Color slide film is not as good as color negative film. The reasons are extensive and quite technical and I cannot seem to get through to people.
They think slide films are better because they can "read" them visually.
As Mark Barendt already mentioned, I think some of the resistance to color negative film stems from folks getting digital prints. Many digital labs state or imply that slide film is better than color neg as far as scanning is concerned. For example, West Coast Imaging is a very well known digital lab on the West Coast, and this is what they say regarding color neg:
Chromes scan more easily than negs for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it is a positive, and we have an accurate reference to what it should look like. With a negative we have no such reference. Also, the grain structure of chromes holds up much better, and gives a sharper file than negs.
The wider latitude of negs is part of the problem, as well. Compressing that range into a print flattens contrast and destroys local contrast...things that make a print sparkle. On the other hand, using chromes in flat light stretches out the contrast range and makes nice local contrast happen automatically.
We have scanned thousands of chromes and negs from beginners to professionals with decades of experience. In looking at what works, we have found that negs from studio photographers who light flat for chrome, make the best scans....so the very reason you want to use neg is in direct opposition to creating the type of lighting conditions and neg that scans well.
Now this doesn't mean that the chrome is always better, but with a chrome, what you see is what you get, and we can always make a good scan from a good chrome. With Negatives there is a little bit more variability and uncertainty. The type of neg film really doesn't matter very much.
WCI has also said (although I'm not sure if this is still posted on their web site):
Color negatives can be the most difficult film to scan. You'd think it would be as simple as inverting the data and removing the orange mask, but it's not. The orange mask is not simply a 40cc orange; it varies in density at every point in the photograph, depending on what is recorded on the film at that point. Variations in processing and exposure mean that the same settings for one negative rarely work for another, even if they are on the same film. And while color negative film is capable of recording great latitude, the highest quality scans consistently come from film exposed in "chrome light" and carefully processed.
I've lost count of the digital labs that have told me that color neg produces grainier scans than chromes due to grain aliasing, etc.
I realize that part of the reason some digital labs take this position is that their equipment and business model is intrinsically optimized for E-6. There are certainly digital labs willing to take the time and effort to properly scan and print C-41 (in my limited experience it may take them several scans before they achieve an optimal one), but they are in the minority, and I think at least one charges extra for C-41 scanning versus E-6.
For applications where precise color accuracy is not critical, I think many folks shoot slide film to avoid complications (real or perceived) when printing digitally.
That's a good one. Should be in the joke thread. :rolleyes:
