It's back to film for moi, but what's what these days...

[film_man]

My advice is to get a slide projector!

Bit tricky to project negatives.

 

[frank]

One just needs a positive attitude!

 

[ME Super]

My son runs when he hears the projector going. But he runs into, not out of, the room the projector is in. He loves looking at slides on the big screen, and so do I!

 

[tomfrh]

My advice is to get a slide projector!

100%

Projected slides are magical things. They're so dazzling and so immediate. It's like what Don Draper said - a slide projector is a time machine that takes us back to places we long to go again.

My toddler loves projected slides. He thinks they're real. He loves big cranes, and he goes hysterical when I show slides of them. He loves patting animals on the screen too, although he gets confused as to why grandmas cat is in our house!

I'll get a digital beamer if and when they get up to scratch, but they're not there yet. A 4K beamer cost $10K or so, and provides not quite the image quality of a $50 35mm projector.

Slide projection is the main reason I shoot film.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Groan.

How many people scattered when Uncle Harry brought out his slide trays of the last vacation in the Bahamas?

I do still have many slides and a projector, but the fact of the matter is that scanning those slides into digital, being able to share them as people want, is light years ahead of real slides.

Not me! I was glued to the screen wanting more, and projected slides was the whole reason I got interested in photography to begin with. They are magically beautiful, especially those perfectly exposed ones. Of course it requires someone with editing skills to feed the projector.

My father stopped photographing with slides years ago now, but when I visit the home country I ask him to bring out the Rollei projector, and we look at old slides, and every single time he kind of mumbles that he'd like to shoot some slides again. LOL (but he never actually does).

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Fuji Acros and Kodak TMax 100 are the two amazing films that are sharp, have excellent grain, and produce fine results. Acros has more highlight contrast, and I think about 1/2 stop faster than TMax.
All of the 400-speed films are amazing to my eye, with Tri-X and HP5+ being my favorites due to their lovely grain. TMax 400 is so void of grain that I often mistake it for 100-speed films when I print it, and it really is the best compromise in my opinion. The only film you'll ever need. I know others get great results with Delta 400, but I just can't seem to strike a good balance with it; that's more my fault than the film, naturally. Then of course, Delta 3200 looks phenomenal when shooting portraits in 6x7 or 6x6.

For color neg I cannot speak highly enough of Kodak Portra 160 and 400. They are the films I get whenever I get the color itch, and they are always amazing to me. Great colors, very fine grain, and easy to scan.

I don't have a lot of experience with E6 films, honestly. I used to really love Agfa RSX 100 and Kodak E200, but obviously those aren't available anymore. Fuji Provia is quite lovely, and I wish the 400 was still available.

I hope that helps.

OK, I'm renewing my interest in film and cameras 67 & 66 after playing (toying) around in the digital world...I would like to hear what the consensus these days is on the different films, best uses for same, availabilities, etc in 120...B+W fine grain for landscape, something perhaps a little grainier for portraits, the benefits of Kodak Portra 160 for landscape and 400 for people, Fuji Velvia 50 vs 100 vs Provia 100 in the slide world, newcomers.
Also, does anyone know of a good and reliable processing firm in Australia (pref on east coast but doesn't really matter these days)...
Lastly, about getting into the scanning thing, at least a Nikon unit for 120 film, correct? I guess I can't altogether avoid the digital thing as I'm not really keen to do my own chemistry.
Any suggestions would be beneficial and appreciated... the more the merrier, please.
Many thanks in advance
Martin

 

[ME Super]

The Agfa RSXII 200 still lives on as Wittner Chrome 200D/Rollei CR200. You're right, Thomas, the Provia 100F is lovely.

I agree with tomfrh's sentiments too - Digital projectors that are in my price range can't hold a candle to a cheap 35mm slide projector.

 

[film_man]

I agree with tomfrh's sentiments too - Digital projectors that are in my price range can't hold a candle to a cheap 35mm slide projector.

The only problem here being that the OP has 6x6 and 6x7 cameras. Last time I saw a 6x6 projector for sale it was $1500. Can you even get a 6x7 projector?

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

The only problem here being that the OP has 6x6 and 6x7 cameras. Last time I saw a 6x6 projector for sale it was $1500. Can you even get a 6x7 projector?

Best solution is probably to get a 4x4 back for the Hasselblad. Makes for interesting projections, and I think GePe still makes slide mounts for this size film. It's quite something to see those squares projected.

 

[Hatchetman]

I found a 6x6 projector for $40 on eBay. Works great.

 

[MattKing]

I have two 6x6 projectors, but I need to find someone local who wants to buy them, because they are very heavy.

I also have 6x4.5 backs for my RB67, plus 6x6 and 6x4.5 cameras.

Plus a bunch of Ektachrome in the freezer!

 

[tomfrh]

The only problem here being that the OP has 6x6 and 6x7 cameras. Last time I saw a 6x6 projector for sale it was $1500. Can you even get a 6x7 projector?

I've recently bought 2 6x6 projectors. One was an old Aldis with 1000W bulb. I paid about $40 for it.

I wanted something better, and was worried the Aldis would burn the house down, so I recently bought a Rollei with 150mm Xenotar lens, which everyone recommended. In total I paid $600 US including shipping. It hasn't arrived yet.

You can get 6x7 projectors too. They're not as common, not that 6x6 are especially common...