All About Slides

[checker]

Hi,
I'm intending to get into slide photography. Have not tried it before... I would like to know more about it like what to look out for, whether should buy off the shelf positives or bulk load, where to process is good and cheap, how to shoot slides well, use what to watch slides etc etc...

please feel free to share all that you have with everyone here who will be interested in slides.

 

[justarius]

For slides, you must be sure of your exposure, as the exposure latitude for slides is very much lesser than that for negatives. No lab would be able to fix a bad slide for you, but they maybe able to rescue a bad negative when printing. I've also read that it might be better to underexpose for slides than overexpose, and that for print film, it's better to overexpose than underexpose, though I've yet to figure out why this is so.

To view slides, you can get a lightbox with a loupe, or you can use a projector.

Enjoy!

 

[jackenightmare]

Anything blow up in white area will lose all the image information, that's why you must be more careful about the exposure on slide (positive), unlike the negative can be saved during print because the overexposer are appear dark area on negative and there for the information is still there, similar idea apply to negative, underexpose negative are harder to recover because the area are blow out on negative film.

Slidely under expose (-1/3, -1/2) your slide will make the color deeper (if you like that).

Slide's resolution and color dynamic range are much higher then film.

You can get the slide to scan to CD when processing with the photo shop (there's many of them around, look around the forum, there's a lot of topic regarding this)

You will see a great different when you scan your slide and your negative, the color delpth, detail, resolution, etc.

There's also different type of slide around, professional slide which cost more will normally retain the higher resolution.

*expensive doesn't means good, but good normally dun cost cheap, some little advise when hear the "cheap and good"

 

[coke21]

Hi,
I'm intending to get into slide photography. Have not tried it before... I would like to know more about it like what to look out for, whether should buy off the shelf positives or bulk load, where to process is good and cheap, how to shoot slides well, use what to watch slides etc etc...

please feel free to share all that you have with everyone here who will be interested in slides.

Generally its better to just meter normally and shoot. But that's just my opinion. You can try Fuji's Provia or Velvia, I usually get very nice tones and colours with those. Bulk loaded ones are reather cheap. You can get them for around $6+ if you know where or who to look for...

 

[checker]

Generally its better to just meter normally and shoot. But that's just my opinion. You can try Fuji's Provia or Velvia, I usually get very nice tones and colours with those. Bulk loaded ones are reather cheap. You can get them for around $6+ if you know where or who to look for...

Provia, Velvia, wat's the difference in all these differene models??

 

[coke21]

Provia, Velvia, wat's the difference in all these differene models??

For starters there have different ISO ratings. In addition, Velvia provides more vivid colours (correct em if I'm wrong).

 

[Stefen]

its down to what you prefer... for me, budget conscious wise, i actually use kodak elitechrome 100, and i have no problems with it.

the beautiful thing about slide photography is when you purchase a projector, and your image is displayed at a size where its impossible on digital photography. the colors and the saturation remains unsurpassed in its own right.

I always use ruby to develop my slides, as the staff is friendly and down to earth....

 

[Stefen]

one more thing....

you will not regret slide photography. it doesn't cost a bomb, and the results are usually stunning to say the least.

cheap and good... :bsmilie:

 

[sfhuang]

For a comparison chart by Popular Photography, check out this pdf:
http://www.popularphotography.com/pdfs/2002/0702/88FilmCharts.pdf

My advice to you is to try out the slide films yourself and find out which levels of saturation/color suits your personal preference. For me, I shoot Provia 100F 99% of the time (I also like to use Kodak Ektachrome sometimes) and I roll my own Provia film. It's far, far cheaper this way. And to answer your question, there's no difference between bulk-roll film and normal film in terms of quality.

I always send my slides to RGB for processing. There's discount for SAFRA members and several other photo clubs (can't remember which ones but you can check at their retail outlets) and I pay just $8 in total (Provia film + processing without mount) for a wonderful sheet of slides that take my breath away.

 

[mpenza]

anyone know the price of velvia 100F in Singapore?

 

[Prismatic]

For Fuji, the main slides are:

Velvia 50 (Super saturation and fine-grain RMS 9)
Velvia 100F (Increased saturation at ISO 100, improved grain size, RMS 8)
Velvia 100 (Super saturation at ISO 100 with warm bias, RMS 8. Only available in Japan)

Provia 100F (Less saturation than Velvia at ISO 100, fine-grain RMS 8)
Provia 400F (Normal saturation at ISO 400, fine-grain)

Astia 100F (Neutral saturation, reduced contrast portrait slide. New batch of Astia 100Fs come with super-fine grains RMS 7!)

