Good Neg film for my own slide dupes?

[Jedidiah Smith]

I did a quick search on this, (I admit not very thorough), and didn't see too many "modern" i.e. easily available to me emulsions come up. Seems there used to be specific dupe films that are no longer made?

I'd like to copy some of my slides onto negative film to create an interneg so that I can print them in wet process. All 35mm...Velvia, Provia, Kodachrome, and E100GX mixed. My grandpa has a bellows unit for Minolta camera that he is going to loan me to do this.

Any suggestions on what film to use? Resulting negs will be printed at 8x10 book size. The slides are all "landscape/nature" slides from Alaska, so honestly, the color result does not have to be exactly the same as the original slide. Would something like the new Ektar work good for this due to its fine grain? My goal is to wet print a bunch of prints, both color and B&W and then bind them together in a sort of hand made book.

Thanks for any suggestions on this project,
Jed

 

[Pupfish]

Ektar will not be not the best choice due to the enhanced contrast. The film type you're looking for is "internegative", not slide-duping (which make E-6 transparencies). Sadly, most if not all of these interneg emulsions have been discontinued. In lieu of finding a true interneg film, you might try Portra NC or similar low-contrast, low-grain, high resolution film.

 

[Jedidiah Smith]

Thanks Pupfish. I had the wrong terminology. Yes, it's an internegative that I'm after - I should have remembered that, I used to get a pro lab to make me 4x5 internegs from my 35mm slides back in Alaska and they were very good. Still used interneg film.

I see what you mean about the high contrast. That would be a problem, especially with some of the Velvia slides. So what you're saying is that I want to use something low contrast, such as Portra NC so that it captures an "even" tone and does not further boost the contrast level? Makes sense to me. If no one thinks of a more convincing option, I will try that - I think the latest version of the Portra is actually quite fine grained.
Thanks,
Jed

 

[tim elder]

You might try calling Kodak directly to see if they still make Internegative film. Kodak still makes internegative film for motion picture use but it is ECN-2 processed and is (probably) only available in 1000' rolls.

Tim

 

[Pupfish]

This isn't something I'd be keen to do anymore considering ease with which film is scanned and "digital internegs" made. But it was quite common to make C-type prints from internegs for several decades and you should be able to achieve acceptable results. I'd recommend staying with Kodak films for duping Kodak transparency films, and Fujicolor for Fujichrome for ease in achieving a good color balance. (You might look to make sure that Fuji isn't still making interneg film, seem to have run across some mention of this yet in the past couple of years.)

Grain won't be the worst of your problems if your intended print size is 8x10. I'll venture that dust and scratches on the originals will be your greatest challenge.

 

[Jedidiah Smith]

Hmmm, I see what you mean. I had a look at Dr5.com and saw he can output digital file to an interneg w/ the film recorder. Maybe I will still try this the old fashioned way, but if it doesn't work w/ Portra NC easily, then I could just have the slides scanned, and then pay him to output internegs for me from the scans.
Crazy how digital is keeping the door open for analog printing with its hind foot. Interesting world we live in.

Jed

 

[nickandre]

Don't use the cinema film, the contrast doesn't match the RA4 papers so you get weird results. PE said that the proper procedure these days was to use something like Portra 160 NC or VC, overexpose slightly, and pull the development by 15 seconds or so. I imagine this could be done with any consumer 100 speed film as well. I'm not sure how the grain compares but I imagine Kodak Gold would work beautifully.

 

[Jedidiah Smith]

I just wanted to let you all know that I contacted Kodak as was recommended, and they were very prompt and kind with their reply. Nice to see some good customer service and knowledge of analog photography still kicking!
Here is the email they sent me below: Thanks for all the help so far, I'm sure I'll be back with more questions at some point!
Jed

Kodak Professional Traditional
Reply, Follow up message

Hello, Dr JT,

Yes, the Kodak Professional Portra 160NC Film is the lowest contrast color negative film we offer and is the one that customers needing to make internegatives use.

Please let us know if you have additional questions on this or other of our Kodak Professional products.

Sincerely,
Peter V.
Kodak Professional
Technical Support
800-242-2424 ext. 19

 

[Smudger]

You could also read up on pre-exposure flashing.This technique has been used for years for contrast control. Start testing with a pre exposure about 3 stops less than your exposure for the image.