joseph_galilee Posted March 2, 2012 Share #21 Posted March 2, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) In short, what slide film we remain? Cheers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 2, 2012 Posted March 2, 2012 Hi joseph_galilee, Take a look here No more Kodak Colour Slide Film. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Joop van Heijgen Posted March 2, 2012 Share #22 Posted March 2, 2012 In short, what slide film we remain? Cheers. FUJICHROME PROVIA 100F | Fujifilm Global Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasticman Posted March 2, 2012 Share #23 Posted March 2, 2012 I honestly can't see why people think this is somehow a precursor to the death of C41. I must say I wasn't even sure that Kodak was still making slide film, and I don't personally know anyone shooting slides. Does anyone even make slide projectors anymore?* Somehow the whole slide thing seems to me to belong to my parent's era. I don't even know where the Kodachrome slides that I shot with my dad's OM1 are now - must be in that dusty shoebox in a cupboard somewhere, that I was so passionately ranting against last week. As for films like Portra - the shop I go to keeps running low the whole time - not sure whether to be pleased or annoyed. *Just remembered that Leica make some insanely expensive model. They'd be better off producing a good film scanner, instead. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjans Posted March 2, 2012 Share #24 Posted March 2, 2012 Just checked, slide projectors seems still to be available from Reflecta (Germany). Last time I used slide film was almost two years ago. Many years ago I was as a kid with my parents in Sankt Moritz. My father was using slides. I went back (after more than 40 years) and decided also to use slide film. It was the also discontinued Sensia from Fuji. Still have some rolls in the freezer. Maybe I will use them this year, perhaps for the last time. Meanwhile, in color I use Portra film. Really like those colors. Best Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joop van Heijgen Posted March 2, 2012 Share #25 Posted March 2, 2012 I honestly can't see why people think this is somehow a precursor to the death of C41. I must say I wasn't even sure that Kodak was still making slide film, and I don't personally know anyone shooting slides. Does anyone even make slide projectors anymore?* Somehow the whole slide thing seems to me to belong to my parent's era. I don't even know where the Kodachrome slides that I shot with my dad's OM1 are now - must be in that dusty shoebox in a cupboard somewhere, that I was so passionately ranting against last week. As for films like Portra - the shop I go to keeps running low the whole time - not sure whether to be pleased or annoyed. *Just remembered that Leica make some insanely expensive model. They'd be better off producing a good film scanner, instead. "Does anyone even make slide projectors anymore?" Götschmann, Simda, Braun, Kindermann and Rollei. Leica still have slide projectors in supply but not in production. On the second hand market there is a big supply of projectors. Even Kodak projectors..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted March 2, 2012 Share #26 Posted March 2, 2012 I still use slide film. As Steve says its a million times easier to scan than C41 Still miss Astia... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanG Posted March 2, 2012 Share #27 Posted March 2, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) I honestly can't see why people think this is somehow a precursor to the death of C41. I must say I wasn't even sure that Kodak was still making slide film, and I don't personally know anyone shooting slides. Does anyone even make slide projectors anymore?* Somehow the whole slide thing seems to me to belong to my parent's era. I don't even know where the Kodachrome slides that I shot with my dad's OM1 are now - must be in that dusty shoebox in a cupboard somewhere, that I was so passionately ranting against last week. As for films like Portra - the shop I go to keeps running low the whole time - not sure whether to be pleased or annoyed. When shooting color, commercial, advertising, magazine, stock, and corporate photographers shot slides and transparencies almost exclusively for decades. It was THE choice for reproduction and had little to do with slide projectors. There used to be at least 5 labs in the Washington DC metro area that ran E6 dip and dunk processors (for push/pull and various formats) with standard 3 hour turnaround and 1 hour rush. Transparency film and slides was still their medium of choice for quite a while once affordable scanners became widespread and before most moved to digital capture. I shot at least 1000 times more transparency material as color negative material and have only scanned a few negatives vs. many thousands of transparencies and slides. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveO Posted March 2, 2012 Share #28 Posted March 2, 2012 I was really disappointed when Kodak discontinued Kodachrome. I have slides 50 years old that still look like they were shot yesterday. Ektachrome that was shot at the same time has faded and lost some of its color. I don't even know if you can get new slide projectors. I gave up on my Bell and Howell cube projector because it dog eared the cardboard mounts, but it was great for slide storage. DaveO Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasticman Posted March 2, 2012 Share #29 Posted March 2, 2012 Fair enough - I stand corrected. I frankly had no idea. This has never stopped me from voicing an opinion, though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalArts 99 Posted March 2, 2012 Share #30 Posted March 2, 2012 I still use slide film. As Steve says its a million times easier to scan than C41 Still miss Astia... That's the reason for me, too. Plus you have a color reference to go by. When I used to scan commercially we always preferred reversal film for that reason. But the fact that someone here didn't know that Kodak had already discontinued EliteChrome kind of explains the state of affairs for the manufacturing of slide film. Back in the days when we were all using film exclusively, we tended to know everything that was available on the market. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
