Choosing E6 Films for this summer

etn

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I have no experience with the Rollei projectors you mention, but had an old Liesegang Fantax 600A which I got for cheap on *bay and upgraded for a PCP80 at some point. I would expect the Rollei to be between the 2 in terms of performance.

There are several points to consider when comparing projectors:
- build quality: here, both are (almost) equally good. The PCP is a beast, but the Fantax is not especially made of plastic. Not quite as robustly built as the PCP, but still. The Fantax does not have electronics to fail.
- illumination: here the PCP wins hands down. Projecting an "empty" slide mount shows a huge difference. The PCP illumination is very even up to the corners, whereas the Fantax shows strong light fall-off in the corners. In practice, however, it does not make such a difference! (I did not expect this)
- optical quality: I was lucky enough that my Fantax was fitted with a good (glass, not plastic) lens. The PCP has top notch lenses. However, the difference is minimal here. I expect a plastic lens would have a huge drop in quality, though.
- other features: the PCP has perspective control, which is great if you project from a lower point than your screen. Can be alleviated in practice IMO. The PCP can also connect a dissolve unit, but you will need the unit and a 2nd projector... (expensive)
- cost: the PCP cost anywhere north of $1000 those days, and magazines run $100 or more (which is crazy if you ask me). I have seen Rolleis for about 150 euros here in Germany.

Bottom line, yes the PCP80 is good, real good, but does the difference justify the price tag? I do not think so. In my opinion the PCP is over-hyped. Cheaper projectors will provide you 99% of the performance at a much lower cost. Just be sure you get good optics with it.

Sorry for the off-topic digression.
 

iakustov

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etn, thank you for the comprehensive reply! I currenly own a Kiev 66 universal (both 35/6x6) without autofocus and would like to have an autofocus one.
 

etn

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etn, thank you for the comprehensive reply! I currenly own a Kiev 66 universal (both 35/6x6) without autofocus and would like to have an autofocus one.
Autofocus only helps if you use glassless mounts (typically for 35mm). The projector refocuses if the film "pops". Do you use glassless mounts for 6x6 too?
If you use glass mounts, an autofocus is useless. The PCP80 is not autofocus, by the way.
 

iandvaag

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I just wanted to put in a quick word in favour of Velvia 100. After having shot quite a lot of Velvia 50 and 100, I decided to use 100 for my own work. It has the same saturation, better reciprocity, finer grain, better archival stability and a full stop more speed! It is also currently cheaper at B&H, and has been for the past couple years. The barely noticeable difference in "warming" yellows of RVP50 is indeed nice for most subjects, but it does not outweigh all the benefits of Velvia 100 for my uses.
 

wahiba

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I recently tried the Rollie E6 film, I think it is Gevart in origin. Very impressed an lovely soft colours. Better in the sun than a dull day though and the 120 through the Minolta and Rollie TLRs was superb.

Top one is from Rollie V and bottom Minolta. It was latge in the day.

 
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clingfilm

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The barely noticeable difference in "warming" yellows of RVP50 is indeed nice for most subjects, but it does not outweigh all the benefits of Velvia 100 for my uses.

When you give the Velvia 50 the tag of 'RVP' what does this imply? As far as I know we can only buy RVP velvia (50 or 100) so do you just mean that the new velvia 50 isn't as good as the new velvia 100 for your uses?
 
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clingfilm

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Looks nice - especially how warm it is. Is the orange cast present in all photos?
 
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