Do you guy still occasionally shoot slide film?

I am sure there are those hardcore slide shooters out there, after all there are still sheet film available. Maybe more for those that are more open minded, they shoot digital and film. How many rolls of slide do you do a year and are you very careful when you shoot?

 

For me, I do most of my film with medium format now. I occasionally get given 35mm BW film which I shoot with my Nikon FM and DIY processing at home. Sadly here in New Zealand, we cannot get colour chemistry. I go thru maybe 10 rolls of slides a year and another 10 rolls of BW per year. For several years, I have also had to import my film from the USA cos you guys have very favourable $10US freight cost and then I export back to you guys for the lab work. I no longer have anymore slides, I don't think I will get rid of it but I may be shooting less. Over here if I did everything local, the roll cost $12US and the lab cost another $20US - medium format. 10 rolls even going with USA prices that's $200US.

 

I've never spent much time with C41, so trying that out, ordered only 4 rolls of Portra and no, I didn't order any more slides.

 

 

Cheers.

 

Edit - 35mm slides here cost $30US which is a lot more than the USA. Fortunately 120 slides are $12US. Labs still charge $20US regardless of format.

I average 1-2 rolls of 35mm E-6 a month, or probably 20 in a year. Medium format is about the same. 4x5 is usually a few sheets a year.

 

For a while, Velvia 50 was the only thing I shot. Lately, it's been a mix of that and E100, depending on the subject.

 

I have a bunch of current and discontinued film in my freezer, though, and will use that as the occasion warrants. Especially prized is my small stash of 220 film-I actually have a fair bit of in date(or perhaps recently expired-I know it was sometime in 2019) Velvia 100, but also some Velvia 100F and E100GX.

I shoot medium format Velvia 50. Usually landscapes. Not much frankly lately. I've been playing around lately with 35mm and Tmax 400 BW but that's negative film. I don;t have a darkroom and send everything out to prolabs here in the USA. Scans are on my FLickr page.

I use mainly Velvia also mainly in 120 format. Maybe I am a saturation addict. I also chase sunrise forecast when I can. I also have shot BW with DIY processing at home with just the Paterson tank, no darkroom. I do have a changing bag that I got for free at the camera club. Still prefer slides. For the min rolls of BW I use the Ilford powder developer since mixes 1L only.

 

On a wide scale. It seems that some of us get into our hobby, spend all these money that most people have little interests for. I get that we might be on a family vacation but for real photog, it's time to ourselves so the group splits up or we do trips by ourselves and travelling to another region or country alone just for photography? Most people may look at us strangely. Most people are not going to be interested in waiting for you and your camera, going to the outdoors, going out in the unsocial times for landscape photog. Then when you have made the print, they look at it for 5sec and that's it.

I might be about one or two a year.

 

I have some rolls in the fridge, so haven't bought much, but I did buy a roll of E100 when it came out.

 

Current price for a physical store about 10 miles away for 35mm E100 is $12 plus 10% tax.

I don't believe I ever tried it, but Velvia 50 is $21 plus 10% tax.

 

Current price for processing at a nearby lab is $10 unmounted or $12.50 mounted, plus 10% tax.

 

Otherwise, to reduce shipping costs, you have to bundle maybe five rolls at a time.

 

Are there no E6 labs in all of NZ?

 

(I was in NZ a few years ago with a D700, and I believe a film camera with a roll of Ektachrome,

but I am not so sure of the latter by now.)

Never. The dynamic range is inferior to digital, and there is no opportunity for postprocessing. I grew up in wet-darkroom B&W work and shot cartons full of slides but no longer bother with either. I can get better results at lower cost with digital and have vastly more control over the final image.

The bulk of my rather large collection of pictures were shot with film, back when there was no alternative. The images are all in digital form now, but my love for old mechanical cameras still gets me using various films - which I then scan...

 

Darkroom work was dandy, but Photoshop is quickero_O

I have a few rolls of Elitechrome in the freezer and I'm mating an Elmar to a Zorki soon and hope to make it all work .

 

Are there no E6 labs in all of NZ?

 

(I was in NZ a few years ago with a D700, and I believe a film camera with a roll of Ektachrome,

but I am not so sure of the latter by now.)

 

I bundle them up and send to the USA because the local NZ labs charge $20US equiv per roll of E6 developed, no mounting, hasn't been available for over 10yrs. When it was available, on top of the $20USD processing, they charged 20c USD per slide mounted times 36 if if you wanted everything mounted at the time of processing. There is 1 lab that does E6 in the capital city and maybe 2 elsewhere in the country.

 

I also import my film from the USA because C41 Kodak Portra cost prob 2x to the USA. A roll of 135mm format Velvia like you noted, here it cost $30USD.

A friend of mine's father was a college professor who taught photograph, among other things. His family kept a lot of his equipment and supplies for a few years after he died but eventually decided to sell or donate what they thought had some value and give away, or throw away the rest. I ended up with a box of film of all kinds. It was stored properly but some of it is pretty old, - going back to the 90's.

 

Included were two boxes of Ektachrome, - one of which I shot. The other is a 50 ASA tungsten balanced roll. I usually expose old film longer anyway but that one would need a filter on top of being already on the slow side.

 

I like to use fresh chemistry with fresh film and since new slide film is pretty expensive I haven't bought any yet. So my exposed roll sits in the fridge. I'm interested in E6 but so far I haven't been interested enough. :)

 

Christmas is coming up so maybe I'll ask for some Velvia and an E6 kit. Some people like tungsten balanced film without a filter for Winter shots. It's worth a shot.

I have found a place to get E6 chemistry. Not sure if for me it is worthwhile thou. $32US for a 1 quart kit + $66US for the shipping. It is the same for me as now I shoot and store in freezer until I have a batch and send them to a USA lab, if I were to DIY I would do the same b/c colour chemistry don't last long.

 

What it basically mean is that I need to shoot 20 rolls of slide film in the year or a single go with that kit before it is worthwhile. If I only shot 10 rolls, the USA lab is $20US more dearer which is the the same basically (this includes my $50US return freight of the film). This 20 rolls figure is what people have done, if I adhere to the manufacturer they say max 8 rolls for the 1 quart. Unless I was one of those who shot 20 rolls a year every year then it would be worth it, I could then purchase 3 kits and save a bit on the freight or if I happen to shoot 50 or 100 rolls a year.

 

 

I like to use fresh chemistry with fresh film and since new slide film is pretty expensive I haven't bought any yet. So my exposed roll sits in the fridge. I'm interested in E6 but so far I haven't been interested enough. :)

 

 

For me too :) I have to be in a position where it's worth it spending such money on slide film which is more $$ than color neg. Esp at home, if I am at home doing the same thing over and over again then what's the point. Sure I could just walk down to my local beach after a lunch or a brunch but would I shoot some very average scenery that doesn't move me with slide film. Also the fact slide film are really just ISO 50 and 100. One could push slide film but the lab will cost you more for that also and it would bring the grain out a bit more and it still won't be really high ISO.

Only in the sense of shooting DSLR "scanned" images from my thousands of Kodachrome slides left over from the film era. Towards the end of the film era, I switched to shooting 35mm color negatives because of the wider dynamic range. I still shoot an occasional roll of color negative or black and white with my old Canon SLR's.

When I was young, I shot black and white, and did my own darkroom work, because that is what I could afford.

As long as I remember, my father shot slides, Kodachrome for many years, and Ektachrome in later years.

(Processing is cheaper than print film, as no need for prints.)

 

When I was in college, I could afford Ektachrome, and mostly did that, including E6 processing

(not long after it came out) in the student darkroom. I also bought a Nikon FM not long after

it came out.

 

My wife-to-be had a Nikon FM from before we met. After some time, she had print film

and I had slide film, so we could choose which one for each shot. (Mine is black, so

easy to tell apart.)

 

I now like to go places with one digital and one film camera, and the latter sometimes

has slide film. But print film, without prints and scanned by me, is cheaper than slides.

(Processing is cheaper than print film, as no need for prints.)

 

I now like to go places with one digital and one film camera, and the latter sometimes

has slide film. But print film, without prints and scanned by me, is cheaper than slides.

 

Much of the savings is negated because a roll of slide film cost more then color neg. Over here also one roll of 35mm slide film cost $30US. Hence I buy my film from overseas. Also these days, maybe in the past labs were better than now, not sure because I got into photography in 2004 with a dSLR and before that just a 1999/2000 model entry model Canon film SLR that the family had with the one kit lens. Yeah .. these days, I just find it better colors that I scan my own film even with a flatbed compared to a minilab machine they use.

 

Actually C41 is cheaper.

 

E6 - develop and sleeve cost $20US here in NZ.

C41 develop and sleeve cost $7US

C41 develop and 1x set or prints 6x4 $14US.

 

E6 roll of film 35mm up to $30US, a roll of C41 like Kodak Portra cost $10-12US.

I am sure there are those hardcore slide shooters out there, after all there are still sheet film available. Maybe more for those that are more open minded, they shoot digital and film. How many rolls of slide do you do a year and are you very careful when you shoot?

 

For me, I do most of my film with medium format now. I occasionally get given 35mm BW film which I shoot with my Nikon FM and DIY processing at home. Sadly here in New Zealand, we cannot get colour chemistry. I go thru maybe 10 rolls of slides a year and another 10 rolls of BW per year. For several years, I have also had to import my film from the USA cos you guys have very favourable $10US freight cost and then I export back to you guys for the lab work. I no longer have anymore slides, I don't think I will get rid of it but I may be shooting less. Over here if I did everything local, the roll cost $12US and the lab cost another $20US - medium format. 10 rolls even going with USA prices that's $200US.

 

I've never spent much time with C41, so trying that out, ordered only 4 rolls of Portra and no, I didn't order any more slides.

 

 

Cheers.

 

Edit - 35mm slides here cost $30US which is a lot more than the USA. Fortunately 120 slides are $12US. Labs still charge $20US regardless of format.

After our Granddaughter was born, i got the "genius" idea to document her first 5-6-7 years (she was 3 in August) with Provia 100. I bought a Kodak Projector and a (very) decent, used screen.

 

It must have been 30 years since i shot slides.

I have shot only ten rolls.

My first 3 or 4 had quite a few "Over Exposures" .

MOST of that was my fault. I have been shooting B&W for so long......well, i guess i was simply just careless. We get so used to the latitude of negatives and (typically) err on the side of overexposure... so i tended to do just that.

Now i am much more careful.

 

Also, my "Slide Camera" was my Minolta X570, and its meter was off. I just sent it to Zacks for a CLA.

I am anxious to get that camera back (i could use another instead) and pull another roll of Provia from the refrigerator and start shooting E6 again.

We now have a Grandson, who will be One in may of 2020.

 

My plan with all this expensive mess was.........shoot slides of the kids (and whoever else was around) during birthdays, holidays, family events, etc etc.

After the kids were old enough (i figured about 5 years old) i would break out the carousel, screen, and do something that most Families/People have not done in a LONG Time.

I hope it is as wonderful as my imagination has pontificated it will be. :)

I switched to color negative films when I started to do my own RA-4 printing and when I worked as the store manager for a 1 hour photo finishing outfit. After I moved and went digital in 2013 because I no longer have room for a darkroom and my wife made me sold all my darkroom stuff before allowing me to buy the DSLR. Without the RA-4 printing capability I now switched back to slides whenever I shoot film.

In the past year I have shot four rolls of Ektachrome. Chances are good I'll shoot a bunch more this coming weekend when I go hunting.

Much of the savings is negated because a roll of slide film cost more then color neg. Over here also one roll of 35mm slide film cost $30US. Hence I buy my film from overseas. Also these days, maybe in the past labs were better than now, not sure because I got into photography in 2004 with a dSLR and before that just a 1999/2000 model entry model Canon film SLR that the family had with the one kit lens. Yeah .. these days, I just find it better colors that I scan my own film even with a flatbed compared to a minilab machine they use.

 

Actually C41 is cheaper.

 

E6 - develop and sleeve cost $20US here in NZ.

C41 develop and sleeve cost $7US

C41 develop and 1x set or prints 6x4 $14US.

 

E6 roll of film 35mm up to $30US, a roll of C41 like Kodak Portra cost $10-12US.

 

The price difference aren't so large here, but yes E6 film and processing does cost more.

 

Over the years, the price for prints has gone down, but C41 and prints still costs more than

E6 and mounted slides.

