Color Slides

[CMoore]

The FPP is said to use expired film, which is why it is so cheap. Expired transparency film is fine if it has been stored well, but not if it has been left lying around. Do a test roll on unimportant subjects to assess (colour palette and any casting) before committing it to kids.

Cannot remember the price, but i think it was close to a roll of B&W Negs.?
Just checked their site, they do not have any slide at the moment.
I bought Two rolls of 160 and One roll of 300 and something. Yeah...i will burn these up and get use to the idea of shooting:
1. color
2. slides
Thanks for all the great advice, discussion, and Film/Slide reminiscing.

 

[tomfrh]

I mostly use Agfa Precisa (that appears to be Sensia)

Precisa CT100 is Fuji Provia.

 

[tomfrh]

Not really digital projector is only 4K max and that's 8MP. I think the 35mm slide has more details than an 8MP image.

I did some tests comparing projected 35mm velvia with digital files. I found the 35mm equivalent to about 12-15 megapixels. A lot of other people have come to similar conclusions.

Projected slides deliver a real punch too. I'm sure digital will match it one day, but not yet it seems.

 

[Arctic amateur]

Probably these films:
Dead Link Removed
Dead Link Removed

 

[Les Sarile]

I did some tests comparing projected 35mm velvia with digital files. I found the 35mm equivalent to about 12-15 megapixels. A lot of other people have come to similar conclusions.

I can guarantee you that the film was not the limiting factor.

 

[pentaxuser]

Beware the Nikon TTL when ambient light is high.

Can you expand on this, thanks?

pentaxuser

 

[Prof_Pixel]

I did some tests comparing projected 35mm velvia with digital files. I found the 35mm equivalent to about 12-15 megapixels. A lot of other people have come to similar conclusions.

In the early 1990's, when Kodak developed the Photo CD format, it was decided that 16 megapixels represented all the useful information in a 35mm frame, considering things like lens MTF, etc.

 

[M Carter]

Keep in mind when shooting E6 - you don't have as much exposure leeway as C41 and B&W. I'd do a test roll under various conditions, take notes, and find a lab that's consistent in their processing. Pick a film and get to know it.

When I shot E6 roll film commercially (35 and 6x7 fashion on figure) I pretty consistently rated it a bit slower than box speed, as did most of my peers and mentors. Most of us settled on 80 or so for EPP for instance, YMMV. (We were using studio strobes or scrims and reflectors outdoors to control highlights and shadows, too). Some E6 films really pop with a 1/8-1/4 stop push, too. Pushing E6 is a different animal than pushing B&W.

 

[MartinCrabtree]

Can you expand on this, thanks?

pentaxuser

For reasons unknown my Nikons both analog and digital are unpredictable when using balanced fill flash in high ambient light conditions. Most times it's fine just when I need that little extra to reduce shadows on the face it often blows the highlights.

 

[Alan Gales]

I've got Kodachrome slides from the 80's that to my eyes look as good as when I shot them. I shot a Contax 139 with a center/bottom weighted meter. The key is to learn your camera's meter which takes a little practice. Of course the later Matrix meters are the easiest to use.

I've shot slide film with primes and zooms. I had no problem shooting either one.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

I've got Kodachrome slides from the 80's that to my eyes look as good as when I shot them.[...]

Yes. As mine are from the same joyous period look, too. No special storage: individual slides sleeves in a ring binder, stored in the wardrobe. These were shot with everything from an Olympus OM10, OM1N, Nikon F3HP, OM4, Nikon FM2, FA and Canon T90. I stopped using Kodachrome in 1994 when I pounced on Canon's EOS 1N (almost bankrupting the family in doing so) and Velvia.

 

[Alan Gales]

Yes. As mine are from the same joyous period look, too. No special storage: individual slides sleeves in a ring binder, stored in the wardrobe. These were shot with everything from an Olympus OM10, OM1N, Nikon F3HP, OM4, Nikon FM2, FA and Canon T90. I stopped using Kodachrome in 1994 when I pounced on Canon's EOS 1N (almost bankrupting the family in doing so) and Velvia.

Yeah, I like Velvia too. I do miss Kodachrome though. It's nice to have choices. I sympathize with you on your Canon EOS 1N purchase. I've got a family too and balancing the family budget with a photography hobby is difficult.

 

[CMoore]

Keep in mind when shooting E6 - you don't have as much exposure leeway as C41 and B&W. I'd do a test roll under various conditions, take notes, and find a lab that's consistent in their processing. Pick a film and get to know it.

When I shot E6 roll film commercially (35 and 6x7 fashion on figure) I pretty consistently rated it a bit slower than box speed, as did most of my peers and mentors. Most of us settled on 80 or so for EPP for instance, YMMV. (We were using studio strobes or scrims and reflectors outdoors to control highlights and shadows, too). Some E6 films really pop with a 1/8-1/4 stop push, too. Pushing E6 is a different animal than pushing B&W.

Hey...Thank You.
I will heed your advice.
Looks like i will not have too many options...but maybe one of the Fuji offerings...Provia perhaps.?
It has been almost 35 years since i have used a "lab".....whoever the drug store sent film to.
In this day, i have just recently used The Darkroom, twice, when i shot some color negative. Seems like they know what they are doing, so i plan to go with them again.
Thanks for the help

 

[Alan Gales]

Hey...Thank You.
I will heed your advice.
Looks like i will not have too many options...but maybe one of the Fuji offerings...Provia perhaps.?
It has been almost 35 years since i have used a "lab".....whoever the drug store sent film to.
In this day, i have just recently used The Darkroom, twice, when i shot some color negative. Seems like they know what they are doing, so i plan to go with them again.
Thanks for the help

With slide film you got what you shot. Labs didn't adjust exposure. I remember using a polarizing screen to darken skies and the lab taking it out with print film. It's one of the big reasons that I shot slide film.

