Advice needed: Medium Format Slide Projection - 6x6 or 6x445

Hi

 

Has anybody seen 6x6 slides and 645 slides projected side by side?

 

I am looking to get a 645 camera, shoot slides and project them. I like the 645 format better than 6x6, however I am going for the "WOW" factor of the 6x6 projected slides.

 

Assuming a very sharp projection system and a midsize wall, will there be a significant difference in the image quality between filling a wall with a 645 slide and then with a 6x6 slide?

Nobody wants to chip in?

I can only speculate, but my guess would be that unless you were right on top of the image that you wouldn't see any significant difference. My experience with projecting 35 mm vs. 6x6 Kodachrome shot with a Rolleiflex is that 6x6 is a big jump in quality, visible to anyone really paying attention.

I owned a 6x6 projector, and projected both 6x6 and 6x4.5 slides on it. There wasn't any real difference in image quality, even close up. My images were always mounted in Gepe glass mounts (anti-Newton glass type). Folks liked the larger images, and I always used a projection screen. At work, I had access to a huge motor-driven screen, and folks really enjoyed the images. My projector was an older single feed model with a 35mm adapter, but it was lost in a flood a number of years back.

 

Once you made the leap from 35mm to 6x6 or 6x4.5, the ahhh!!! factor took over, and the small difference in the two medium formats was never noticed.

Thanks AjG and dennis brown.

 

Now, would it actually not make sense to shoot and project 645 over 6x6 since most projection screens are actually wider than they are tall? Like the projection screens made for movie projectors or presentation are 16:9 or wider. They are not square. Same with white walls.

 

A landscape shot in 645 would fit that screen better than 6x6 no?

My pull down projection screen is easily set for what ever you're projecting . If you're planning on projecting different

formats , then that could be a nuisance if you wanted the screen filled . Medium format slides are a treat to view. Peter

Thanks AjG and dennis brown.

 

Now, would it actually not make sense to shoot and project 645 over 6x6 since most projection screens are actually wider than they are tall? Like the projection screens made for movie projectors or presentation are 16:9 or wider. They are not square. Same with white walls.

 

A landscape shot in 645 would fit that screen better than 6x6 no?

 

Then a vertical/portrait format shot would be over the top and bottom, and not fit at all.

 

With 35mm, I never shot Horizontal only, it was a mix of H and V format shots. Whatever format was best for the scene.

So with 35mm slides, projection was a H vs. V trade-off, a square screen fit both.

Peter: Do you notice a difference between 645 and 6x6 when projected?

 

Gary: That's true but as I am not doing any vertical shots, trying to stick to horizontal, that will be not be relevant for me.

My 2ct: Get a square screen, if you are planning to project stills. Otherwise you 'll face hell having to divide your slides over 2 projectors to fit the screen as good as possible with both landscape and portrait.

 

My limited understanding of the format difference: 6x6 & 6x4.5 are a wash; at the end of a wet darkroom day we'll see a lot of 6x6 pictures cropped to fit regular paper formats like 8x10".

I can imagine a 6x6 shooter stocking 6x4.5 slide mounts for images benefiting from that slight crop.

I never projected the two against each other.

I own 6x6 cameras, to be able to shoot with chimney finder or WLF in portrait orientation. AFAIK there is no 645 with rotating back.

 

Huge warning: A slide show should consist of about 100 frames, to be worth the hassle of rigging it up. ("Cruelty" might start beyond 300 frames assuming quality and an interested audience) - What keeper rate can you produce? How much will film and processing be, to get 100 stunners together?

 

Side note: I don't believe into the "very sharp projection system" you are assuming. - Yes, there must be decent projection lenses but no, the odds to align projector and screen perfectly, to get an entirely sharp image are too tiny to even talk about them.

Having given many public programs I can say that there is a definite wow factor from projecting 6x6 images on a 70 inch high quality square screen. You hear it from the audience when the image hits the screen and in comments after the show. Sometimes I would add some 6x4.5 images and the difference from 35mm slides is still evident, but the real stunner is 6x6. With a good height adjustable projection table there is no problem with alignment (or you can get a Hasselblad projector with built in tilt adjustments.) You must use glass mounted A/N slides to eliminate quality destroying pop. Rollei projectors are found with good quality lenses, even the zoom one which makes filling the screen easier from various distances. Another thing you can do with a 6x4.5 is to cut 4.5x4.5 superslides which can be impressive in glass mounts and use a standard 2x2 Carousel type projector.

^^^ Ben , I haven't projected any for a couple of months now ( summer time and motorcycling ) , but I'm hoping to view

a few soon and will try and give a definitive answer soon afterwards . Regards,Peter

Having given many public programs I can say that there is a definite wow factor from projecting 6x6 images on a 70 inch high quality square screen. You hear it from the audience when the image hits the screen and in comments after the show. Sometimes I would add some 6x4.5 images and the difference from 35mm slides is still evident, but the real stunner is 6x6. With a good height adjustable projection table there is no problem with alignment (or you can get a Hasselblad projector with built in tilt adjustments.) You must use glass mounted A/N slides to eliminate quality destroying pop. Rollei projectors are found with good quality lenses, even the zoom one which makes filling the screen easier from various distances. Another thing you can do with a 6x4.5 is to cut 4.5x4.5 superslides which can be impressive in glass mounts and use a standard 2x2 Carousel type projector.

 

Chauncey. I am totally confused. Most people say there is no noticeable difference projecting between 6x6 and 645, except for the aspect ratio.

 

If you don't have a square photography projection screen, you will be projecting it on your wall or a normal movie screen. So is then 645 not a better format to fill in the wider-than-tall aspect ratio?

Ben, the aspect ratio of 6x6 is part of the wow factor. 6x4.5 may get "nice pictures" comments but probably not "wow" ones - especially if it is on a wall. If you are going to do 6x4.5 on a wall you might as well just stick to 35mm. Easier and cheaper all around. But again, 4.5x4.5 Superslides cut from 6x4.5 (Mamiya made a nifty cutter just to do that) have about 2.5 times the "pixel count" of 35mm and the unique square factor and can make a good show..

It seems to me that, in addition to being sharper, you get more light through a larger slide.

 

How much "pop" is from higher resolution, and how much from more light through the slide?

Thanks for your advice.

 

I have started to read some advice on this forum regarding slide projection. Some say there is no difference between 6x7 and 6x6 when projected, then other say there is no difference between 6x6 and 6x45, then some claim there is not much difference between 6x4.5 and 35mm when projected. It's a slippery slope and I don't know what to believe anymore.

 

Anyway I will try to project 6x6 and 6x45 to see if which one I prefer. Cheers.

Hi Ben

So I got out the Kindermann 66 projector last night and looked at a range of 6x45 and 6x6 slides . The lens that

came with it is a Will-Wetzlar Maginon 150 , I used a Universa pull down screen and set it up so the slides

covered the width of the screen . The screen is 4 ft wide and was 13 ft from the projector . Ignoring the dozen of other variables ,

I'm not going to say either was better than the other , just bigger . And as mentioned previously , unless both are

being projected at the same time , even that wouldn't be a concern ( adjustable screen height ) . Have fun with whatever

you decide on :) . Peter