Favorite 4x5 slide films to cross-process

[jlirola]

hello,

curious which films are favorites to x/p?

thanks!

 

[DREW WILEY]

Do you mean to explore? All the sheet film sizes of chrome ('slide") film are disappearing except for Kodak Ektachrome 100; so that's the key one; and it's excellent. But Fujichrome Provia 100F and Velvia 100 can still sometimes be found as options. It might be hard to find any of them in 4x5 at the moment; but production goes in cycles, and at least Ektachrome should be available again pretty soon. In the LA area, check with Freestyle and Samy's.

 

[Taylor K Nankervis]

Do you mean to explore? All the sheet film sizes of chrome ('slide") film are disappearing except for Kodak Ektachrome 100; so that's the key one; and it's excellent. But Fujichrome Provia 100F and Velvia 100 can still sometimes be found as options. It might be hard to find any of them in 4x5 at the moment; but production goes in cycles, and at least Ektachrome should be available again pretty soon. In the LA area, check with Freestyle and Samy's.

I'm reading it as cross-process/ing.
If that's correct, that's a very, very expensive way of consuming 4x5 E6 sheets...

 

[DREW WILEY]

Either way, consuming 4x5 chrome film is getting expensive; but at least it's nothing like 8X10! But if he's fooling around with cross-processing, there are some deals out there on outdated chrome film of various types.

 

[mshchem]

There's two readily un-available films Ektachrome and Provia. Look for old stuff.

 

[loccdor]

What matters is what is your favorite. Search flickr for cross processed shots and find what you like.

I rarely like it, but this is a recent favorite, on Velvia. Expired Velvia can be very red even in E-6.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I have 60 4x5 sheets of Velvia 50 left. Its resale price is going up as fast as gold.

 

[loccdor]

I have 60 4x5 sheets of Velvia 50 left. Its resale price is going up as fast as gold.

Well, if the OP only desires a very red-toned image, there are other much cheaper options, like redscale, filters, or color adjustment in post.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Well, if the OP only desires a very red-toned image, there are other much cheaper options, like redscale, filters, or color adjustment in post.

Velvia 50 is more than reds.

 

[Taylor K Nankervis]

As any Ilfochrome Classic printer will tell you, Velvia's strengths are not, and never will be, with the reds or blues. The muscle, punch and pizazz is in the greens. If we wanted a darned good result with reds, the recommendation was to sub-out Velvia and use Kodachrome. Alas, that was then (+15 years back).

 

[Klaus Mähring]

Agfa RSX II 100!
..and the good old Kodak EPP 100.
Exposure +1!

 

[DREW WILEY]

Ifochrome with green? Not until Fujichrome showed up. Velvia was Fuji 50 on steroids. The old Ektachrome 64 would yield wonderful off-greens like sage and avacado hues, but not a clean "spring" green. And the very high contrast of Velvia was an issue unless it was shot in a lower-contrast setting. I was using up to .90 magenta light masks with it - certainly not my favorite film for routine Ciba work. But wow, Velvia sure could differentiate subtle bright nuances of green and purple if one had an equivalently suitable lens, like my 14 inch MC Kern Dagor, which could over the top in terms of contrast. But on a foggy or drizzly natural softbox day, both that lens and Velvia would be in my kit.

I cursed its triacetate base, however, since it wouldn't hold register for long. For about a decade, that's about all one could get in sheet film, until Kodak E100G arrived, and then a PET version of both Velvia and Astia. Happy to have had those options, if only for a brief era. Now what's left of that has skyrocketed in price if one happens to shoot 8x10.

Completely off topic for this thread, but fun to reminisce about anyway. You seem to have worked quite a bit yourself in damp green areas, Taylor. I found Velvia far less useful in the deserts - used more Provia there.

 

[loccdor]

Velvia 50 is more than reds.

If we're talking about C-41 cross-processed Velvia 50, it's pretty much all reds, as far as I've seen.