When and how do you use E6 these days?

I have film in my freezer, they work fine despite 2yr expired, got into medium format about half a year ago. I bought some film and stocked up, I got E100G when they discontinued them and I got a few pro packs of Velvia 50 at the time too. Like most of you I also have a digital camera. I can see how b/w film can be used because they do look a bit different to digital when and how do you use color E6 film?

 

They cost money, I don't want to waste it. Casual stuff I prefer not to use it, maybe some planned outings around town or trips away. Maybe when the light is abundant and good like the sunrise and sunset and the golden glow hour? Bright afternoon light probably don't work too well with E6. Night time ditto.

 

Your views?

I don't use E6 at all. I used to be 100% E6/Tri-X till 2008 Then I bought my first Dslr. I thought initially that I would miss film photography & continue to use slide film for "special" photography , particularly the stuff where my stock agencies wouldn't be interested in the subject matter, and kept all my medium format gear. But practically speaking I didn't much fancy the idea of carrying two completely different systems on trips, and the only time I did it was on a trip to China in 2009 when I took a Mamiya 7 along and I did use it a bit for b&w. That was iirc, the last film I shot . I ran a test in 2010/11 of making b&w prints from digital across 5 different labs, two in USA the others in UK and found that most of these could give me prints on papers that either were baryta or looked like it, at prices that surprised me. So that meant I could sell all my film gear, and I did. Interestingly, few regrets , and whilst very occasionally I miss the sheer size potential of my MF film photographs, especially the potential to make big square prints, I'm aware that changes on the digital front mean I could now regain much of that capability by buying a 50MP body for my Canon lenses. So not much chance of a return to E6 here.

I would love to shoot E6, but it's too expensive right now. I like the idea that you really have to get the exposure right. You put in most of the effort before the image, and you're rewarded afterwards. Scanning a properly exposed slide, AFAIK, is easier than scanning an improperly exposed negative. Well, it should be anyway.

 

Eventually I hope to get back into it. I suppose I could shoot negative film as carefully as slide film, but slide film shows you exactly what you did right (or wrong) just by looking at it. I guess you either like that process, or you don't.

 

I used to think that documentary and stock photographers shot slides while news photographers shot negatives, but some news photographers shot slides as well (the most famous one I know of is Dirk Halstead who shot the photo of Monica Lewinsky which ended up on the cover of TIME). Fashion photographers also shot different films, sometimes for the same assignment.

 

Slides are less forgiving than negatives but they make a lot of sense.

I shot a lot of kodachrome and then fell in love with elitechrome but digital killed all the labs. I shoot B/W film these days and process at home.

RaymondC if you ever want to divest of frozen Velvia 50, give me a shout

I've used E6 in 120, but only because I got a bunch of it cheap. Like free. I used it mostly in the spring on new flowers and in the fall with leaves. Mainly with soft light 'cause I'm not a vivid color kind of person anyway. I also did a few shots that I knew I'd project onto type 55 polaroid film using my enlarger so I'd then have larger B&W negs to print. As much film as I shoot, digital mostly replaced E6 color for me. I occasionally shoot C-41, but not a ton of that either. If you've got it, find something and shoot it, though.

None left anymore. I shoot C41 (Ektar, by preference but also Fuji given to me) and B&W (actually C41 chromogenic mostly) these days.

sunset and the golden glow hour? Bright afternoon light probably don't work too well with E6. Night time ditto.

 

Velvia 50 is, frankly, bloody awful in bright sun; Provia 100F is a better choice if you must use E6 in such conditions. Velvia's design favours diffuse (fill) light over point (shadows) light.

 

Sunset and sunrise light must be metered carefully as this is very contrasty. The sky is never metered in any of our landscape sunrise/sunset/antitwilight imaging.

 

I have run star trails over 6-7 hours using Provia 100F; this runs purplish for long exposures. Some people like this, and if not, it is easily corrected in post; others like the alien green cast of Velvia 50.

 

Plenty of E6 labs where I am to process our weekly work and labs are increasing their availability to meet demand.

 

We do not use digital camera rubbish: it's 100% analogue here. There is some B&W work confined to LF, on-spec, but otherwise 98% of our work is E6 production with RA4 hybridised print production (from Heidelberg d-scans) to Kodak Endura Professional metallic (KEP-M) and sometimes giclée media.

Yes, I have learnt to be very selective with Velvia 50. I never use it under midday sun now. I've read library books where they did use Velvia in these instances ie the London Eye and green grass with a polarising filter to deepen the color.

 

This is what shot with Velvia 50 with this night scene, how much better and different would Provia be?

 

 

My budget doesn't allow too much pro scanning.

