a slide film virgin needs help

blackdoglab · Apr 13, 2007

Here's the score, I want to try slide film and have no clue of what to get or what precautions I need to take with it. I've heard that kodachrome can only be processed by one lab in the U.S., so that's out. What else is out there?

myopia · Apr 13, 2007

fujichrome velvia (high saturation, nice yellows and blacks), fujichrome provia (medium saturation, nice blues), fujichrome astia (good skin tones)

-if u can find it, black and white agfa scala.

--i like provia 100F the best.

---also, kodak makes some good slide film so i've heard, but i have never used it before...

terri · Apr 13, 2007

If you started with either Fuji Provia 100 or Velvia 100, I doubt you'd be disappointed. Fujichrome pretty much rocks.

Kodak's not bad at all, so definitely worth a try if you find Fuji not to your liking. Ektachrome 100 (E100 VS) is lovely stuff, indeed.

Scala was FUN to shoot!

I've no idea if it's still available.

Buy a couple rolls of each, you'll soon have your own personal fave.

blackdoglab · Apr 13, 2007

So it seems that as long as i stay within ametuer slide films I'll be alright. Cool. oh, and Foma makes a b&w reversal film.

Sw1tchFX · Apr 13, 2007

I shoot E100VS 4x5 sheets for my color film work.

Alpha · Apr 13, 2007

Provia 400 is, in my opinion, the best and most versatile color film on the planet. The colors are wonderful, the skin tones can be quite natural when subjects are lit correctly, the grain is practically as fine as the ASA100 Provia, and it can be pushed or pulled.

selmerdave · Apr 13, 2007

blackdoglab said:
So it seems that as long as i stay within ametuer slide films I'll be alright. Cool. oh, and Foma makes a b&w reversal film.

Well, all of the films mentioned are pro films.

Personally, I'd recommend not shying away from Kodachrome. Yes you have to send it out, but it doesn't take very long (last time for me it was 5 days door to door), and if you send a few rolls at a time is very cost effective. And if you've ever seen a 50 year-old Kodachrome slide, you'll know what your slides will look like 50 years from now.

Dave

fmw · Apr 14, 2007

The most important thing to remember is that you will be viewing the film itself and not a print or digital image made from the film. That means the exposure has to be on the money and and color correction or compensation has to be done in camera.

The exposure latitude is perhaps 1/2 stop at best. You need to nail it every time. You will also need CC filters to fix color temperature problems since you can't fix them in printing.

dinodan · Apr 15, 2007

I haven't shot Kodachrome since I started getting back into film recently. Is KC 25 still available anywhere? I used to love it for the fine grain and slightly muted colors. I have a roll of KC 64 in the FE2 right now with a few frames left. The local lab says "under a week" on turnaround.

I've always shot Kodachrome 64 about 1/2 stop under, in bright conditions. It improves saturation slightly. First time out (if you decide to use KC), you might want to try bracketing under to see how you like it.

E6 films are good also. I think that Fuji has a slight edge over Ektachrome, though they're both very good. Velvia is proving very hard to find locally. I'm still searching. Provia is no problem. My local lab does a 2-day turnaround on E6 if I get it to them by about 10:00 AM.

Absolutely spot-on about Kodachrome's archival stability. We have family slides that my dad shot 50+ years ago that look as though they could have been taken last week. Amazing!

selmerdave · Apr 15, 2007

KM25 is only available on eBay occasionally, for significant prices (>$20/roll) and you have to trust that it's been frozen since before the expiry date.

KR64, PKR64 and KL200 are still readily available. Processing mailers from Kodak are no longer available as of late last year, so now you have to send it directly to Dwayne's, but as I said my last experience was very good.

I've found generally that most slide film often responds well to slight underexposure for saturated colours, but *not* skin tones.

Dave

Alpha · Apr 15, 2007

Most local pro shops will send to Dwayne's for you at little to no extra cost.

blackdoglab · Apr 15, 2007

Hey, a friend of mine has sold off his medium format gear and gave me his stock of 120 film. I now have two packs of portra (160 and 400), one pack of plusx, and one precious roll of EKTRACHROME!!!!!!! Not only will my Yashica have food, but I can finally use some slide film. I also found that Shopko ( they're based out of Green Bay and are a smaller, friendlier, department store unlike wal#$%^) has elitechrome in 35mm. I feel exceptionally lucky.

Alpha · Apr 15, 2007

Fruit is the perfect subject matter for a slide film virgin...slide really makes those cherries pop

montresor · Apr 17, 2007

terri said:
Scala was FUN to shoot! I've no idea if it's still available.

I have a propack of Scala 200 (in 120) in my fridge, found it in the back of the cooler at the downtown photo place. Haven't shot it because it looks like it'll be expensive to process and I'm in a perpetual state of broke-itude these days!

Anyway, I found this place (http://www.dr5.com/scala.html) for processing, anyone know of any others?