Hi All, new convert to Slides Some Advice needed regarding Scans

RichieRotten · Dec 8, 2013

I have been experimenting with film for 6 months now I have tried Kodak and Fuji negs and Fuji slide film, after several years with Digital.

After 20 odd rolls of a mix of film both slide and neg over the last 6 months I have come to the conclusion that when I get it right, the light is playing ball with me and the subject is worth the effort then old fashioned slide film just knocks everything else out of the ring.
Why? I do not know - the colours for a start are amazing the textures and depth to the photos are incredible just the general feel to the photo. This I know is a subjective choice one based upon taste but for me Fuji Slide Film is the way forward for my photography. I could go a little deeper on this point but p'haps another day!

I have just returned from a trip to Morocco {I am UK based} and I spent my time taking a mix of Digital and Slide shots, and that was the final nail for the Digital coffin I just can not re-produce the colours and drama of the Moroccan landscape with digital, the slide film could do it but the digital just cant - so there we go I am now a convert!

But I have a problem I live in Gloucester in the South West of the UK and I am desperate to find someone who can produce high quality scans with the eventual aim of having my photos printed and hanging on the wall behind glass. Some of the shots I have of the Desert deserve a good scan. Most printers or any I can find seem to work from digital files these days so I am stuck regarding getting prints. I do want large prints so quality is an issue. Really I want a proffesional piece of work done on my slides.

Can anyone advice me? does anyone know who can produce a scan that matches the quality that the slide offers?

And the camera I am using is a NIKON F100 and I also have an APPLE IMAC and I want to combine the two to make great photos - that is my ambition with this project, so scanning is the missing link.

Thanks

Rich

Sirius Glass · Dec 8, 2013

Welcome to APUG

Keep the slides because if you dump them after you scan them then you are one hard disk crash from losing everything.

ME Super · Dec 8, 2013

Welcome to APUG. I love slides too. Get yourself a projector and project 'em now and then. There's not much that can beat a projected slide.

At present the only way to get a non-numeric print from slides is to do an internegative, then print optically from the it. I've not done that before because I've been pretty happy with those numeric prints from slides. And sadly, I'm on the wrong side of the pond to give you any assistance with who might be able to give you a killer scan of your slides. Just make sure you don't toss the slides after you scan them!

Christopher Walrath · Dec 8, 2013

Harmon's website is bound to have info on local darkroom's that might be able to assist.

And welcome to APUG.

Harmon (Ilford) darkroom locator

fotch · Dec 8, 2013

Hello and welcome to APUG. Treat yourself to a 35mm projector, you won't be sorry.

Sirius Glass · Dec 8, 2013

Slides are much better with a slide projector than scanned and shown on a screen or projected.

Dr Croubie · Dec 8, 2013

Another Fuji Slide convert here. I've heard a lot of people say to try Ektar as the negative closest to the Velvia saturation magic, so I shot a few rolls a week ago on holiday, very unimpressed, just flat and boring and the deep blue sky of Velvia was just a cyan mess on Ektar, even with a CPL. It's Velvia all the way for me from now on.
(disclaimer: I might change my mind one day, I just got an enlarger so I'll try some RA4 before I consign Ektar to the useless bucket, it definitely doesn't scan as well as Velvia that's for sure).

Regarding printing, the only way to get anything on paper with slides is Internegatives or scan+inkjet, I too got here too late to enjoy the glory-days of Cibachrome.
To tack on my own question to this thread, if I may: when creating internegatives, what to use? I know there used to be special internegative film, is there any still made new? Or should I just use Portra or something? And does the high-saturation of films like Velvia make it through the interneg stage to the paper, or do the colours take on the tones of whatever interneg I use?

For commercial scanning recommendations I can't help you as I'm on the wrong side of a few ponds, I'm sure someone from your neck of the woods will pipe up when it's morning for you guys. Definitely consider getting one of your own scanner if you plan to do a lot, £300 for a V700 starts rapidly making sense if you're paying £10 for a 4x5 scan, plus you get a lot more control and can do it again whenever you want.

But I'll certainly also recommend a projector for the occasional viewing (too bad you can't project permanently or they'll overheat and fade eventually). Another option is an enlarger with a negative carrier, then you can just run the strip through and you don't need to mount them into slide holders for a real projecter.

polyglot · Dec 8, 2013

You'll get slapped for asking detailed scanning questions on APUG. We acknowledge its existence (there are images shared here!) but discussion of technology & technique is not permitted.

As for chromes, they are so wonderful because the medium supports a very large display dynamic range, at least 12 stops (Dmax of at least 3.6). This means you have a very high contrast, high saturation and all that good stuff. Now, while it is possible to digitally capture all of the information in a slide, it is currently NOT possible to digitally display that information because there exist no screens and no digital printing technologies (other than print-to-slide!) that has as much dynamic range as the slide. I expect that to change soon wrt dynamic range (16-bit OLED screens are coming, I'm sure of it) but we're not there yet, and we're nowhere near a digital display that can do the same resolution as a good chrome, especially in the larger formats. We probably never will (in my lifetime) get there with reflective prints because we just haven't made any substances black enough.

If you're going to scan and/or make prints (either analogue or hybrid), you might as well shoot C41 (colour neg) because it's more forgiving, more accurate and (properly scanned and processed, or wet-printed) will produce results no worse on-screen or in-print than you get from a chrome. Frequently better, in fact, because you don't lose as much detail to clipping.

However if you can project your chromes, there is no technology yet that can equal that quality. If you're going to bother shooting chromes, buy a projector and use it. Not projecting it means you're completely wasting the capabilities of the film.

If you really want to be addicted, try some medium format slides

L Gebhardt · Dec 8, 2013

Ask your scanning questions on DPUG or one of the other digital friendly forums. The powers that be don't like the digital questions to pollute APUG.

Getting a slide projector is a great idea, but if you want prints from slides these days you will need to scan and print digitally. The best scanners are drum scanners. Look at http://cheapdrumscanning.com, and if you have more questions ask them over on DPUG and I'll try to help you there.

Jeff Kubach · Dec 9, 2013

fotch said:
Hello and welcome to APUG. Treat yourself to a 35mm projector, you won't be sorry.

+1

Jeff

Poisson Du Jour · Dec 9, 2013

Poor RichieRotten, getting backhanded with just one post.

Now here's the dissenting voice. Slide projectors are passé. More trouble than they are worth and slides do not need "frequent projection to stop them fading". A furphy perpetuated by Kodak long ago.

With this agreeable statement, you're actually taking the high and intelligent road to viewing your work for perpetuity, instead of for 10 minutes with beer and chips:

[...] I am desperate to find someone who can produce high quality scans with the eventual aim of having my photos printed and hanging on the wall behind glass.

THIS is the way to go. I tossed out two projectors in 1998, concentrating solely on printing, framing and...selling (Ilfochrome Classic). I admire your forward plans that bravely transcend this fanciful notion that slides always, always look better when projected, rather than what you can do with displaying prints made to show under spots. That's what the majority of slide-to-print photographers are doing today. Think for a moment about the sensation that was justifiably caused by 3 metre wide Ilfochrome Classic pano prints, defunct now of course; if you can find any in a gallery anywhere in the UK that has these beauties on display, do make the effort to go along and see how they make a bold and enduring statement on the viewer. I'll bet that's what you want of your own work, too.

Re labs. Two years I had some communication with a guy by the name of Boyd in the UK who was at the time experimenting with the continuation of Ilfochrome Classic print production. I'm wondering if he offers the steps you are searching for (which, incidentally was never a part of Ilfochrome Classic printing). I think he is in Essex. I suggest you Google for Professional Photographic Labs that offer A to D services, with a specialist stream of production from transparencies. Just ensure that your slides are well exposed, preferably with a 0.3 to 0.5 stop (+) bias to counter the loss of an equivalent stop at the print stage (you didn't mention what format you are using: 35mm presents its own challenges and constraints while medium format opens up a whole new world). Take along your work to the lab you have chosen and discuss carefully what you want, how and how much you are looking at. You may have to rely on the postal system to send things in and get them back; this is a problem because you need to ready and avail yourself to proofing and close communication. Once you find a pro-lab that works well with you, and you with them stick to it.

Roger Cole · Dec 9, 2013

Um, passe or not, there is little of anything that beats a projected slides, and projectors are CHEAP today.

Sure you can do the other stuff. Of course projecting doesn't keep them from fading - in fact the intense light exposure and some heat will accelerate it, though I suppose the heat might also help keep fungus and humidity down if they aren't properly stored.

But they look great.

kintatsu · Dec 9, 2013

If you can't get them printed through the lab directly, make sure your monitor is calibrated to the printer you will use. If you don't your prints will fail to meet your expectations. The first thing, though, is try a lab.

If you'd really like them printed right, you can try http://www.photostudio13.de/ in Stuttgart, Germany. They still do Ilfochrome printing. That way you can support a good company and help keep analog alive!

polyglot · Dec 9, 2013

Dude, film is passe. Fashions have nothing to do with the physical qualities of any particular medium, except for Ilfochrome which is not commercially available except for 2 or 3 labs worldwide with leftover paper stocks and therefore not something to recommend to a newbie!