 

When I started in 1967, when I was 9 years old, I still remember that a nearby store

would do black and white reprints for $0.07 and color for $0.22. Those were the numbers

that convinced me to do my own darkroom work. (Or maybe convinced my father

to get me interested in it.)

 

According to an inflation calculator web site, the $0.22 in 1967 comes to $1.67 today.

 

Yes places I know often now do prints (from digital images) for $0.15

(that is for 4x6 prints, where in 1967 they were 3.5x5.)

 

Increased automation over the years decreased the price for prints, so the

advantage of slides over prints isn't so large. I presume one labs would

develop C22 without prints in 1967, but it wasn't common.

 

If the goal is just for scanning, then C41 is a better choice.

 

Above, I was describing the lost art of handheld exposure where flash wasn't

allowed, and with available films, maybe from 1967, so that might apply.

 

I have C41 and E6 film in the fridge, and decide when getting a roll out,

which one it will be.

After our Granddaughter was born, i got the "genius" idea to document her first 5-6-7 years (she was 3 in August) with Provia 100. I bought a Kodak Projector and a (very) decent, used screen.

 

It must have been 30 years since i shot slides.

 

(snip)

 

Our kids were born not long after Sony 8mm video tape and cameras came out, and

my father got me one as a present. (And expecting to see the tapes.)

 

Before the kids, I did mostly Ektachrome slides, after, about half slides and half prints,

with slides more for scenery, and prints more for people. About when the first one

was born, I learned about VPS, and especially that I didn't really have to worry about

keeping it cold (after it was in the camera).

 

After getting my first DSLR, it was about 7 years before I finished a roll of Ektachrome,

which came out pretty bad. Now, I can finish a roll in a year, so it isn't so bad.

 

I am not sure that the kids really know what slides and slide shows are by now.

I should have enough slides of their early years, even if mostly scenery in places

they visited, for a show. I do have a screen that I got used, though a little small.

If I wanted a real show, I might find a bigger one.

 

I asked the kids (now 25 and 28) if they ever watched (16mm) movies in school,

and they thought that they never had. VHS and then DVD were more usual, though

I am a little surprised that there were never any older 16mm movies around.

 

I remember watching them, and from about 4th grade being the one

to run the projector. I learned how to manually load and unload the favorite

school projector that normally has an automatic load function.

(snip)

 

Actually C41 is cheaper.

 

E6 - develop and sleeve cost $20US here in NZ.

C41 develop and sleeve cost $7US

C41 develop and 1x set or prints 6x4 $14US.

 

E6 roll of film 35mm up to $30US, a roll of C41 like Kodak Portra cost $10-12US.

 

For me, with current pricing at nearby stores and labs:

 

Portra 135-36 $7.40

C41 develop and sleeve $8.00

C41 develop and print $23.00

 

Ektachrome 100, 135-36 $11.95

E6 develop and sleeve $10.00

E6 develop and mount $12.50

 

(Prices in USD, plus about 10% sales tax.)

 

So for me, C41 with prints is still more than E6 with mounted slides.

 

If I scan the negatives myself, and print the scans at a discount store,

it is probably less.

I just got a roll back from the Old School Photo Lab that was shot somewhere around 2013 and was in my freezer all that time. From a processing standpoint, all looked good. From an image standpoint, I wonder if I couldn't have done just as well with a roll of Ektar 100. However, the good pics were the sort of thing where a certain private island in the South Carolina Low Country should beg to use them in their next prospectus brochure. But I'm not going to solicit the business.

 

Nothing against the OSPL, but a little further research showed that there are cheaper options out there.

I still shoot a few rolls of slides a year. Lately Ektachrome E100. Just something I enjoy.

I will occasionally shoot a roll of 35mm Velvia to take advantage of my wide-angle lenses (17mm in particular) that aren't very "wide angle" when cropped by the APS-C sensor in my DX series Nikon SLRs. At this point in my life I'm not pretending to shoot professionally, and given that I have a significant number of still decent Nikon primes (and a couple of the better Tokinas), I don't care to put out money for either an FX SLR or a bunch of DX-only lenses I can't use on my FM2s. I get scans along with processing/mounting which covers all bases for me, certainly a more economical approach if I'm only burning through 3 or 4 rolls per year of E6 film (in comparison, I shoot that much B&W in about 2 weeks).

To the question: Yes, in medium format only. Pentax 67II.