Film options for stereo slides

[knj]

Wanting to start using my stereo camera. All my previous slide are done on Kodachrome. Could you comment or make recommendations regarding currently available 35 mm transparency film.

Regards

Ken

 

[AgX]

At the moment there is only colour slide film from Fuji. Originally branded and rebranded. Others may hint at specifics.
But you may consider b&w slides too.

Are you aware how to project stereo slides?

 

[iandvaag]

I'm an avid shooter of stereo photography, but on medium format. As AgX says, you are currently limited to Fujifilm, but they have some great films:
Provia 100F: This is an all around general use film, good for portraits and landscapes.
Velvia 100 and Velvia 50: These are highly saturated and extra contrasty films that really work well with brightly coloured subjects. These films are not flattering to skin tones since they are so saturated. I took some long exposures at the fair last summer which really suited Velvia well.

All of these films are readily available in 35 mm.

It is also an option to make B&W slides. You can google DR5 if you are in the US, they are a mail-order lab which will reversal process most normal B&W negative films such that they come out as a B&W slide.

If you are into home developing, you may wish to look into reversal processing or printing negatives onto litho film to produce slides. I've done both approaches, and found it to be quite rewarding.

 

[knj]

I have a TDC projector bur really enjoy the slides through a well made viewer.

Thanks for the summary of Fuji film. That is what I needed to hear. I like to photograph mainly people like my own children and relatives so provia sounds like the ticket. I assume archival qualities will be about the same?

Thanks

Ken

 

[ME Super]

Yup. Properly processed, Fuji's E-6 offerings are archival. Not to the degree that B&W film is, of course, but on par for modern E-6. And Provia's just the ticket for natural looking photos. The Velvia 50 is magic though! But it doesn't work so well for people, as iandvaag said.

I can also second the DR5 lab for B&W slides. I shot a roll of Ilford HP5+ (an ISO 400 film) at EI 1600, sent it to them and told them what EI I had shot it at, and got back some goregous B&W slides. If you want high speed B&W slides in DR5's process, HP5+ is the way to go.

You might also consider a stereoscope along the lines of a Holmes stereoscope for viewing. These will let you view printed stereographs. I inherited such a viewing device along with a set of stereographs from my grandparents. This thing is roughly 118 years old, as it has the inscription "Universelle Exposition Internationale 1900" on it. It inspired me to go buy a stereo camera myself and try my hand at stereo photography. The first roll I ran thru my Stereo Realist was a roll of Fuji Superia Xtra 400. Only because I couldn't get my hands on any Kodak color negative film at the time!

 

[Steve Roberts]

I have a Holmes-type stereoscope and get some excellent results with it. I shoot Ilford FP4 and then print the stereo pairs, trim and mount them of pieces of thick card that I cut to size (Studland board in the UK). I taper the two slides slightly so they slip into the holder easily. One recent angle I'm exploring is tinting the prints. It's naturally very time-consuming but strangely therapeutic and the results are well worth the trouble. For the printing process, I've made a dedicated negative carrier with the correct aperture for Realist format negs and a cut-out so that the notch used to indicate left/right appears on the print. I just have to remember to pencil L or R on the back of the print BEFORE trimming the edges!

Steve

 

[AgX]

I have a TDC projector bur really enjoy the slides through a well made viewer.

Thank you, first time I learn of this projector.