I have shot print film since i started photography. I am looking at starting to shoot slides. I think this will give me a better idea of exposure as the labs don't play with your prints. Can anyone tell me a good slide film to start shooting and any advice on shooting slides would be appreciated. Thanks

-- Tom Knobloch (emailtomk@yahoo.com), November 14, 2000

Answers

DJ, while I too would prefer that people read the static content of photo.net first, it isn't required here. Philip doesn't have any criteria for posting on this forum, since it is not part of photo.net, and I am the only moderator here. I'm not as strict as the moderators there, because I started this forum to take some of the load off of them.

-- Brad Hutcheson (bhutcheson@iname.com), November 15, 2000.

There's a great deal of information on this on photo.net. I can summarize some of that, and give you some of my (long-time amateur) prejudices. As to film: higher speeds in slide film generally don't do as well as higher speeds in print film, so stick to the lower-speed stuff. Opinions will differ as to which ones to use. I like Kodachrome 64, which has been around for ages. A&I labs in Los Angeles is the best place to have it processed -- prices are reasonable with their mailers. The only drawback is that it takes a little time for it to get back. Provia 100f is another good film. Those who prefer super-saturated colors like Velvia for a lot of subject, although generally not for portraits.

Slide film is good for learning exposure not only because it's unaffected by the lab's attempt to help, but because small errors in exposure will really show up, slide film has little latitude. You might want to start out by bracketing exposure. Experiment with your camera or meter and preferences, you might decide to under- or over-expose relative to what your camera/meter is suggesting.

A lot of people like to first view their slides with a light table and a loupe, but good loupes are expensive ($100 or so for a couple of lens elements). If you have a 50mm lens you're not using, you can use it as a loupe -- just point the back end of the lens to the slide.

-- Hector Javkin (h.javkin@ieee.org), November 15, 2000.

Tom, when you broused the list of previously posted questions in the film section of photonet, at the end of the list of moderated questions, what conclusions or further questions did you draw from those answers? Besides reading Philips guidelines on film, cameras, etc. and decision-making, he does ask that participants to this free service read the previously asked questions and responses prior to posting.

-- DJ Soroka (DJ2SOROKA@msn.com), November 15, 2000.

Tom: When I got back into photography in 1994 (after a long hiatus), I really enjoyed sampling the various slide films (as well as the various local professional processing labs), and learned a great deal in the process. As you know, a given slide film often has unique strengths as well as possible limitations in certain situations. Your photographic objectives should therefore influence your choice of slide film. Aside from reviewing the archives, I would also suggest visiting the websites of Fuji, Kodak, and Agfa, as they typically contain brief descriptions of their film offerings (but you may have to go fishing a bit to find such information at these sites).

To help get you started on the task of thoughtful experimentation, I offer the following suggestions: 1) Kodak--> check out the Kodachrome slide films, as well as some of the Ektachrome slide films, such as E100S, E100SW, E100VS, E200, and the 400 and 1600 ISO Ektachromes; 2) Fujifilm's Fujichrome slide films--> check out Velvia, Provia 100F and 400F, and Astia; 3) Agfa's various Agfachrome slide films (these are touted by some, but others may be less enthusiastic about Agfachrome). I personally don't believe that Agfachrome color slide films need to be placed on your "high priority to try next" list, but I do urge you to investigate the rather unique Agfa "Scala" 200 ISO black and white SLIDE film, but be aware that this film requires special processing by way of pre-paid mailers; 4) keep in mind that many of the above mentioned slide films can be push-processed with results that range from disappointing to excellent; 5) with regard to processing of slide film, my suggestions would be to: a) seek out local professional labs in your area (or else mail-in labs) that offer automated "dip and dunk" processing, in which the film is not fed through transport rollers; b) I prefer labs that offer archival plastic slide mounts, custom imprinting of said plastic mounts ( copyright symbol, your name and address, etc., as well as slide numbering so you can easily identify the sequential ordering of slides 1 --> 36). I firmly believe that slide numbering is a must, especially when one is bracketing exposures and/or taking careful notes on exposure data. My preferred local lab provides all of the above services free of charge, and their charge for a roll of E-6 is only $5.75. [In addition, my preferred local lab charges only an additional $2.00/rack for push processing (one rack holds 4 rolls of film), so if you push a lot of film, this kind of pricing will yield big savings. Many labs charge $2.00/per roll for push-processing, and many also charge extra for plastic mounts and imprinting. I consider myself very fortunate to have a great local pro lab!!]; 6) if you're currently most accustomed to shooting print film (which has a wide exposure latitude), keep in mind that slide film typically has a very NARROW exposure latitude, and it therefore tends to be very unforgiving with respect to exposure errors. When learning to shoot slide film, take notes when practical to do so, and likewise, try bracketing exposures when in doubt. Unlike print film, the narrow exposure latitude of slide film means that variations of as little as 1/3rd or 1/2 stops of exposure compensation or exposure error can occasionally lead to an unusable image. In general, I would suggest initially bracketing slide film in 1/2 stop increments. Some subjects, such as sunsets or night-time shots (an example of the latter would be a nocturnal city skyline) may benefit from wider bracketing (for example, -1.5, -1, -0.5, "0", + 0.5 stops, etc.). As you gain more experience with bracketing and overall exposure of slide film, you may at times prefer to bracket or otherwise compensate exposure in 1/3rd stop increments, if your camera allows for this.

-- kurt heintzelman (heintzelman.1@osu.edu), November 15, 2000.

Kodak E100S or Fuji Astia are good films to start film, as is Fuji RDPIII (Provia 100F) and Kodak E200. My advice is to use you in camera meter but if your subject is static enogh, bracket up to 1 stop in either direction in 1/3rd of a stop (if your camera is capable of this, 1/2 stop if not) increments. The reason for this is that while there is a technically correct exposure setting for any film it might not yield the most satisfying image in every situation. Also use a professional lab, even if you use mailers. Ask if the lab is Kodak Q-lab certified.

-- Ellis Vener (evphoto@insync.net), November 22, 2000.

The suggestions above are all very good. One of the things to keep in mind when you are first starting out is that you want to shoot ALOT of film (you will want to do this even as an experienced photographer.) Many of the above films mentioned are professional grade, and therefore expensive by comparison. Fuju Sensia II is more a consumer grade film that I have used alot and been fairly happy with, and it is almost half the price of Velvia. Give it a try. Until your photography gets to the point where you can discriminate the difference between Velvia, Provia F and Astia (not that hard to do), and find you need that extra punch of Velvia or the ability to push to 200 with Provia F, then stick whith the cheep stuff and get more pictures taken. You will learn more that way.

-- John Foster (johngfoster@hotmail.com), December 04, 2000.