myshkine Posted March 2, 2012 Share #31 Posted March 2, 2012 I only shoot E6! The problem now, with fewer reversal films, is that fewer labs will process slides. Anyway, I never kept many films at hand, but with this new situation, I'm thinking of buying bulk. What would be the best option for their storage? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted March 2, 2012 Share #32 Posted March 2, 2012 What would be the best option for their storage? Freezer Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalArts 99 Posted March 2, 2012 Share #33 Posted March 2, 2012 That's what I do, just stick it in the freezer. Some people get obsessive about it and put in vacuum sealed bags, etc.. But I've never had an issue just putting unopened boxes directly in the freezer. Just be certain to bring it up to room temperature before you open it and use it. Last month I bought twenty 10-sheet boxes of 4x5 100G on a whim. I didn't expect them to discontinue it this soon, but I kind of assumed it would eventually happen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
atournas Posted March 4, 2012 Share #34 Posted March 4, 2012 Are we talking here about all types of Ektachrome--I mean 120 rollfilm and sheets? I also noticed no T-Max 3200 in Kodak's black & white page. When did it happen? I don't use it anymore, so I didn't know. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
myshkine Posted March 4, 2012 Share #35 Posted March 4, 2012 In any case, it is pretty disconcerting and sad. Just by putting a Kodak reversal film in my camera I felt reassured in a way, it was part of a state of mind... I don't know if it'll be the same with these green cassettes... Who knows: maybe in a few years slide film will be rediscovered and presented as the new frontier of technology... Just dreaming I know. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted March 4, 2012 Share #36 Posted March 4, 2012 When shooting color, commercial, advertising, magazine, stock, and corporate photographers shot slides and transparencies almost exclusively for decades. It was THE choice for reproduction and had little to do with slide projectors. Exactly. From a personal point of view, 99% of all my colour film shooting (including pure family snapshot stuff) was made using E6 (and some Kodachrome). I've only started to use colour neg in any kind of 'serious' sense for a few years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StS Posted March 4, 2012 Share #37 Posted March 4, 2012 I agree that E6 slide films scan more easily compared to C41 films. However, with the newest C41 films on the market, especially Kodak Portra, I find that C41 is "almost there". Since most printing machines are scanning and laser-print images rather than enlarge them optically, I guess the film makers have optimized their latest film to scanning rather than enlarging. To underline this point, I have scanned some images using the "auto-pilot" of Silverfast 6, and converted them to JPG using Lightroom 3. The only adjustments I made were rotations. The rest of the adjustments are, what is done by Silverfast and Lightroom anyhow automatically. In case you are interested, the results can be found here: http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/other/226108-several-pictures-underline-technical-discussion.html Just to show, that it is possible to get results, which are "almost there" automatically, using a scanner and software combination, which costs less than 300 EUR. Stefan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joop van Heijgen Posted March 6, 2012 Share #38 Posted March 6, 2012 That news sucks! Kodak, you will regret this decision!! What a sad day. I've used E100G and E100VS / Extra Color so far. Excellent stuff. But I will not stock it up. My money will now go to Fuji! Provia 100F, Provia 400X, Velvia 100F are excellent films I like, too. It is now time to support Fuji to keep color slide film alive. Slide film is unique, it can not be replaced by colour negative film, and especially not by digital. With slide I always have an authentic picture. I only need to hold it against light to enjoy it. Impossible with CN and digital. Slide film is a major part of photographic culture. It absolutely deserves to stay alive! There are lots of very good reasons for shooting slides: 1. Projection: Absolutely unsurpassed quality (brillance, sharpness, resolution, fine grain, tonality) at that big enlargements. I've compared slide projection with excellent projection lenses to the current most expensive beamers (2 MP; 7000€). The result is absolutely clear: Slide projection is a league of its own. Far superior resolution and sharpness, better brillance and tonality, much better color reproduction. The most expensive beamers can not compete at all with slide projection. With beamers you have the situation that you pay e.g. 7000€ for a 24 MP Nikon D3x, and then you pay another 7000€ to smash this resolution down to the extrmely low resolution of 2 MP with the beamer (and the 2 MP are only valid in horizontal direction, in vertical direction you have even 40% less resolution). You burn more than 10,000€ to get crappy results. Digital projection is completely ridiculous in it's cost - performance relation. 