 

Reasonably often, I will take a film camera with black and white film, along with my DSLR.

 

But for real vacation trips to more scenic areas, I usually bring one or two rolls of color film, sometimes C41, sometime E6.

 

There is a lab nearby that processes both for reasonable prices.

I would say nearly exclusively. I grew up shooting transparencies and just don't care much for negatives. Not saying they are better or worse, just that I am familiar with and used to transparencies to prefer them. I bought a lot of Ektachrome E100VS after the announcement Kodak was discontinuing the film and kept it in my freezer ever since. I've got about 80-90 rolls left and plan on shooting them until I run out. I am hoping Kodak Alaris sticks with their plan to release another Ektachrome (and fingers crossed, it's akin to the old VS) so that I can continue my E6 habit well into the future. I am also very lucky to have an amazing lab here in Denver to process my E6 film at a VERY reasonable price ($8.95 USD per roll with mounting) and they still have enough business to do 1-2 runs a day.

I am currently digitizing my, 35mm, 6x6, and 4x5 Velvia 50 from 10 years ago as well as some Kodachrome and E100VS. I am using my Canon 5DII to do this. So far I am only partly through my 35mm transparency collection, and I am astonished how much more colour I can get out of Velvia compared to digital with my Canon 5DII. I have sold all of my film equipment over the past 10 years as I transitioned to digital. While I don't think I will be able to justify having a medium format film system alongside my digital, I am certainly considering the idea. It does seem that costs of film/processing has doubled since then. If my digitizing experience with 6x6 film is that much more spectacular, it will be hard not to bring medium format E6 back into my vocabulary. My most successful images, no matter what format, are made at sunrise, with sunset not too far behind. However, I have not found specific troubles with E6 under midday sun for landscapes as well.

I am astonished how much more colour I can get out of Velvia compared to digital with my Canon 5DII.

 

The colour model of RVP50 is several orders of magnitude deeper and longer than the comparatively narrow digital RGB model, and scanning/duplicating via digital means is a compromise requiring gamut reprofiling (effectively, loss of/narrowing of the baseline gamut). People ought not be surprised at the depth of hue that Velvia exhibits, particularly in the greens!

The subject matter is totally what interests you. If you love it use chrome to capture it. The hard part is getting people to sit thru a slide show. You have 12 maybe 15 minuets tops till they get bored. Be brutal in your editing and hear the oohs and aahs of your viewers. Slides simply must be projected for their impact to be truly appreciated. When I did road trips, one body Kodak Plus-X and one body Kodachrome generally seven rolls B&W plus three chrome. People have a sixth sense about slide shows ... free food? free beer? where is he hiding the projector! Love what you shoot and love sharing your work too.

Film is ethereal and only meanigfull once exposed and shared.

Chris

I have found scanning of my many Velvia RVP50 slides to be order of magnitude more difficult than processing digital originals to produce the effect I want. Its not colour so much that makes that happen, its dynamic range. The problems I had/have are mostly in the shadows (I used grads extensively to ensure detail in sky highlights) where any attempt to find detail in shadow areas more often than not just results in a totally unacceptable muddy mess, for there's no detail there to be scanned. Black is black, and there's a lot of it. I realised that reality isn't 4.5 stops of dynamic range and inevitably what I was trying to do in scanning and in processing the scans was to try and make that dynamic range more generous.

 

The other thing I realised was that in the low light of pre-sunrise and post sunset, the colours I got from Velvia were a lottery. Every little nuance of pink, or magenta seemed to end up strongly exaggerated on the slide. Doing "subtle" was very hard, sometimes impossible. I do suspect that a lot of users, perhaps including me at the outset, were using Velvia because of, not in spite of, its weaknesses, and indeed made the most of it by sticking a polariser on the lens to saturate further. They liked the exaggeration, and didn't mind the lottery. Some of the greens Silent Street talks about are unreal- there used to be an expression "Fisher-Price green" to describe a particular hue seen on bright Velvia slides but never in nature. But at the end of a decade of predominantly Velvia use, I found myself carrying a range of slide films to marry with various conditions. One for pre/post sun. One for when the sun was bright; Velvia for a narrow window at sunrise/sunset with the sun low in the sky, and for making the most of overcast conditions. Don't know how those with no separate backs worked it out.

 

Despite all that, it was commercial considerations rather than dissatisfaction with the product that made me switch away. Never mind friends and family, it got to the point where I couldn't even get my stock agencies to look at a slide without scanning it first. A commission from a client was getting to mean that I got to see finished images taken by art directors before I had been through the process of selecting, with client input, scanning, post production. But I mean landscapers used slide film, didn't they, warts and all? What I learned after is that I could exert more control and do away with the issues that were frustrating me with slides. If I want strident I can get it. But its me and not a film manufacturer that dictates what my photographs and prints look like. And I enjoy that.

