Goint to try slides -- questions

[PATB]

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I would like to try shooting slides with my MP. I have never shot slides before but I thought I would give it a try. I mainly use Kodak 400UC, Superia 400 and Ilford XP2. I have access to two very good E6 processing lab locally, so I thought It would be worth trying slides. I also have a Coolscan V ED for scanning.

 

I would like to get some advice on:

1) Film -- I love saturated colors, so I guess Velvia 100 is the way to go?

2) Light box and Loupe -- do I need one from the start? If so, can you recommend a cost effective/beginner set and what to look for in terms of features

3) Exposure -- how accurate do I have to be on metering?

 

Thanks much for any info you could send my way.

[Photoskeptic]

1) you've answered your own question

2) no

3) if you want good results you need to be pretty darn close. Experience is a wonderful teacher.

[stunsworth]

Just to cover item 2. If you don't want to buy a loupe and have a 50mm lens look at the slides through the lens with it reversed. I.e. look through the front of the lens at the slides.

[gberger]

I've been shooting slides since 1945, and at my advanced age, I no longer offer advice - - only "observations."

 

1. If you intend to project your slides, a saturated film, such as Velvia can begin to wear after while. If used sparingly (for effect) it's OK. A neutral film, such as Astia, can offer better projection capabilities in the long run. Astia has excellent skin tones and has superb resolution.

 

2. You can get a decent light box from B&H photo for not much money. Unless you shoot quite a few rolls at a time, a small light box will be fine. Most come with color-corrected bulbs.

 

IMO, a decent loupe is a good long-term investment. I've been partial to the Schneider 4x and 6x. As Steve said, until you want to spring for a loupe, use a 50mm lens.

 

3. I've found that an incident meter is an essential tool. It doesn't really need a lot of bells and whistles. A Sekonic 308 is an ideal compromise. It's light weight, fits into your shirt pocket, is very accurate and repeatable - - and it uses one AA alkaline battery. A flick of your finger changes the meter from incident to reflective metering.

 

4. (Not mentioned in your original post). For good results, use a quality lab. Even though I live on the East Coast, I've used A&I in California for years.

 

5. (Also not mentioned). Decide on your "filing system." If you use a projector that requires the circular trays, keep slides in the trays. If you use a "straight through" projector (P2002), then invest in some Leica boxes that hold the trays. (B&H again)

 

Finally : Enjoy the dickens out of your slides, and store them in a reasonably cool place.

[PATB]

Thank you for the suggestions. I will pick up an Astia 100 and Velvia 100 to try this weekend. I guess I will soon discover how bad my metering skill is! The good thing about XP2 is that even my brackets look very similar, exposure wise

 

I just hope the 100 speed is not going to be a big problem with my 50 cron. So far, even 400 is slow for me as I take a lot of pictures indoors -- I always find myself at 1/15 f2. I guess I will limit shooting slides outdoors.

 

Thanks again.

[usefeet]

If you are comfortable with 400 film, try Provia 400F.

Very small grain, and a lovely neutral color film.

[sdai]

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Astia is very flat and dull, most commercial guys love it for its skin tone rendition ... RHP and the latest RXP are great for almost everything.

[ron110n]

Pat,

 

There are two kinds of Velvia, 100 and 100F.

The 100 is the one with screaming saturation "and very sharp".

 

Lightbox, I use a Medalight LP-400 (12x8).

Loupe, they are cheap so go ahead and buy one if you want one. But I use barely use them. The lightbox is bright enough for me and I use my Bifocals as a loupe.

 

-Ron

[andybarton]

In my experience, Astia is very natural, and not just for portraits.

 

Velvia, in any flavour, is far too saturated for my taste.

[Johannes Knightworth]

I would give velvia a pass too ..... although flat, astia is the better choice.

[Photoskeptic]

Pat, go out and shoot the same scene with every type of slide film which interests you. Then you'll know what you prefer. I prefer Velvia because, for me, the point of color is COLOR. And besides, my color prints (velvia, natch) do one thing the others don't - they sell. One more thing, Velvia also makes for a very nice bw conversion.

[xjr]

Biased suggestions :

 

1. Provia F 400ASA and Kodak E100G

 

2. Lupe Schneider 4x + Gepe slimlight lightbox G2004

 

3. You will be fine within 1/2 a stop

[Mark Antony]

1. Try Provia 400X the grain is much improved over the 400F version (nearer to 100F)

Velvia is quite saturated, OK for Landscapes but a big NO for skin-tones (unless you like that 'sunburn' look:D

2. like Steve said look through your cron for a Lupe

3. Metering has to be more accurate for slides, if in doubt err to under-expose (or bracket)

Mark

[MrEd]

Hi Pat,

The following may interest you:

 

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/film-forum/24541-end-film-3.html

 

 

Re: The end of film?

From Wikipedia:

 

Quote:

Velvia has the highest resolving power of any slide film. When shot with an excellent lens, a 35mm Velvia slide will hold detail equivalent to 25 or more megapixels of image data according to data supplied by Fujifilm (available in the List of photographic films

Velvia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

..............so far the odds are still very good for film..........

we may see labs disappearing in first world countries, but let me tell you in 2nd and 3rd world countries film is still King...........just ask a seasoned off the beaten path traveler.............

 

Film is King, Film is King........

 

.

 

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Regards,

Ed.

[NickR]

If you're going to splurge on any one thing, let it be the loupe. Looking at a color slide through a good loupe can be one of the most rewarding sights in photography.

[shee-hong_lee]

About item 2, strongly recommand to buy a good loupe.

 

A good loupe improves the picture quality you observe from the slide on lightbox, this will be a long term investment. Schneider 6x is a good one, it's equipped with aspherical lens to adjust color abberation also to offer you large magnification for you to check every detail on the slide. Without looking slide via a good loupe, you might lose a lot of delicate tonality detail which Leica could bring to you.

[vic vic]

hi.. slides are great. best colour photography.

 

saturated colours = velvia indeed. the valvia100 is almost wild. the 100F version is very good for general use. the provia 400 is well saturated too, but not too much.

 

loupe and light table - very very recomended. if u only start with it than it is a must - otherwise u have no way to evaluate and improve yourself. fancy ones are better of course but even the low price will be good enough for start. scanning will not teach u anything about how to work with slides properly and improve - only light table/loupe.

 

accuracy - with leica, measure what u think should look as avarge lighness in the scene. or at least adjust. accuray is very important with slides. make sure u know what viewfinder area is measured with each lens u use. it can be found in mp camera menual.

 

and good luck. try different slides when u have time to experiment )

[robsteve]

Pat:

 

In regards to film, try asking the lab which film they process most often. I have found that Kodak films don't always look right when processed through a Fuji oriented lab. It is not the chemistry that is the problem, but that the test strips run through the lab daily will tend to be Fuji test strips, which optimize the system for the Fuji films.

 

I found these Fuji centric labs over developed Kodak films. Not by much, but just enough to get the highlights a bit too bright.

 

I developed the majority of my own E-6 films and to get the best results, Kodak and Fuji films had different developing time. With Fuji, there were different times for different films, such as Astia was closer to the Kodak time, while Velvia needed a bit more time. The professional labs that uses dip and dunk can adjust for each film. With roller processors, every film gets the same time. This is why I suggest you ask the Lab what films they have best success with.

[NickR]

Interesting Rob. I've always sent any brand film to my local kodak processor and have had good results but experience has taught me to only send Fuji film to the local Fuji processor.

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[PATB]

Thanks again for the info! You guys are great.

 

I have received Velvia 100, Provia 100, and Kodak Elitechrome 200. I haven't had the chance to try them out as I am going to Italy next week so am busy testing the MP with negative film to make sure the combo still works!

 

I will try the slide films as soon as I get back. I believe the two labs I am considering, "The New Lab" and "Calypso Imaging" here in the SF/Bay Area, both use a dip and dunk process.