2. Slide viewing with an excellent slide loupe: Outstanding quality, fast, convenient. Viewing slides this way with a little, slim daylight light table is as fast as looking at prints in a photoalbum. But with better image quality. This way you can easily show others your slides without projection.This set-up is smaller and lighter than a photoalbum or a laptop. 3. Prints have a limited contrast range of about five stops (max. contrast from deep black to shiny white on the print). There is a physical limit which cannot be surpassed. Slides as a transparent medium can deliver higher contrast ranges. With certain (BW) slides films even more than 10 stops. This greater max. contrast range of slides is one reason for their higher brillance. 4. With slide film you can achieve higher resolution, better sharpness and finer grain compared to color negative films. There have been some scientific tests proving that films like Ektachrome E100G, Provia 100F, Velvia 100 and 100F, Astia 100F have about 30-40% higher resolution than Ektar 100. I've made some comparison tests, too, and can confirm that. 5. Reliability: What you see is what you get. Give your slide film in 5 different labs, and you will always get the same results. Give your CN film in five different labs and order prints from them, then you will most probably receive five different results, because the operator at the printer does an interpretation. You get differences from the scanning and from the operator of the machine, who decides about contrast and colors. 6. Most authentic form of photography: A slide is an original, the pure form, not manipulated in any form. 7. Versatility: Slides can be viewed only with the eye, holding against light, with a loupe, they can be projected on a screen, and you can scan and print them (and currently there is still the possibility to make a Ilfochrome, or a direct print with Harman Direct Positive Paper). Color negatives can only be printed. 8. Very cost efficient: Color negative film makes sense if you want prints. For a quality print I have to pay here about 35 - 40 cents depending on the lab. A 36 exp. CN film, developed and with prints cost me more than a slide film with development. If you consider projection than there is an even much more significant price gap: With projection my huge, brillant picture of 1m x 1,5m or 2 x 3m cost me less than 1€ in total. A print from CN film of that size cost me much more than 100€, and doesn't have the brillance, resolution, fine grain and sharpness of the projected slide. 9. BW slides: Their tonality is unique. Yo can not get this unique look with prints. Once you have seen BW slides, you are hooked. 10. You always have an original color reference for scanning and printing: Look at your slide and you know how the real colors are. That is impossible with color negatives: Our brain is not able to convert the color negatives to real natural colors. Besides the superior detail rendition of slide film that has been the main reason for the popularity of slide film in professional photography. 11. Slide film is the best photography teacher: You have to do it right at the moment you click the sutter (if you're doing the real stuff, viewing the slides on a light table and in projection; without scanning and further manipulation). Slide film makes you a more disciplined and deliberate photographer. You think before you shoot. Less clicks, but more good shots in the end. 12. With slides you feel like being back in the scene at the moment you shot it, it's so real. It's a "time machine": Slides, that is where film is absolutely unique and can not be replaced by CN or digital. From HHPhoto http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116622&page=4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joachim123 Posted March 6, 2012 Share #39 Posted March 6, 2012 You have so carefull explained they way I and countless others feel about slide film photography. I agree I liked the 100g but will not stock up. I will switch to Fuji Provia 100 and Velvia 50 as well as Agfa Precisa. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanG Posted March 6, 2012 Share #40 Posted March 6, 2012 1. Projection: Absolutely unsurpassed quality (brillance, sharpness, resolution, fine grain, tonality) at that big enlargements. I've compared slide projection with excellent projection lenses to the current most expensive beamers (2 MP; 7000€). As a guy who used to own 2 Rollei 6x6cm projectors, I agree with you about this and most of your other points regarding slide and larger transparency film. But times have changed and so have the needs of many clients and photographers. Now days I am very happy with the results I get from digital as I have much finer control over the entire process and can also retouch the image to my liking, more easily solve some technical and compositional problems, or easily make images that would be very difficult or impossible to achieve with film. I think that lots of other working photographers came to the same conclusion and that did not leave much of a market for transparency film once they stopped using it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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