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Your favourite slide film now


NZDavid

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I just had a bunch of landscape slides scanned for possible 30" x 40" posters. Each one turned out a whopping 350MB! But we're talking film here. All but one image (Olympus) were taken with Leica gear (M6, M3) and a variety of lenses: old 2.8/35 Summaron (still good), 50 'cron rigid, 28 Elmarit, old Minilux (good before it developed the infamous EO5 error).

All were shot on slide film: Kodak 100G, Agfa 100CT Precisa and RSX 50, and Fuji Astia 100F. I have tended to stick clear of Velvia in the past as I found its colours artificial in our contrasty New Zealand light. I liked Provia, but found it can go blue. Agfa, no longer available, has very neutral colours but is grainier than you would expect. I really like Astia - neutral and extremely fine grain, scans well. Kodak 100G is quite saturated -- greens really glow, but quite pleasant.

I'd be keen to hear of others' experience with slide films now available. What's the finest grain? Which is your favourite now, especially for landscapes?

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I used to shoot Fuji Sensia 100 for many years and all subjects: clear, natural colours, even bold on sunny days, sufficiently fine grain, and pretty cheap. A little bluish on overcast days (needs a 81A or 81B). Unfortunately, the actual emulsion seems to be very sensitive to development errors - I got different films back from different labs with a nasty green/blue tint. The German photo magazine "Naturfoto" discussed the problem about two years ago.

 

In reaction I changed to Kodak Elite 100 (film code EB-3). I stayed away from the Elites in former times because of their purple cast in shadows and their tendency to turn grey into brown. But today's Elites are nothing but great: extremely fine grain (RMS 8, afaik), vivid but natural colours (also too cold on grey days, so don't forget your skylight filter), decent development consistency, low price. Moreover, the ads say that Elite slides stored in the dark will last as long as Kodachromes. We'll see.

 

I don't like Disneychrome films like Velvia and Elite Extra Colour. And I don't like switching between different slide films, instead I try to find out as much as possible about my standard film to be completely familiar with its properties. So I will stay with the Elite 100 EB-3 as long my results are consistent. Just my 0.02 $.

 

Regards, W.

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Interested to hear what you reckon for shooing the Kiwi trails. Getting dragged over in March some time and I might as well take the right stuff. :D Not doing Milford, everyone does Milford, and i have so many images of the place fix up for the other half courtesy the flaming LX1. Probably have a look about Nelson. Ohh...and maybe in Aukland to find out where the fu.. my monofin has disappreared to. Hey the Macpac might visit it's roots. :p

 

Regards

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Films I've been using lately are Kodak's Elitechrome 100, Kodak Ektachrome 100GX, Fuji Velvia 50, Fuji Provia 100F and Provia 400F, and keep returning to the Provia 100F (or 400F if the light is low). The 100F has vivid, but not oversaturated colors, good contrast without being harsh (as e.g. Velvia 50) and is extremely sharp. Grain is very fine, although Astia 100F is said to be even finer. Color balance is very neutral (greys stays grey!), but it is true that this film has no "built in skylight filter" (as e.g. many Kodak films) and so will turn blueish in high altitude areas or at noon, just because this film will show the light as it is (and it IS blueish in those conditions). I carry a skylight filter for those occasions.

 

Andy

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At the moment my M4-P is loaded with Kodachrome 200. I'm willing to wait the 2 weeks it takes for them to be processed, and have been using the film for 25 years.

I'd love it if the 25 version was available again, it's sharpness and colour was fantastic.

For E-6 I tend to use Velvia for landscapes and Kodak E100G for people.

Mark

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My default has been Provia (100 and 400), when shooting color.

 

I recently shot Provia 400F @ 800 ISO and the results were pretty good, though I am about to shoot some Kodak E200 (Ektachrome) @ 800 ISO and @ 1600 ISO to see how the results compare. Has anyone else run this film pushed?

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It was Astia, until I tried a roll of E100G. I only got the slides back yesterday but they look very neutral and very sharp. Will check them with a loupe when I get home but the film seems really good to me. I always find Provia 400F brilliant if I need the speed.

 

Paul

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Thanks guys for your thoughts. Yes, Doug et al, I'll try some more E100G or possibly also GX ((a big difference between the two?) Plus some more Astia and Provia.

Really, I like sticking to one film I like, but may also give Velvia another whirl at some stage -- not sure about 50 or 100. 50 always used to underexpose, I have a feeling it could sometimes be more like 40.

I, too, used too love K25 and K64, but just too much hassle to wait weeks for the processing.

I agree a skylight filter, 1A or 1B, will make a difference. We have very high UV levels here -- lots of sunscreen needed. Rob, have a great trip to NZ. Expect four seasons in one day. Right now, it's supposed to be summer, but changing weather adds excitement.

You can check out some of my pictures at http://www.davidkillick.co.nz. I really must add some more once I have a spare moment.

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I am a slide guy: Scala 200x

 

 

 

I just had a bunch of landscape slides scanned for possible 30" x 40" posters. Each one turned out a whopping 350MB! But we're talking film here. All but one image (Olympus) were taken with Leica gear (M6, M3) and a variety of lenses: old 2.8/35 Summaron (still good), 50 'cron rigid, 28 Elmarit, old Minilux (good before it developed the infamous EO5 error).

All were shot on slide film: Kodak 100G, Agfa 100CT Precisa and RSX 50, and Fuji Astia 100F. I have tended to stick clear of Velvia in the past as I found its colours artificial in our contrasty New Zealand light. I liked Provia, but found it can go blue. Agfa, no longer available, has very neutral colours but is grainier than you would expect. I really like Astia - neutral and extremely fine grain, scans well. Kodak 100G is quite saturated -- greens really glow, but quite pleasant.

I'd be keen to hear of others' experience with slide films now available. What's the finest grain? Which is your favourite now, especially for landscapes?

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I've been shooting Provia 100F for many years. It is sharp and fine-grained and has just the right saturation. However, it does go blue easily in certain lighting siutations. I've also read that the blue cast can be a result of processing with bad chemicals but don't remember the details. That the film can go blue is my most major reservation.

 

I shot a few rolls of E100G recently. The results were quite favorable. This film has saturation very similar to that of Provia 100F, although subjectively a bit warmer (versus Provia's neutral), but in a good way. I haven't been able to reproduce the same kind of blue cast in E100G but would like to hear others' opinion. If E100G is free of this problem I may consider switching to it as my main film.

 

I found my E100G pictures to be very slightly less sharp than the Provia ones, but that might be technique relaed.

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