'm not the only one who's faced with this quandary, and this thread may be of some use to a future (or present) member.

flatulent1 · Oct 7, 2009

Rudeofus said:
We could start galleries for different film types, either here or in the gallery section. These galleries would not focus on artistic composition or dramatic captures, but on the qualities of the film in question. If other forums can do this with lenses and cameras, we could do it with films. Questions specific to one film could be posted here and the answers can be found easily by later newcomers.

If I want to see what a film looks like I go do a search on pbase, and sometimes flikr has a group dedicated to a particular emulsion. It would be nice if there was a resource here with samples shot in various lighting situations plus user/viewer comments.

keithwms · Oct 7, 2009

Fred, Michael, Rudeofus, the obvious problem with pbase and other non-APUG resources is that some folks can take great liberties with their scanned slides. What would be helpful would be a representative scene taken with all the various films, and then scanned identically and displayed side by side. At least for the velvias, this was done recently in View Camera. IIRC the article showed significant difference between velvia 50, 100, 100F, and the original 50 in terms of colour rendition (esp. in the yellows) and overall shadow detail. Alas it did not make a comparison to Astia, Provia and the Kodaks. And I don't think 400x was available at the time, too bad because that is a very interesting film- extremely versatile. IMHO astia/400x are a very good 'neutral' combo. Actually, I see more similarities between astia 100f and provia 400x than, 400x and provia 100f.

polyglot · Oct 7, 2009

Wikipedia has a neat little list with basic info regarding saturation, grain, etc.

cooltouch · Oct 7, 2009

polyglot said:
Wikipedia has a neat little list with basic info regarding saturation, grain, etc.

Cool! I'm definitely bookmarking this page. Thanks! I like that it gives resolving power and contrast numbers. Takes some of the subjectivity out of things.

EASmithV · Oct 8, 2009

Rudeofus said:
Normally, if I read such a question, I'd assume that people would point the TO to a variety of film lists online, where one would find comparisons and parametrized decision charts. But these lists do not exist, instead I see the question "which film?" posted over and over again, and multiple answers of the "I use XYZ and it works great" or "ZYX looks like crap!" kind. Many hobbyist photographers start a new venue when an important moment comes. I got tons of gear shortly before my first kid arrived, now that my second kid is about due, an RZ67 is on its way. Testing 20 different films is great in the long run, but doesn't work when someone just wants to get started quickly.

I see two possible ways for us to help newcomers with their film decision:

We could start galleries for different film types, either here or in the gallery section. These galleries would not focus on artistic composition or dramatic captures, but on the qualities of the film in question. If other forums can do this with lenses and cameras, we could do it with films. Questions specific to one film could be posted here and the answers can be found easily by later newcomers.

We could start a sticky thread which lists films based on their measurable qualities: latitude, contrast, skin color reproduction, color saturation, grain, ... Obviously, each film entry could point to its associated gallery if available.

AN EXCELLENT IDEA!

Rudeofus · Oct 8, 2009

polyglot said:
Wikipedia has a neat little list with basic info regarding saturation, grain, etc.

That's a wonderful list, unfortunately Kodak's films are barely covered on this page. I'm a lot more confused by Kodak's naming scheme (especially for E6), also due to the fact that Kodak uses different names for the same emulsion in different countries.

polyglot · Oct 8, 2009

Yeah I can't help you with Kodak chromes or any data about them 'cos I know nothing about them... but if someone here does, then by implication what I'm saying is that they should go add that information to wikipedia.

Jeff Kubach · Oct 8, 2009

I'll go with the Kodak Elite Chrome, I always like it!

Jeff

Ihmemies · Oct 8, 2009

Hopefully Elitechrome 100 isn't like Elitechrome 200. I once bought 10 rolls box of it, fresh. I've shot eight rolls from that box during two years. Overexposed, underexposed, exposed normally. In various places, with different cameras, lenses etc. Processed by various labs. But there's one common factor:

It's crap. Every single roll, every single photo, is magenta. More or less. I really hate the magenta tinge and I can find only two reasons for it: The film is designed that way, or Kodak produced a load of crap emulsion when I bought mine.

Dave in Kansas · Oct 8, 2009

I haven't shot any Elitechrome 200, and only a few rolls of Eletechrome 100, with the most recent being about a month ago. But I like the 100 a lot, a whole lot, and plan to shoot more. Colors are very natural and certainly no magenta cast.

Dave

nickrapak · Oct 8, 2009

All of my Elite Chrome 200 examples have turned out fine, save for one roll. However, that roll was bad because of bad processing, not bad film. It is grainier than the 100 speed version, although not by much.

nickandre · Oct 8, 2009

Pick one and try it. You're not likely to go wrong. Sensia, Velvia 100F, Velvia 100, Provia 100F, Elite Chrome, Kodachrome, E100VS...I've tried them all and never gone wrong. My last sensia roll was a little magenta though, no idea what caused it. Might've been processing. I was probably pushing my developer 45 rolls beyond stated capacity anyways.

StorminMatt · Oct 10, 2009

tiberiustibz said:
Sensia, Velvia 100F, Velvia 100, Provia 100F, Elite Chrome, Kodachrome, E100VS...I've tried them all and never gone wrong.

To the best of my knowledge, there isn't (and never has been) a Kodachrome 100.

Ektagraphic · Oct 10, 2009

If Elite Chrome is expired or is exposed to heat it will turn red.

Ektagraphic · Oct 10, 2009

Try buying a couple of rolls. Great stuff. The pushablility of the 200 is pretty good.

Rudeofus · Oct 11, 2009

I guess we can conclude, that the photographic film industry has reached a level where bad film is not produced any more, especially by well known brands. Some films may be unsuitable for certain tasks or damaged by improper treatment (storage, exposure, processing), but generally they all work well. So if you get film from reputable sources, store it properly and take care when developing it, you shouldn't get weird color casts or other effects you so frequently read about. Once you've done some shots with some average film, you can still decide whether you'd like more or less contrast/pop/sensitivity and change to some more suitable film for your particular task.

nickrapak · Oct 11, 2009

Rudeofus said:
I guess we can conclude, that the photographic film industry has reached a level where bad film is not produced any more, especially by well known brands. Some films may be unsuitable for certain tasks or damaged by improper treatment (storage, exposure, processing), but generally they all work well. So if you get film from reputable sources, store it properly and take care when developing it, you shouldn't get weird color casts or other effects you so frequently read about. Once you've done some shots with some average film, you can still decide whether you'd like more or less contrast/pop/sensitivity and change to some more suitable film for your particular task.

I agree 100%. There is no film out there made by the "big two" that I could say is complete crap. There are films which I do not particularly like for certain applications, but I can't say they are bad films. In my opinion, the last truly bad film was Ektachrome Lumiere 100. That stuff was better suited to the trashcan than any camera that I owned.

Arrggh! Which ISO100 slide film?

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