When shooting slide film you don't have the exposure latitude of print film. For really tricky exposures I used to bracket my exposures.

 

[Les Sarile]

In the early 1990's, when Kodak developed the Photo CD format, it was decided that 16 megapixels represented all the useful information in a 35mm frame, considering things like lens MTF, etc.

Must have used some awful lenses then.

 

[Wallendo]

No-one knows how long E6 will be available, but obtaining a supply to last 7 years shouldn't be hard (If Fuji eliminates Provia, stock up). Development should be around for 4-5 years after film manufacturing stops, One factor to consider, however, is the availability of mounts. These will probably run out well before the chemicals cease production.

The AgfaPhoto film is good, but most places in the US of which I am familiar charge the same for Precisa CT as they do for Provia.

 

[thuggins]

I did some tests comparing projected 35mm velvia with digital files. I found the 35mm equivalent to about 12-15 megapixels. A lot of other people have come to similar conclusions.

As the saying goes, you only see what you look for. A 35mm slide is capable of capturing far more image information than full sensor 35mm d!&!+@l will ever be able to do. Of course, if you are only shooting grey cards you'll never see a difference. But if you are shooting a scene with subtle detail and lighting, a slide will definitely reproduce that. You can see for yourself at:

www.thermojetstove.com/Tonality

As for the predictions of the demise of slide film, I just got back from my local camera store (pretty much the only place in town that carries a wide assortment of film). He had just started carrying Lomography film. Among the various offerings was a 200 speed transparency film; it is available for both 35mm and 120. As neither Fuji nor Agfa appear to currently have any slide film at that speed, this would seem to be an entirely new film.

 

[Prof_Pixel]

Must have used some awful lenses then.

The 16 megapixel figure was based on high quality RGB scans of film that capture R, G and B at every pixel location and NOT digital cameras that use the Bayer Filter array that really only capturers sharpness information (G data) at 1/2 of the total pixel locations.
Edit: See http://www.dpug.org/forums/showthread.php?t=4121&p=29393#post29393

 

[Les Sarile]

The 16 megapixel figure was based on high quality RGB scans of film that capture R, G and B at every pixel location and NOT digital cameras that use the Bayer Filter array that really only capturers sharpness information (G data) at 1/2 of the total pixel locations.

So the scanner must have been the bottleneck that limited the results to just 16MP then.

 

[Prof_Pixel]

So the scanner must have been the bottleneck that limited the results to just 16MP then.

Nope. It was a matter of the system MTF.

Edit: See http://www.dpug.org/forums/showthread.php?t=4121&p=29393#post29393

 

[AgX]

The AgfaPhoto film is good, but most places in the US of which I am familiar charge the same for Precisa CT as they do for Provia.

The brand AgfaPhoto was not installed to hint at low prices. For that (over here) the housebrands of the drugstore chains were intended.

 

[AgX]

He had just started carrying Lomography film. Among the various offerings was a 200 speed transparency film; it is available for both 35mm and 120. As neither Fuji nor Agfa appear to currently have any slide film at that speed, this would seem to be an entirely new film.

There still is Provia 160 NS.

 

[Marvin]

Haven't shot slide film in a while but of my Nikon bodies I think I would use my F5 or N80 as they have the Matrix Metering. I still have a fair supply of Ektachrome 100 frozen away. Dwayne's Photo still does E6 check their website.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

[...]
As for the predictions of the demise of slide film, I just got back from my local camera store (pretty much the only place in town that carries a wide assortment of film). He had just started carrying Lomography film. Among the various offerings was a 200 speed transparency film; it is available for both 35mm and 120. As neither Fuji nor Agfa appear to currently have any slide film at that speed, this would seem to be an entirely new film.

A stroll to a camera store and finding heaps of film there is not a reflection of global useage of a niche/specialist film that has been declining since 2000, and which decline is now at a critical level. I can visit camera stores here where I am and only two have a huge assortment of film, but "not much of it is moving" (quote from my last visit Monday this week). It is the global market (or lack of it) for E6 take-up that is shifting its availability over time, as witness the progressive culling of several films in Fuji's lineup 2 years ago. I suspect a further cull is on the cards next July. The reason for E6 slipping away is because so many photographers have not embraced its potential for printing, especialling during the long-defunct Ilfochrome Classic era when printing from all transparencies was the only printing done — C41 was never seen at pro-level labs, it was all Velvia and a smattering of Provia. I am still printing from Velvia, almost continuously since first taking it up that film in 1994. We're back to good ol' RA-4 now and the results are better than Ilfochrome Classic with much finer control.

Now, as for 200iso, Provia and Velvia 100f and 100 emulsions respectively can be very satisfactorily exposed at EI200++ (up to 800 for Provia) in competent hands, and provided exposure is moderated along each film's ideal matrix to give predictable results. The market definitely isn't screaming out for high speed transparency film, but Provia 400X (useful right up to EI1600) is still available as legacy stock, though it is expensive.

Lomography, as a boutique player, does not make its own film. It is sourced from Fuji to Lomography's pallete specifications. That is the same for Agfa with its Precisa range (Provia).

 

[Les Sarile]

Nope. It was a matter of the system MTF.

Obviously not the forum to do this but I would be interested in pursuing this further if you are the owner of this test and data.