Mid-day what i don't like. Velvia 50.

 

Make slide shows great again! If your photos are good, people will love your slide shows. Christopher, your suggestion is a good starting point. Slide shows should be fully catered by the host.

Check this thread for info on the color gamut of Velvia and other films.

They liked the exaggeration, and didn't mind the lottery. Some of the greens Silent Street talks about are unreal- there used to be an expression "Fisher-Price green" to describe a particular hue seen on bright Velvia slides but never in nature. But at the end of a decade of predominantly Velvia use, I found myself carrying a range of slide films to marry with various conditions. One for pre/post sun. One for when the sun was bright; Velvia for a narrow window at sunrise/sunset with the sun low in the sky, and for making the most of overcast conditions. Don't know how those with no separate backs worked it out.

 

I call the unreal colours "Disneychrome". Well, Kodachrome wasn't all that natural in many respects (though it was the best for printing to Ilfochrome Classic whenever reds were involved, but that's an entirely different matter).

 

Then again, there is a trick to make Velvia appear very much like Reala, using both EI adjustment, a polariser and prevailing light (chiefly flat to emergent hazy). This "Reala look" is something I frequently do when the subject just does not need nor will benefit from the added "punch" that Velvia gives.

 

The antitwilight colours you speak of — the pinks before sunrise and after sunset, are naturally not very strong to the eye (with the exception of the appearance in the Tropics or here in the outback of Australia in the warmer Spring and hotter summer months). This is where Velvia lifts the colours and provides better separation (see image below).

 

Make slide shows great again! If your photos are good, people will love your slide shows. Christopher, your suggestion is a good starting point. Slide shows should be fully catered by the host.

 

What!? "fully catered by the host"!? You don't say...

 

If only it was so easy and so much fun... The reality is that the host has their hands full with cats and dogs then caterers; add cameras, cables and carousels. Oh, and throw in deliveries, posties, pests and peek-a-boos...No thanks! Tell the folks to BYO tipples and twisties. ;)

I shoot E6 90% of the time, and almost exclusively Provia 100F and 400X (what I have left in the freezer). I have everything processed by Dwayne's in Kansas and get excellent results with their processing and service.

 

Metering is key with E6. As is trying to avoid high contrast scenes in daylight, but I would try to avoid that in most cases anyway. Most of my use of E6 is with low sun, overcast skies, low light and long exposure. All E6 isn't the same, just as Portra and Superia different looks. If you don't prefer the ultra color of Velvia, give Provia a try.

 

The joy of looking at a well-composed and well-exposed slide is unmatched. It makes me wish that I shot medium format so I can see them even larger!

Edited March 27, 2017 by Paul Lewis

 

Reminds me of the question about what professional golfers do when they retire.

Photography to the amateur is recreation, to the professional it is work,

 

Reminds me of the question about what professional golfers do when they retire.

 

Of it is the case they mentor developing players.Next question please.

I shoot E6 90% of the time, and almost exclusively Provia 100F and 400X (what I have left in the freezer). I have everything processed by Dwayne's in Kansas and get excellent results with their processing and service.

 

Metering is key with E6. As is trying to avoid high contrast scenes in daylight, but I would try to avoid that in most cases anyway. Most of my use of E6 is with low sun, overcast skies, low light and long exposure. All E6 isn't the same, just as Portra and Superia different looks. If you don't prefer the ultra color of Velvia, give Provia a try.

 

The joy of looking at a well-composed and well-exposed slide is unmatched. It makes me wish that I shot medium format so I can see them even larger!

 

As an amateur and now and then we go out with friends and family. I am thinking, how did people get blue sky days that professionals shot in the film days. I guess most of them shot slide film. Ie - blue sky Thai beaches, white sand. Blue sky of the Eiffel Tower to attract tourists.

 

Being city and suburbia bound I think that maybe less saturated slide film may be better suited to myself.

As an amateur and now and then we go out with friends and family. I am thinking, how did people get blue sky days that professionals shot in the film days. I guess most of them shot slide film. Ie - blue sky Thai beaches, white sand. Blue sky of the Eiffel Tower to attract tourists.

Being city and suburbia bound I think that maybe less saturated slide film may be better suited to myself.

 

Careful exposure, especially with slide film. And a modicum of luck. More often too, when plans did not fall into place, manipulation, especially for travel/tourism brochures where blue skies/white sand are absolutes in conveying a positive, invigorating image, even though when you get to the destination it is grey, muggy and overcast with patchy sun! It's pretty common to get those bejewelled blue skies and blinding white sun in the Maldives virtually on-cue!