Has anyone used this (slide) film?

[terri]

I was given Agfa Scala 200x B&W slide film for Christmas. I just went and blew off a roll (well, most of it anyway) at a local cemetery.

Anyone out there ever used this stuff? Apparently there are only 3 labs in the US that develop this stuff and I am planning on sending it to NY. That, in and by itself, is kind of unnerving as I have no idea on what kind of quality to expect. To me, slide film is supposed to be a one-hour E6 no-brainer, not a days-on-end, mail-off nail biter. :| The film was 7 bucks a roll, plus out of state developing, plus S&H - good god, the pressure!!! uke:

I guess my question is two-fold: a) has anyone used this film, and b) who has had wonderful success with out of state labs who can reassure me that everything is going to be fine??? :blulsh2:

 

[ksmattfish]

I don't know about the film you mentioned, but you can get a kit that allows you to develop at home Tmax100 as a positive rather than a negative.

 

[seanarmenta]

i shoot on scala all the time -- one of the 3 labs that process it is down the street from me

it is a wonderful film, heck it's the only BW transparency film! great tonal range, just really crisp looking. i've shot it at 100, and 400 with great results. i plan on shooting it at 1600 and see how it goes.

but i highly recommend shooting on this film.

 

[terri]

Matt: I've heard of those kits, and I agree it does sound interesting. One step at a time for this photo-baby.

Sean: oh that sounds so great! I still have about 8 exposures left and am considering just rewinding and sending, since I'm so curious to see it!! But I should be patient, shouldn't I??? :? I'd like to get outside and finish the roll and play with a couple different filters so I can get a good idea of all it can do.

I guess you know you're lucky, to not have to deal with mailing off your film!

 

[seanarmenta]

by the way terri,

since scala comes in 200, and you want to let's say rate it at 100 or 400 or whatever speed, you have to indicate this on the film canister before you send it in for developing. i'm sure you know this already, but just wanted to be sure that you knew.

also, labs will charge you extra for pushing and pulling depending on how many stops you down/uprate it. for example, if you shoot it at 400, then you have to pay for a 2 stop push process.

post your results when you get them back

sean

 

[Jeff Canes]

Been thinking about trying a B&W positive, that are the advantages, who processes it, how do you make prints?

Foma also makes a B&W positive film, J and C Photo sale it http://www.jandcphotography.com

The only mail order processor that I have used is Film for Classis for 127 films usually take about 4 weeks with shipping.

A big question I have is what if US postal start scanning mail shipments.

 

[seanarmenta]

hi jeff,

well, you don't really shoot transparencies to make prints -- or should i say, i don't recommend it.

you will always get better results from printing off a negative than you would a tranny, simply because that's what print film is made for. but i'm talking about traditional methods.

now if you're able to properly scan a slide into a digital file (and by this i mean drum scan), then you will get pretty good results, as slides scan better than negatives or prints.

i don't recommend foma -- you're really much better off trying scala. looks like foma uses the same film as the old seattle filmworks, which was absolute crap. not sure where the other labs that do scala are, but there's Main Photo & Imaging Service here in california. it's about $10/roll, but well worth it in my opinion.

 

[terri]

post your results when you get them back

Sean, of course I will, if it's not all total plonk. I just stomped around a cemetery. Yes, it was rated 200 so for the first roll I just shot it at 200, since I knew I was going to be outdoors and wasn't particularly worried about film speed.

And yes, I do know you have to let these labs know when you've pushed, but I actually haven't done that yet, with any film. What I didn't know was that there would be an additional cost associated with that. :? hmmph!!

 

[Jeff Canes]

I found on the Agfa sit a list of labs that develop Scala film, B&H also sales mailer
http://www.agfa.com/photo/products/film/professional/bwrevfilm/scalalabs/

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home;jsessionid=157k1jrjSu!-266410797?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=106888&is=REG

 

[Jeff Canes]

Seanarmenta, I a little confessed about your reply

In the color world I have use transparencies and have got fabulous results, super saturated colors prints, but I have avoided transparencies because of the conveniences of C-41 films and there lack latitude

So why do you use it
:?: