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Goint to try slides -- questions


PATB

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To answer about ligt box. I saw Chinese made light boxes, 5500 Kelvins temperature of colour of light, priced less than 10 USD for A4 sized box!!!! For that price, buy few and use one you like most :) I don't know how good they are, but I have 3 Chinese studio lights, and they work good with consistent light output. For 20 USD replacing flash bulb price I really don't care if bulb will work year or 10 years. I have them 2 or 3 years, and no problems so far. For example price of 320 Ws was about 250 USD, including reflector, bought in Europe. Price hard to beat, don't you think :). Saying that, I am amateur, so I didn't abused those lights, I don't know if used in professional conditions how they would work.

 

I use 50mm lens as loupe (Rollei Planar :)). But, I will get one or two Rodenstock or like in future, one for 35mm, one for 6x7 and bigger negatives... :)

 

I dont know about slide, I use b/w, so nothing to say about slide.

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I am also a fan of Astia. It has incredibly fine grain. Saturation and colour depend a lot on the light. If it is already very contrasty and bright (as it is here in New Zealand) I find it's best not to overdo the saturation or the results look too artificial. I also recommend Kodak E100G and E100GX -- both lovely films. Rendition of green is possibly a little oversaturated but still attractive.

 

One other point to bear in mind re exposure: stated ISO is does not always produce the desired results. For exampe, with Velvia 50 I found shooting at the recommended speed resulted in underexposed, oversaturated shots -- ISO 40 may be better.

 

Really it's a matter of taste. Why not buy a few rolls of several different films from B&H (good service and price no matter where you are) and experiment?

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  • 3 weeks later...

This thread is about slide film however other topics have properly entered the discussion.

 

For the best (and cheapest) loupe I have used, try a Leitz LVFOO / 16486. Superb Leitz glass and optics, with precise 24 x 36 mm coverage and 5X magnification.

 

No one wants them anymore as they were made for the Reprovit and Visoflex I.

 

For critical observation I think a 12X is necessary.

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Rectangular loupe, any of em will sit on your MP's or any film cameras film rails when you need to check for that offending bit of lint. It will sit on the scanner tray rail, and that is handy before loading into the scanner. Loups are cheap. A light box or table is jsut a small fluro under a white perspex. Easy enough to make, or mount into your desk. Light boxes get tossed out of hospitals un needed by Diagnostic Imaging departments as XRay departments are a thing of the past.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I had the chance to shoot a roll of Provia 100F at the local Art and Wine festival last weekend. The roll was processed by the "New Lab", via Keeble and Schuctat. I scanned the slides today using a Nikon Coolscan V ED, with a Nikon Scan 4 that intermittently crashes.

 

Things I noticed:

1) The slides look a lot more vibrant with more tonal graduations through my Nikkor 50/1.4 compared to the scan and print. I checked the slides in the parking lot of the photo place and was shocked at how fine the slides look -- couldn't believe it. Never examined a slide beofre so I was pleasantly surprised. I am going to get a light table and loupe (is 4x enough?) to be able to examine my slides, and learn from them, better. Anybody has recommendations from B&H?

2) I need to learn how to meter better. I took the below photos at high noon -- it was hot and bright. However, as a family man, I get to go when the kids want to go! Because of the very contrasty light, I kept wondering where to meter. Lots to learn about metering so I will be hanging in this forum for a while, if you folks don't mind.

3) Provia 100F reminds me of Kodak 400UC, my favorite negative film. Saturated but not to the point of ridiculous. I will try Velvia 100 next.

 

Here are some of the snaps (Leica MP/50 Cron/Provia 100F):

 

862920578_c573e3a034_b.jpg

 

862920696_ab384f9750_b.jpg

 

862920442_ea87f3e264_b.jpg

 

862920256_ee462a1d01_b.jpg

 

Thanks again everyone!

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hi pat..........

very true..... comparing the beauty of slide film (what ever slide filim it is) on th scans and the light table is simply impossible...... sorry to desapoint but in my experince, only the best scans from creo and imacon scanners can give back a little bit of the qualities of slide film as it is seen on light table or on lifochrome print....................

 

pat. here is a link to my website tat is devoted to analog photography....... under "film selection" u will find my slide films overview....... not everything is ready yet on film section but fujichorme that u are interested are done already..........

..

the dignity of photography

..

 

loup recomendations.......... if u want the best - it is eassy - schneider loups........ the x4 is great indeed for full frame comfortable viewing of leica format films....... if u want a realy detailed study of your film then x10 is required as it is close to the big demanding enlargement factor of the film........

 

light table is also important to study your films....... just and kaiser are the great....... make sure u buy a good one ..... it is better to have quality small light table rather than not so good (hot, not accurate in colour etc etc) big light table.

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Kodachrome 64 is fabulous. It is sharper and finer grained than anything else I ever saw, and the colour rendition is natural and beautiful. The big problem is processing - which is done only in Kansas!!!. Good and sensible local photo shops have networks to have it done. Many, includng me, think it is worth it. It scans very well (my experience) and the prints are outstanding. Do not be put off by those who say Kodachrome is dead - it is not over till it is over.

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comparing the beauty of slide film (what ever slide filim it is) on th scans and the light table is simply impossible

 

Dear Victor,

 

That has not been my experience. I scan my slides with a Polaroid SprintScan 4000, and then with the slide on a light box next to my monitor, adjust the scan in Photoshop to make it as close as possible to the original slide. For comparison I have experimented with printing directly from slides to print with scanned slides (corrected) to print and the latter is IMHO better.

 

If I only wanted prints, colour negative would suffice, however I still think projection on a good 2 metre x 2 metre screen with two Pradovits is yet to be surpassed.

 

Have fun.

 

Justin

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Kodachrome 64 is fabulous. It is sharper and finer grained than anything else I ever saw, and the colour rendition is natural and beautiful.

 

Dear Miles,

 

Fuji Astia 100F now has the same RMS grain factor as K64 and its colour response is are so similar I can't pick the difference. I only mention it because Kodachrome is no longer available here and it has been necessary to find a replacement.

 

Justin

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Talking slides is always a subject close to my heart.

If you own Leica Lenses, there is only one result, you will find it in Slide Film.

 

Hello Justin,

 

I must give Astia 100F a try , but must admit I am very impressed with Kodak E100GX.

It's super when ever I project the images through the Pradovit.

Comparing it agains't K64, I prefer the E100 series, especially on dull days.

Kodachrome was not that crush hot on this type of light.

 

Hello Pat.

 

They are lovely shots, I bet the Slides are wonderful compared to your scans.

 

Regards.

 

Ken

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Just bought some Kodachrome 64 . . . Does it convert to B&W in Photoshop well?

 

For B&W purposes,I have found converting Kodachrome (64 or 200) to B&W in Photoshop to be very successful. Nothing else is even close.

 

Sorry for not posting examples. I am still reluctant to post photos of family or friends on the web.

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justin hi.....

 

i dont know the scanner u use (this is the quality polaroid scanner rite?).....

i can tell u that creo scanner hardly needs any serious adjustments (unless u want artistic corrections of course), since it is perfectly calibrated and matches the light-table (that the scanner has built in) to the monitor very pricisly (and through the whole calibrated workflow to the digital print too)....

still, the experience of seeing the slide on light table is far more exiting and engaging that the digitalized version...... so is the projection or the ilforchrome print.......

 

by the way....... creo people told me that the measured accuracy of the workflow from the bigginig to the filnal result is above 95%...... i have no idea what and how they measured the numbers, but it seems very much so to me :))

still, even such a great accuracy lacks the "substance" and the hardly explainable but clearly vissible quality differances of digital to optical work....... and surely the differance is apparent when the film is on light table........

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.

.

Dear Victor,

.

Thank-you for the tip about the Creo. I have been very happy with the Polaroid scanner and if the contrast of the slide is "normal" and perfectly exposed there is nothing to be done in Photoshop other than maybe removal of a few dust spots. In my experience it is more adjustment for the printer that is required so I always leave the original scan untouched and make a copy for manipulation. Sometimes with low contrast subjects I will set the black and white points and sometimes give the saturation a nudge.

.

Have fun.

.

Justin

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