Help with slide film

[CCericola]

I've only shot slide film in college, making slides for painters and sculptors. I just got some ISO 400 slide film for my Mamiya RB67. I was reading that like digital it hates blown highlights. And that I should be shooting ISO 400 at ISO 800.

Do I have my facts strait or am I completely off base?

I'll be shooting outside (Grounds for Sculpture) and this is the slide film I have Amazon.com: Fujifilm Fujichrome Provia 400X Color Slide Film ISO 400, 120mm, 5 Roll Pro Pack: Camera & Photo.

Since it is balanced for daylight would I need a color correcting filter in studio using studio strobes? My first thought is no because my flashtubes are UV coated to 5500K but I figured it doesn't hurt to ask.

 

[PhotoWrangler]

If I'm not mistaken, a bit of under exposure makes E6 film appear mor saturated. At iso800 you'd be one stop underexposed.

 

[Ysarex]

If the film is daylight balanced then it's balanced for your strobes.

Your facts about blown highlights are correct, however the recommendation to shoot at ISO 800 is not a good one. Transparency film ISO values do not have that kind of leeway. The fact is transparency film has almost no latitude. The highlights will blow with the slightest push and once they're gone, it's just like digital, they're gone for good. Unfortunately the shadows are just as touchy and will block up as easily as the highlights will burn. You've got to get the exposure right -- there's very little room for error. If the scene contrast is too high in ambient light (sidelight for example) then you need to fix it. I've shot a lot of 120 roll Fuji transparency over the years and my experience was that the rated ISO was very accurate. To match that film I used either a Gossen or Minolta incident light meter -- wouldn't dare use a reflected meter. And I still shot brackets when I could.

You're shooting an RB67 -- antique by today's standards and a near certainty that those Copal leaf shutters have gotten dirty, lazy or both. In other words they're off.

I've got two options for you: 1. Pretest a roll under controlled conditions. 2. Bracket, bracket, bracket.

Joe

 

[CCericola]

Thanks for the info. The camera was bought new in the 90's but I don't think it has ever been serviced. I think I will use these 5 rolls to test everything.

 

[Derrel]

Yeah, 400 E-6 at an E.I. of 800 is too much. A simple one-third of an f/stop under-rating (so, an Exposure Index of 500) ought to be good. The more-critical factor is "How do I meter each scene?" Do you have an incident light meter, which will pretty much help you peg the highlights? Or will you be using a reflected light metering system of some type? If using a "dumb" reflected light meter, I think you might have good luck aiming it at the brightest subject in the frame, and then under-exposing about 1/3 to 1/2 of an f/stop from whatever that BRIGHTEST TONE is. The goal with slide film is to "peg the highlights". One needs to figure the exposure for the brightest part of the scene, and then everything else falls where it falls. Deep shadows will blacken right up. As for studio flash...I don't really know Provia's response under studio flash...but I suppose it is possible that a very slight warming filter, like a Skylight 1A or 1B filter could give a more-pleasing overall color rendering when the light source is studio flash. It also depends a bit on your light modifiers...do you have really old, yellowed softbox fronts or old,yellowed umbrellas?

 

[CCericola]

I always have my light meter with me. I've had my gossen Luna star since college. The battery cover is held together with electrical tape but, So far, so good as far as it's accuracy. Thanks for the tips. I'll follow up with the results.

 

[Helen B]

It's quite common to use an 81A or 81B when using daylight slide film with studio flash (ie slight warming filters, warmer than the 1A and 1B).

What will happen to the slides - are they solely for scanning? To an extent the exposure is affected by the final use - I find that what would be an underexposed slide for many direct viewing purposes (projecting in a less-than-perfectly blacked out lecture theatre etc) scans very well, but it does depend on the scanner's ability to get clean shadows.