Oh, I almost forgot.
Sensia 100 (Consumer slide, similar emulsion to Provia 100F)
Sensia 200 (Consumer slide at ISO 200)
Sensia 400

 

[sfhuang]

Oh just to add, don't bother sending Fujifilm slide films to Ruby for processing. Last time I went in Jan 04, they told me each roll cost $11-$12 to process because they send to external Fujifilm lab to do it. RGB pricing is almost a third of that!

 

[sfhuang]

Bulk loaded ones are reather cheap. You can get them for around $6+ if you know where or who to look for...

Can try loading yourself. It's not that difficult. My own-rolled Provia 100F works out to be just $4+ per canister.

 

[Neo]

Like negative films, slide films come in various grades - both professional and consumer. Sensia and Ektachrome are the consumer series, meaning that they come "aged" and ready for use. Professional films come very fresh from the factory, and must be refridgerated and used quickly for optimum colour balance. In theory, you'd be hard pressed to see differences in the colours, but demanding pros who require spot-on colours would go for pro films of the same batch.

In general, Fuji and Kodak slide films are pretty popular. The Sensia and Ektachrome series are the more affordable ones, so you can try them out if you're not too confident about slides. The Fuji Provia series consist of quite a few films, such as the Provia 100F, 400F and 1600F, and they're known for having fine grain compared to other slide films of the same ISO speed. Bear in mind that slide films usually have courser grain for ISO 400 and above, compared to negative films. I like the Kodak series of E100SW film for their warm tones.

Finally, if you're crazy for ultra-fine grain and saturated colours, check out the Fuji Velvia 50. It is the undisputed king of punchy colours and grainless images. Some people do not like the super-colours, but I love it. Try it once on colourful subjects, and decide for yourself!

For processing, nothing beats RGB Color for E-6 slide processing (IMHO). Fast (within 3-4 hours) and cheap (compared to most other labs).

 

[e905591s]

Hi Checker,

You can probably get amazing amount of information about both Velvia 50 and Provia 100F from many resources on the web. Velvia is a slow, fine grain, high saturation and one of the sharpest slide film on the market. Hence it's of no surprise that Velvia becomes the film choice of many landscape pros/amateurs since its introduction a decade+ ago. By all means, buy a few rolls and shoot some in various conditions to see if you like it.

Provia 100F is a full stop faster than Velvia50 and it's more neutral/honest in its colour rendering. Personally I feel that it's more general purpose than velvia50. Again, it's good to buy a few rolls, shoot them under various conditions and see if you like it.

If you are just starting out, you may want to hold back your bulk loading plan first as you need to invest into a bulk loader (and it's associated problems like dust, scratch...) and also being locked into one type of slides for quite awhile. But bulk loading does mean substantial savings when you shoot more slides.

As for processing, I have been using RGB at Beach Rd and everything seems to work well for me. YMMV though. In fact, they are having some kind of promotion where they charge the price of 2 rolls for every 3 rolls of E6 processing. So, $10 for 3 rolls of E6 processing, I can't ask for more.

Hope this helps.

e905591s

 

[Prismatic]

The Fuji Provia series consist of quite a few films, such as the Provia 100F, 400F and 1600F, and they're known for having fine grain compared to other slide films of the same ISO speed.

Woah, Provia 1600F! Haven't heard that in a long time. It's almost impossible to find this one, even in Japan. Heard it was discontinued only after a while due to low demand.

 

[Ah Pao]

Not much experience with slides, but just a note that Provia 100F tends towards cooler tones (slight bluish overcast) that makes it perfect for blue skies! The downside, though, is that overcast skies come out rendered slightly bluish instead of neutral grey.

 

[forbytes]

anyone know the price of velvia 100F in Singapore?

of the shelf(box) is $11

 

[mich_2103]

Oh just to add, don't bother sending Fujifilm slide films to Ruby for processing. Last time I went in Jan 04, they told me each roll cost $11-$12 to process because they send to external Fujifilm lab to do it. RGB pricing is almost a third of that!

Isizt?

Thought Ruby only charges $8/roll for slides, including mounting? I always send my slides to them for developing. Love their service.

Regards,
-Michelle-

 

[sfhuang]

Isizt?

Thought Ruby only charges $8/roll for slides, including mounting? I always send my slides to them for developing. Love their service.

Regards,
-Michelle-

Fujifilm slides?