Printing/Making Slides from Negatives - Options in 2026

[J C]

I have a Beseler slide copier that I would like to use for printing slides from negatives. It has full color and contrast controls. I enjoy making enlargements of my negs, but I also greatly enjoy viewing slides with a projector. I've been looking around, but I have been unable to find any color negative films currently produced with a clear base or otherwise designed for making positives. Perhaps there is motion picture film suitable for the task.

Looking for suggestions.

 

[MattKing]

I tweaked your thread title to help make it clear that you weren't seeking to make "prints", but rather wished to use your negatives to make (projectable) transparencies.
Otherwise people who don't read your post carefully might end up waxing eloquently about Cibachrome!
Eastman Kodak still makes 35mm projection print stock similar to the types of film that used to be used this way (5247??). However, I don't know how easy it is to obtain reasonably small quantities, and it would, of course, be designed for ECN-2 processing (I expect).

 

[Samu]

You would need print film for that. Of course, you eould need also the possibility for color filtering. Also, the print films avaliable are matched to ECN-2, and I don´t know how well they work wilt C-41 negatives. Also, the availability of any 30 mm stuff from Kodak is a question these days, unless you can prove it is used for a movie. But yes, it is possible to make prints out of negatives, provided you have the right equipment, and can get the film. Color print films for still photography are no more available. Also, you would need chemistry for ECP process.

 

[MattKing]

Also, you would need chemistry for ECP process.

Yep - ECP rather than ECN - thanks for the correction.

 

[AnselMortensen]

Kodak made Vericolor Slide Film 5072 for the very purpose you are asking about.
Very slow, tungsten balanced (3200 °K).
C-41 process, clear base.
You might get lucky and find some somewhere...Ebay, etc..

 

[koraks]

Perhaps there is motion picture film suitable for the task.

Yes, there is. Movies are still released on prints so the material is out there. But I've virtually never seen it pop up in the amateur still photography scene, so the first challenge will be to get hold of it.

 

[loccdor]

Kodak Vision Color Print Film 2383 is being sold re-spooled in 35mm cassettes on eBay. It normally is process ECP-2E, I don't know how easy/hard it is to do that yourself.

That is the film used for releases that are projected in theaters.

B&H is selling a whopping big roll of it too: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1482764-REG/kodak_7434517_vision_color_print_film.html

 

[MattKing]

Kodak Vision Color Print Film 2383 is being sold re-spooled in 35mm cassettes on eBay. It normally is process ECP-2E, I don't know how easy/hard it is to do that yourself.

That is the film used for releases that are projected in theaters.

B&H is selling a whopping big roll of it too: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1482764-REG/kodak_7434517_vision_color_print_film.html

FWIW, that listing is 70mm print stock.
From the Canadian motion picture film catalogue (prices in $CDN I believe):

Here is the link for the US catalogue: https://www.kodak.com/content/pdfs/motion/Kodak-Motion-Picture-Products-Price-Catalog-US.pdf

You would most ,likely have to convince someone in the motion picture industry to sell you some - although they might be willing to sell some to a big commercial lab.

 

[Samu]

Yes, there is. Movies are still released on prints so the material is out there. But I've virtually never seen it pop up in the amateur still photography scene, so the first challenge will be to get hold of it.

You should mix your own ECP-2E chemistry. The developer is based on the older CD-2 developing agent, not CD-3, as ECN-2 or E-6, or
CD-4, as C-41 is.

The recipe can be found here: https://www.kodak.com/content/produ...ssing-KODAK-Motion-Picture-Films-Module-9.pdf

 

[jeffreyg]

If you want to try something rather simple I have a suggestion although I have never tried it. I did make a larger print just to see if it would look decent and got a very nice result. Pictorico has an overhead projection material that I have made many enlarged negatives on for pt/pd prints. The color negative I mentioned reproduced colors especially skin tones very accurately. Print your negatives the size of the 35mm film (including the border). Cut and place in slide mounts. If they project well you have an easy solution especially since you might even be able to batch print a number of negatives on one sheet.

 

[J C]

Thanks for all the info. I'll compare sources and prices to determine the most cost effective way of getting 2383 print film. Finding the Vision negative film isn't difficult. I may buy the big roll from B&H, respool it, and sell what I don't use. Seems like a bit of a hassle to stock up on ECN-2 and ECP-2E chemistry for something I plan to do very infrequently, but I doubt the labs that process these films would develop 36 frames at a time. I'll also check out Pictorico.

 

[koraks]

Print your negatives the size of the 35mm film (including the border). Cut and place in slide mounts. If they project well

They will not project well. Inkjet resolution is woefully inadequate for this purpose.

I'll also check out Pictorico.

Save yourself the trouble. It can work for life-size viewing; i.e. no enlargement, but simply looking at the inkjet-printed transparency. But for this purpose, Pictorico (and similar materials) have a milky white appearance that reduces contrast. There are clear variants as well that would work better for this, but projection with any significant enlargement will still fail because you'll be looking at inkjet dots.

 

[adamlugi]

I do this regularly in Poland at WFDIF. The negative is contact printed onto film a duplicate.

 

[loccdor]

Here is the 2383 datasheet.

There is also 3383 which is the same thing but a thinner base. B&H also has it in 35mm and 16mm.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1912542-REG/kodak_7503006_vision_color_print_film.html/overview?ap=y&smp=Y

 

[J C]

I do this regularly in Poland at WFDIF. The negative is contact printed onto film a duplicate.

Nice results. Which films do you use for your negatives and prints? I take it you use an enlarger and contact printing frame. Do you achieve better exposure latitude than using slide film? What about color accuracy? I was thinking of making slides from my negatives both to make slides out of old and new negatives and to achieve better exposure latitude for difficult scenes than I could with just slide film. I take a lot of pictures of classic cars at concours which are usually held in open fields with strong sunlight, making for highlights too bright and shadows too dark for slide film even with strong fill flash.

There is also 3383 which is the same thing but a thinner base. B&H also has it in 35mm and 16mm.

I was wondering what the difference was. The data sheet didn't say. I'll call Kodak to confirm.


This is all hypothetical at the moment. Provia is still by and far my favorite film, and I've got enough for a while. If only Cibachrome hadn't gone the way of the dodo.

 

[loccdor]

Both are estar base. It's 120 micrometers vs 100 micrometers, or 4.7 mil vs 4.0 mil. Mechanical goal for the thicker film is rigidity and heat resistance, thinner is flexibility and reel capacity. 16mm only came in the thinner base, 70mm only came in the thicker, 35mm comes in both.

 

[Spektrum]

Nice results. Which films do you use for your negatives and prints? I take it you use an enlarger and contact printing frame. Do you achieve better exposure latitude than using slide film? What about color accuracy? I was thinking of making slides from my negatives both to make slides out of old and new negatives and to achieve better exposure latitude for difficult scenes than I could with just slide film. I take a lot of pictures of classic cars at concours which are usually held in open fields with strong sunlight, making for highlights too bright and shadows too dark for slide film even with strong fill flash.

The attached photos show the film used to make the positive print. It's Kodak Eastman 5207 emulsion (Vision3 250D). I'm also curious what film @adamlugi used to expose in the camera.

WFDiF is an abbreviation for the Polish name "Wytwornia Filmow Dokumentalnych i Fabularnych" (Documentary and Feature Film Studio)
It is a state cultural institution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_and_Feature_Film_Studios

 

[koraks]

The attached photos show the film used to make the positive print. It's Kodak Eastman 5207 emulsion (Vision3 250D)

Uh, no. 250D is a masked color negative ECN2 recording film. Any print made on it would have an orange mask; it could never be clear. We're looking at contact prints so we are seeing the keycode of the original camera capture film here.

 

[Spektrum]

OK, I get it now. So the photos were shot on Vision3 250D, and the emulsion code was contact-printed onto the duplicating stock.
Thank you for the explanation @koraks

 

[koraks]

You got it! So part of the question is answered (i.e. original recording was on 250D), but the question of the print stock remains.
I'd like to add that I really like those positives although they are rather heavily biased towards yellow. However, given how time-consuming it likely is to make these, I can very well imagine why one would accept some degree of compromise w.r.t. color balancing.

 

[lamerko]

Some time ago I used to see quite a few eBay listings for respoolled 2383, but I never bought any. Now… there's simply none. The European catalog states that the minimum order for both 35mm and 70mm is a 2000-foot roll, and for 70mm the price isn't even listed.
There's probably little chance with 70mm anyway (the format itself is a bit odd - the frames are actually narrower than 65mm), but they might still sell the 35mm.
The policy of selling only to production companies might be possible to work around, since print film is designed to compensate for the color mask of the negative stock, so shooting it in a still camera doesn't really make much sense anyway.
But 2000 feet is a lot of film… just to experiment with.

 

[loccdor]

there's simply none

Someone is selling 36 exposure rolls on eBay for $6. They have over 50 rolls available and ship to Bulgaria. They're out of Las Vegas. No idea if they know what they're doing with regard to hand rolling or if the film is expired.

 

[adamlugi]

In this case it was Vision 250, but I have also done it with 50D and 500T. Regarding the colors, you’re right – they are not perfectly accurate. They appear slightly warmer than the negative that I print in the enlarger. The lab technician suggested exposing a certified Kodak grey card, which should improve the color accuracy. Each frame is exposed individually, but the films are spliced together. For example, in one “roll” there may be about 15 pieces joined together. I will look for the codes of the positive films and send them .