What slide film?

Ghoste · Apr 23, 2005

I'm going to start shooting slide film but what should I buy? I'm going to be shooting outdoor action shots (skating) and night shots with flashes. I heard Fuji makes great slide film but not sure for action shots if theres a difference. What should I be looking for in prices for it?

santino · Apr 23, 2005

well, as slide-beginner I would recommend you Fuji Sensia.

Artemis · Apr 23, 2005

I aboslutly love Fuji Velvia 50..but its not for night or fast shots

....try getting something with IS0 of 400 - 800 if you have a lens that goes to f/5.6...if it can go to 2.8 or 1.8, then you can risk iso 50 - 200

selmerdave · Apr 23, 2005

I'm rather fond of the Kodak E100 series of films myself.

Dave

terri · Apr 23, 2005

I also like the Kodak E100 slide films, they are a close second to Fuji, which rules the slide-film world IMHO.

Try a couple rolls of each to see what works best for you: the Provia, Sensia, Velvia are all lovely. Bracket your shots; keep an exposure log, and it's pretty hard to go wrong.

Rob · Apr 24, 2005

Ghoste said:
I'm going to start shooting slide film but what should I buy? I'm going to be shooting outdoor action shots (skating) and night shots with flashes. I heard Fuji makes great slide film but not sure for action shots if theres a difference. What should I be looking for in prices for it?

Both of the purposes you list are probably better suited to neg film, especially night shots, as the exposure latitude i.e. potential error rate is going to be greater. I've not had a great amount of success with night shots using slide film and I am generally happy with the negative results.

As for prices, it's about £5 to £7 per reel here, depending on how many you buy at once.

R

sbalsama · Apr 24, 2005

Mmm, I'm getting my first rolls of Velvia 50 whenever UPS gets here. But I'd have to agree with robhesketh. From what I understand, higher speed slide films can get fairly grainy - someone had recommended them to me when I was looking for an ultra-grainy ultra-desaturated look. I forget which brand exactly. Pick up some of the Fuji Superia 800 for some fine-grain sports/night lovin'. It's cheaper too

Ghoste · Apr 25, 2005

Thanks guys. I'm going to try my luck with the Fuji. Rob the only problem with shooting neg. film for this is that if I submit my shots to a mag. they want slide film allmost all the time from what I have gathered. What do you think?

Rob · Apr 25, 2005

Magazines certainly used to want transparancies, but I was under the impression that most of them wanted computer files of a suitable resolution these days - after all, most magazines are type-set and arranged on a Mac, so why would they want to have the effort of scanning in?

Contact the picture editor, or the overall editor of the magazine (dependent on it's size) and ask him/her which format suits them best. You'll probably find that mags such as Homes & Gardens will be traditional and mags such as Rollerblade Weekly will be more flexible as it's the content, not the quality which is the focal issue.

Good luck, and let us know what you find out!

Rob

Ghoste · Apr 25, 2005

Haha. Good point, but you would be suprised how important a shot is to a skate magazine. This months issue is a photo issue and speeks alot of photography. You would be supprised with what it takes to get a shot into a magazine like Transworld Skate or Surf. Image quality and composition is extremely important to them. :sigh: Doesn't leave much room for me =p

johnlo · Apr 25, 2005

I'm a HUGE fan of Kodak Slides. You should try out the E100. its amazing. Fuji comes out pretty nice too. But doesnt do wonder to my eyes like Kodak does.

john