Elite Chrome

Stevopedia · Mar 7, 2009

Hello everyone,

I picked up a roll of Kodak Elite Chrome about a year and a half ago when I first got interested in photography. I never got around to shooting it, so it was relegated to the freezer. Now, though, I'm interested in trying slides, and that brings me to my question:

How good is Elite Chrome? and can you recommend other slide films to try? And yes, I'm gonna try Kodachrome soon, while I still can

srs5694 · Mar 7, 2009

See (there was a url link here which no longer exists) for a comparison of various slide films.

Toffle · Mar 7, 2009

I've only ever shot a small handful of rolls of Elite Chrome, and as the batch I had was long expired, I relegated it to cross-processing. I'm thinking now that I should have tried at least one roll for actual slides, but around here the turnaround time for slides is nearly a month so I did them the fast (and cheap) way.

Do try Kodachrome while you can. (KM25 if you can find it...) There is something magical about Kodachrome...

Cheers,

Ektagraphic · Mar 7, 2009

Elite Chrome is a great film. I don't like it as much as Kodachrome, but I like it. It is nice when you need more speed than Kodachrome since it is only ISO 64. I just got some slides back of a dance recital I on Elite Chrome 200 that I shot at ISO 800 and I had pushed processed and the results were pretty good. All three Elite Chromes have pretty good uses; Elite Chrome 100 is great for shooting outdoors, Elite Chrome 100 Extra Color is great when you really want the colors of something colorful to pop up and Elite Chrome 200 is great for all purposes. If you want to try Kodachrome, check out The Kodachrome Project http://www.kodachromeproject.com/ and The Kodachrome Project Forums http://www.kodachromeproject.com/forum/index.php. Good Luck!

Stevopedia · Mar 7, 2009

Thanks guys... glad to know that it's decent stuff (but then again, did Kodak (or Fuji, for that matter) ever make a truly bad film in recent memory?) I have Elite Chrome 200, by the way.

From what I've heard it's comparable to Ektachrome E200 in the same way that Fuji Sensia is comparable to Provia: "consumer" versions of "professional" films.

Oh, and while we're on the subject, a slide projector to enjoy (and display) my slides properly would be a good idea. It's my understanding that Kodak discontinued slide projectors in late 2004. Is there a real difference between the modern Carousels and Ektagraphics? Which would you recommend?

PHOTOTONE · Mar 7, 2009

Until Kodak discontinued slide projectors, they made a full line of models. All taking the Carousel slide trays. The consumer models were the Kodak Carousel projectors, the Ektagraphics were the "professional" or AV market models. All the projectors are fine, well made units. The earliest models had 500 watt tungsten projection bulbs that generate a lot of heat, requiring a fairly high-volume blower. At some point, Kodak redesigned the projectors to use a 300 watt quartz halogen bulb which was brighter, but cooler in operating temperature, and the blower volume could be reduced, producing a quieter projector. Entry level projectors were manual focus, and manual advance machines with a fixed focal length lens (no zoom), as you stepped
up in price, you got features such as a zoom lens, auto focus, built in interval timer, and the ability to interface with a separate dissolve control to sync two projectors to an audio soundtrack. Most if not all the features were offered in both Carousel and Ektagraphic models. Any good late-model Carousel or Ektagraphic would be a good machine to view your slides with.

Ektagraphic · Mar 7, 2009

Yea any Carousel or Ektagraphic will get the job done very very well! Look for a newer model. If you visit the KX Camera website (kxcamera.com) and look at some of the pic of the projectors, go to Ebay and you should be able to get a good deal on one. All of the ones on the KX site are what the latest models look like. Kodak discontinued all of their slide projection stuff in 2004. Today's digital projectors can't even touch what a Carousel or Ektagraphic can do!!!!

Lee L · Mar 7, 2009

There are also different qualities and vintages of slide projector lenses. Some lenses were designed for flat glass mounted slides and some for "popped" slides, which expected the slides to be curved by the heat from the projector lamp. Kodak labels curved field lenses with a "C". Some projectors force heat up through the carousel tray to preheat and "pop" the slides before they entered the projection gate.

Your slides will look their best with a lens to match the mount, and in general, single focal length glass lenses tend to outperform zooms. Zooms are good for filling the projector screen from a fixed position. You might also keep an eye out for some better projector lenses at camera shows, flea markets, and AV departments getting rid of "old" technology. Zeiss, Leica, and some custom aftermarket makers like Buhl made better optics than the stock consumer lenses. Kodak also had a better line of lenses called "Select" IIRC. Projecting your slides through a cheap plastic lens won't show what better camera lenses with slide film are capable of.

Lee

nickandre · Mar 7, 2009

I've used it. It's a very nice film. Have fun shooting it! The look of chromes on a light table is enough to get you hooked

The colors are more neutral than those wacky films, but like most any color film will give very nice colors, usually better than you remember them.

waynecrider · Mar 7, 2009

From what I remember it was a reasonably priced film a scant few years back or so then all of a sudden it became more expensive then Provia in 35mm 36exp. I think it was being touted in magazine ads as a mid cost alternative with some big name shooter as a user. I personally like the film alot and in comparisons with Provia I could go either way, but the Kodak is priced a little higher.

StorminMatt · Mar 8, 2009

Ektagraphic said:
Yea any Carousel or Ektagraphic will get the job done very very well! Look for a newer model. If you visit the KX Camera website (kxcamera.com) and look at some of the pic of the projectors, go to Ebay and you should be able to get a good deal on one. All of the ones on the KX site are what the latest models look like. Kodak discontinued all of their slide projection stuff in 2004. Today's digital projectors can't even touch what a Carousel or Ektagraphic can do!!!!

Craigslist is probably the BEST place to go for a slide projector, as you can pick them up dirt cheap these days. Plus, you don't have to pay to ship a somewhat large item. As for the quality of digital projectors, remember that even so-called 'high definition' only displays 1080 lines. This means that, with the 3:2 aspect ratio of 35mm or digital, you are only getting 1.75MP projected on a screen. How good do you think 1.75MP could possibly look blown up to over poster size?

John Shriver · Mar 9, 2009

All the currently available Kodak and Fuji slide films are definitely "professional grade". You will get slightly more color-accurate film if you buy it fresh from a pro shop that keeps it refrigerated. You may get rather off-color results if you buy it short-dated at Walgreens.

The Elite Chrome films are really just a different marketing channel for almost exactly the same films as the E-series Professional Ektachrome.

It's only in C-41 films where there's a major difference between consumer grade and professional grade. The consumer stuff is increasingly garish, where the professional stuff remains natural.

Elite Chrome

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