As to printing techniques, there are still none (not even Ilfochrome) that can match the presentation dynamic range of a slide. Prints are far easier to share and view than slides and that's why I primarily shoot C41 instead of E6, but we can't pretend that prints are as good as projected chromes.

If prints are what you want instead of the ultimate in quality - that's the decision that I made - then shoot C41. It's easier, produces higher quality prints (RA4 or hybrid/digital) and with more flexibility. You do lose the ability to look at strings of beautiful little jewels coming back from the lab though

Sirius Glass · Dec 9, 2013

Slide projector provide better color and range on brightness that scanned and the projected digital images.

Truzi · Dec 9, 2013

I haven't used much slide film, and of course have the lab scan it, print it, and put it on CD - I don't want to pull out a projector every time I view them (I often just flip through my memories).

However, I have every intention of projecting them. You really can't beat that.

Alan Klein · Dec 9, 2013

I find HDTV's presents HD photos very well because they are backlit. The other advantage is it's easy to just switch on a
slide show on the HDTV before your guests become aware what you're up too. With slide projectors, as soon as your guests see you pull out the projector to show them 30 minutes of your last boring vacation, they get a sudden headache, grab their coat and tell you they have to go home to rest, even skipping the great desert you prepared. With HDTV's, you slip it in during the half time out.

Prof_Pixel · Dec 9, 2013

Not all HDTV displays are equal - I always wonder about the image quality of the $99 HDVT sets sold in 'Black Friday' sales.

Truzi · Dec 9, 2013

Alan Klein said:
I find HDTV's presents HD photos very well because they are backlit. The other advantage is it's easy to just switch on a
slide show on the HDTV before your guests become aware what you're up too. With slide projectors, as soon as your guests see you pull out the projector to show them 30 minutes of your last boring vacation, they get a sudden headache, grab their coat and tell you they have to go home to rest, even skipping the great desert you prepared. With HDTV's, you slip it in during the half time out.

That's why I don't visit people with HDTVs, lol. They usually also have a digital camera with huge storage, so the slide shows are so much longer.

Karl A · Dec 9, 2013

Truzi said:
That's why I don't visit people with HDTVs, lol. They usually also have a digital camera with huge storage, so the slide shows are so much longer.

Just wanted to point out the resolution of most HD TVs is 1920x1080 pixels, which is 2.1 megapixels. Not even close to the resolution of a projected slide, unfortunately! But good enough for most purposes and a big improvement over the previous generation of TVs.

Truzi · Dec 9, 2013

I was making a joke

Roger Cole · Dec 10, 2013

Alan Klein said:
I find HDTV's presents HD photos very well because they are backlit. The other advantage is it's easy to just switch on a
slide show on the HDTV before your guests become aware what you're up too. With slide projectors, as soon as your guests see you pull out the projector to show them 30 minutes of your last boring vacation, they get a sudden headache, grab their coat and tell you they have to go home to rest, even skipping the great desert you prepared. With HDTV's, you slip it in during the half time out.

Oddly enough I did a slide show this past weekend with a full tray of 80 slides and had people not only looking forward to it but asking if I didn't have more and calling it awesome.

Reasons for this were partly the novelty these days, the impact of projected slides, and the fact I was documenting in slides activities the entire group had participated in over the past year. The "run for the hills, he's going for the projector" reaction is something I just never see anymore replaced now by appreciation.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

polyglot · Dec 10, 2013

The other thing HDTVs can do well is stereo. You can shoot stereo chromes (or whatever), scan them, convert them to MPO files and show 3D images to a room full of people. Much easier to convince people to put some glasses on and look up at the wall together than to look into a little box one at a time.

And no you don't need a stereo camera to shoot stereo unless the subject is moving. You can shoot stereo landscapes with a tripod and macro rail to give left/right camera shift.

Sirius Glass · Dec 10, 2013

HDTV works well for slides if you like a great loss in contrast and your colors muted. The use of HDTV for slides shows that one likes to spend money and does not understand a damned thing about slides. So if you are ok with that, swallow your pride, go ahead and use HDTV, please.

I am not just sayin'. I am saying loud and clear. If you are offended, then we know what you opinion is worth so keep it to yourself.

removed account4 · Dec 10, 2013

you slide projector guys are funny.
how will the OP sell framed matted "gallery prints"
from a slide that is being projected ...
dupe the slide and sell a projector with it ?

while it may be true, there is nothing like a projected slide .. it won't really help the OP with the issue at hand.

i'd go with larry, garry, and kintatsu advice ...

drum scans and a close relationship with the lab, and / or the traditional printer in germany seem like the best route.

unless of course the these respondents are suggesting the OP sell a series peep shows of his work .. you know 400$ a peep of his projected slides ... :munch:

Hi All, new convert to Slides Some Advice needed regarding Scans

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency