Slide film with narrow exposure latitude?

[JPD]

That could be said for all E6 slide films, but which one has the narrowest exposure latitude? Or all they all the same?

I haven't used slide film for twenty years, but now I need a roll to test and calibrate my Gossen Sixtomat Digital light meter. It gives readings that are one stop "faster" than my Capital/Soligor spot meter, and I get negatives with poor shadow detail if I go by the readings the Gossen meter gives me.

 

[Anon Ymous]

Probably Velvia.

 

[JPD]

Probably Velvia.

Thanks! Velvia 50 it is, then.

 

[thuggins]

Probably Velvia.

I find Velvia 100 to be even more restrictive than Velvia 50. Velvia 100 is not capable of rendering most "real life" scenes with normal highlights and shadows.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Bracket your shots by +1/3 +2/3 +1 and -1/3 -2/3 and -1 stops so you can review the results more accurately.

 

[Trail Images]

I've used V-50 for years. It is narrow. You can never meter too much with it. Be sure to double check your readings. Also be sure to verify reciprocity and add needed time as required. I carry a laminated reciprocity cheat sheet with me all the time in the field. I find my exposure failures negligible these days.

 

[DREW WILEY]

For slide film you want your meter precisely calibrated, especially for Velvia. Let's say your meter is only a third of a stop off, and then the shutter is itself only a third off, and then your estimation of where you want your values placed in the reading is just a bit off too - add it all up, and if each of those errors accumulates in the same direction, you've got a wasted shot. And I mean, really wasted. Velvia won't tolerate error at all unless the scene is especially low contrast.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

With medium format, I bracket. Now that I'm shooting large format 4x5, I'm only shooting a single shot. I haven't developed any yet. The suspense is killing me.

 

[Trail Images]

With medium format, I bracket. Now that I'm shooting large format 4x5, I'm only shooting a single shot. I haven't developed any yet. The suspense is killing me.

Alan, you've used the V-50 for a long time with MF, your LF should be just fine if you used the same care as before. I use V-50 in both MF & LF and the results work just fine if I religiously follow the golden rules. I do ALL my stuff in low light. So I do need some reciprocity adjustments at times.......

 

[138S]

That could be said for all E6 slide films, but which one has the narrowest exposure latitude? Or all they all the same?

Just see datasheets of the different slide films and see the sensitometric graph.

Each unit in the Horzontal axis is 3+1/3 stops, or aprox 3.33 stops, so just measure how many units you have from toe to shoulder and multiply by 3.33, you will have the total latitude in stops, or you may find how many stops you have of linear latitude, by measuring how many units the linear response spans and mult by 3.33. In the graph below you see 1 H unit highlighted, which is 3+1/3 stops:

You will see slight differences in latitude, but not too much.

Additionally, this graph says what density you obtain for each exposure level:

Kodak and Fuji usually show graphs with absolute units in the Hor axis in Logarithm of Lux·Seconds exposure, for example -2 point in the Horizontal axis says the exposure in that point is 10-2 , so 1/100, so 0.01 Lux·Second. So it says that if 1 Lux reaches and slide film spot during 1/100 exposure time then a density of around 2.8 will be reached in that spot.

 

[ic-racer]

Remember transparency film sensitivity is determined different than B&W Negative film. But the sensitivity standard does use a 'middle point' in the curve (vertical dotted line half way up the curve), so evaluating a slide of a scene that was average metered is a very reasonable test.
The latitude of each film tested for speed is accounted for by the distance between the points S and F (which affects the slope and therefore the speed point). Therefore you can use any film, not just the one with the narrowest latitude.

 

[138S]

Remember transparency film sensitivity is determined different than B&W Negative film.

Let me add that color slide film sensitivity is determined by the ISO 2240:2003 standard, which remains current.

 

[DREW WILEY]

What counts is USABLE density range. I don't care how you choose to slice the pie; Velvia films have less of that than other modern chrome films.

 

[JPD]

Alright, I'll use either Velvia 50 or 100 in 120 on a sunny day with no clouds, for en even and contrasty lighting, measuring the light off my Kodak grey card and exposing in 1/3 stop increments. The rest of the roll I can use for testing the spot meter.

 

[mshchem]

I use incident meters for slides. If I'm shooting 35mm I auto bracket, camera (Nikon F5) takes 3 exposures at 8 frames a second. First shot is as camera is set, the it makes appropriate adjustments to shutter speed to produce a under and over exposed frame. You can choose from 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7 EV for under and over. I always do this on Vacation family outings, that way I choose the best of the 3 exposures and mount the best.

I shoot quite a bit 6x17 Fujichrome, incident meter works great.

 

[mshchem]

That could be said for all E6 slide films, but which one has the narrowest exposure latitude? Or all they all the same?

I haven't used slide film for twenty years, but now I need a roll to test and calibrate my Gossen Sixtomat Digital light meter. It gives readings that are one stop "faster" than my Capital/Soligor spot meter, and I get negatives with poor shadow detail if I go by the readings the Gossen meter gives me.

Make sure it's not a problem with the E6 1st developer. To do slides right who ever is processing should be running daily test strips to check densities and color quality.

 

[JPD]

Make sure it's not a problem with the E6 1st developer. To do slides right who ever is processing should be running daily test strips to check densities and color quality.

I will send the film to a professional lab.

 

[Lachlan Young]

Overall there's less variance between transparency films in terms of latitude than there is between some neg films. The bigger problems arise from reproduction from transparency, where you have to deal with fundamental material design problems - because it's intended as a direct vision viewing material, it delivers its 7 stops of range from toe to shoulder, rather than on the straight line like all neg films (usually 5 stops, give or take a 1/3 stop here or there) - which can lead to headaches in reproduction methods, no matter if they're silicon or silver based.

 

[138S]

What counts is USABLE density range. I don't care how you choose to slice the pie; Velvia films have less of that than other modern chrome films.

This compares Velvia 100 to Provia 100. Pretty much the same, perhaps some 1/2 stop difference:



Velvia has more upswept or curved line delivering a particular footprint, but ranges in latitude or density are much the same in practice.

IMO the more curved line of Velvia has been a source of confusion, with people relating more contrast to less range.

What Velvia has is a more curved line, compressing a bit hilights and expanding mids, that expansion in the mids makes it more contrasty there, but it has te same range because than expansion takes the range saved in the highlight compression.

Velvia is more saturated than Provia with a bit different spectral sensitivity.

The particular case fo Velvia 50 has a color shift in the yellows-orange toward the red, making warm colors warmer, which is spectacular for many landscapes.

Velvia 100 has not that pronounced shift. Velvia 100F has an additional correction color layer making it technically superior, but some say they prefer the footprint of the 50 or the 100.

 

[Lachlan Young]

Velvia has a higher colour contrast than Provia, E100 etc - which is not measured by the characteristic curve.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Same in practice????????? Don't try to fool me with that one. While I could often tame an old school Ektachrome 64 or Astia chrome with a .40 or even .30 contrast mask for printing or duplicating, and Provia or later Ektachromes with around .60, Velvia sometimes required .90 even with fully shaded scenes - that's a huge difference. And once you hit the boundaries, anything above or below is difficult to recover anything worthwhile from no matter how you try it.

 

[JPD]

1385, I have got the information I needed already.

 

[138S]

1385, I have got the information I needed already.

Great. Just let me reiterate that in the dataheets... each H unit in the horizontal axis is 3+1/3 stops latitude, this tells the linear latitude and toe/shoulder extensions. By exploring the graph you may guess what you should try in practice to learn how a film works.

 

[ic-racer]

Let me add that color slide film sensitivity is determined by the ISO 2240:2003 standard, which remains current.

Yes, and I don't have a PDF of that, do you? I just have the older ASA papers with the historic information.

 

[138S]

Yes, and I don't have a PDF of that, do you? I just have the older ASA papers with the historic information.

It is $104 (https://webstore.ansi.org/standards/din/diniso22402005), probably can be found pirated around by googling to find a torrent, there was a 19GB download IIRC, that many (or some) engineering students used.

but this is probably illegal, so don't do it if not knowing if non lucrative usage is illegal or not in your country. Also pirated content may download ramsonware and any kind of dirt, this happens very frequently.

I've access to ISO norms through a company holding a subscription.