Do I need to be using slide film?

[andyinahardplace]

Hey my name is Andrew. I am not sure if it would be appropriate for

me to be using slide film. I have been taking lots of pictures

recently on my dad's old Nikon FE. I have been having alot of fun

using it here at college but the only option I have is to take my

negs. down to the one hour photo place. The pictures I get back arent

as exciting as everyone says slides are. There are def. pictures that

i have taken which i would like to display. How are slides developed?

Do I need a light table to view them? Am I better off just blowing

up my negs. and cropping them? How do you transfer slide film onto

the computer? What seems to make the most sense for me?

I would like any and all comments. Thanks- andrew

[steven_clark]

You might be able to get better results by scanning your negs yourself and skipping the labs except for souping the film.

[j_sevigny]

This is a really complicated question. I think your best bet would be to buy a roll of slide

film, shoot it, develop it, and see how you like it.

 

The "photo 101" on slides is this:

 

Slide film has much higher contrast than negative film meaning. Generally, deep shadows

just turn pure black, which is cool for some pictures. Also, slide film isn't nearly as

forgiving as negative film when it comes to exposure. A photo that's a single stop off can

be unusuable.

 

If you're interested in seeing what slide film looks like, check out National Georgraphic.

Most photos in that mag are shot on Fuji Provia.

 

Again, I say get a roll of slide film and check it out. You can learn a lot from people on

photo.net but there's no substitute for learning it yourself.

[mendonphoto]

It definitely doesn't hurt to try it out. I'd recommend getting a roll of Fuji Velvia 50. As mentioned, be very careful about exposure, and just to be sure, bracket in 1/2 stop increments - either one on each side of your estimated exposure, or 2 if your are less sure.

 

Take the roll to almost any trusted photo shop and they can send it out for you You'll have it back in a week or so. Depending on the shop and how much you pay, they could be mounted, or they might just be processed and cut. The shop will probably let you view them on their light box with some of their loupes. Do this and identify the ones that you like.

 

Then, go to a computer graphics/art lab at your university and scan the slides that you like on a GOOD slide scanner. Touch them up in Photoshop and take the digital files to get prints made.

[elliot_n]

Slide film?

 

Don't bother. If your pictures are boring on negative, they'll be be boring on

transparency (or digital).

[bernard_korites]

The system I have, and which I'm happy with:

 

-old Nikon 8008 with Nikkor 50/1.4 lens for indoor studio work (doesn't need a flash).

-Nikon FM10 ($209) with 50/1.8 manual focus lens ($110) for landscapes.

-Leica z2x to carry everywhere ($25 on ebay).

-Hakuba portable light table ($35?).

-Mamiya 4x loupe ($85).

-Konica Minolta Scan Dual IV film scanner ($269).

-Epson 2200 pigment ink jet printer ($650).

-loose leaf notebooks with plastic slide holders for storing slides ($2 at CVS)(can slip the Hakuba under a page to find slides).

 

I continue my search for the perfect slide film.

 

In spite of what you may read, especially on the Leica forum, you don't have to spend a lot of $$ to get a technically good image.

 

An aesthetically good image is, of course, another thing.

[andyinahardplace]

Thank you for helping me out- Andrew

[ishik_tuna]

a generalization added to the above mix of comments..

 

faster films tend to have more prominent grain (in general)

slower films have finer grain (in general)

the slowest slide films can have amazingly fine grain allowing extreme enlargements.

 

odds are someone at your university (audio-visual department, photography lab, student union darkroom) will have a decent slide/film scanner that you can use to convert your film to digital images.

 

you can get a rather inexpensive slide viewer link this

http://www.adorama.com/VRSV.html

actually works very nicely

 

or spend a little more for this

http://www.adorama.com/VRPV2.html

(needs batteries)

 

finally, you can borrow a slide projector from someone at the university (guaranteed that someone has one of these stashed away) and project your slides in a large auditorium and see what image looks like when it is 20 feet across!!

 

your surrounded by opportunities at school...take advantage of them now!

[jsbc]

By the way, even for one-hour shops, the quality can be much improved by using a digital printer.

 

2) You can also buy a cheap film scanner (operative word is film) and see how those turn out. That way, you can do color correction on your negative stuff, and also print out the slides.

 

3) the blah-ness of your existing pictures can also be due to your lenses, particularly if they are old zooms. The digital scans can give you a better idea.

[alvinyap]

>> The pictures I get back arent as exciting as everyone says slides are.

 

Could it be you are simply using the wrong lab and film combination? In my experience, my local neighbhood shops are horrid at printing negatives. But great for digital output from my digital cam, don't ask me why. I usually print my negatives at a pro lab in town, and the results are excellent, and the price is around same (add in travel time/cost), plus that allow me to add a border, nifty!

 

I use Fuji Superia 400 indoors with flash, outdoors nowdays using NPS/NPC 160. Have not tried reala, that seems to be a good neg film from posts here. But after discovering slides, I only shoot negs at events that I know I will print out every shot.

 

>> How are slides developed?

 

Colour slides need to be developed at a place that has the E6 process. Colour negatives use the C41 process. So, find a place that does E6 processing! For me, I have to either travel to town to get 'em processed, or else wait 3 days for my local shoppe to send them out and back.

 

> Do I need a light table to view them?

 

That would be up to the individual? I like viewing them on a small portable light panel with a 10X loupe, others prefer to view them projected. Before I got my light panel, I had an old slide viewer, which had a yellow light source. Yucks. If you get a light panel make sure it's colour corrected.

 

> Am I better off just blowing up my negs. and cropping them?

 

Erm... I do not understand this question...

 

> How do you transfer slide film onto the computer?

 

Slide scanner? Or at the place where you developed the film, they'll usually have a service where they can scan the film and put it on CD for ya. At my pro lab, its possible to request a high-res scan. But scanned negs kinda suck, grainy. Scanned slides are good, I have no idea why.

 

Just try a roll. I love Velvia 50, but it's not for shooting people. Perhaps you could try Kodak E100VS for a start, I like it for general shooting.

 

BTW, I am not sure if it's more expensive abroad, but printing slides are killer expensive in Singapore. So, if you intend to print out most of what you take, do check the costs - negatives are very good for printing. I rarely print my stuff, and prefer to view slides on a light box. Hence, slides are the way to go for me!

 

Alvin

[jason_fitzmaurice]

You might try it. I'd start with Some Astia. Not my favourite slide film, but one of the easiest to use, as it has more latitude than most.

Then once you are used to less latitude I'd try a more conventional slide film, Velvia, Provia, E100g, RSX II 100, whatever floats your boat.

[scott_eaton]

<I> There are def. pictures that i have taken which i would like to display</i><P>Good luck trying to display a little 24mm x 36mm slide unless you're going to invite everybody into your basement to see them projected on a wall.<P>If you want prints, find a better lab to process your film and stop using amatuer print films you find in grocery stores.