Shooting slide film with a P&S camera?

[celerystalksme]

Are tricks or guidlines to shooting slide film with a point and shoot

camera like the CM, GR1v or T3? I've never shot slides before and

wanted to try it out. Well, I was informed that if I've never shot

slides, it probably wouldn't turn out very well at all. You can't

simply point and shoot?

 

I still have a month before a short vacation (which is where I

planned on shooting some slide film). If someone could clue me in on

what to do, I can pick up some slide film and shoot a bunch of test

rolls before I go.

 

Thanks!!!!!!

[michael_b._elmer]

There's nothing mysterious in using slide film for a CM (is that a p&S or should one rather call it a compact Leica?). Just load the film, for instance Provia 100F or Velvia 50 into the camera, let the DX codes fix the rest and take your photo's.

 

Slides are excellent for scanning, since they have much more contrast than negative films, and you can get really excellent digital pictures in that way. Of course, on the long run, it is cheaper to avoid the extra work and shoot digital photos directly, for instance with a Digilux 2.

 

It can be a problem to have good prints made by photo lab's, but that does not differ from the situation with negative films. Try some slide films before you go abroad.

 

Have a nice vacation and happy snaps!

[Jochen_S]

O.K. as far as I remember slide film needs accurate, in doubt rather short exposure. Maybe your flash would burn faces out if they aren't within a certain distance? Maybe your camera tends to overexpose to be on the safe side with neg-film? Don't press backlight exposure correction, if you are interested in the sky or similar.

 

Try it out. Look for critical lit subjects with extreme contrast, do 3 flashshots either it works or it doesn't. One roll should do, if your camera reads DX codes only. If you have manual filmspeed override learn to use it for bracketing.

 

Sorry, I have no modern P&S myself.

[andrew_hall1]

>Are tricks or guidlines to shooting slide film with a point and shoot camera like the CM, GR1v or T3?

 

Shoot a test roll to find out whether the meter tends to overexpose (good for negatives) or not. If so, dial in minus exposure-compensation and/or meter for the highlights.

 

The Z2X is allegedly accurate enough for slides, though with only +2 EV compensation: http://www.photo.net/equipment/leica/z2x

[e_b7]

If the P&S has a good light meter, should be no problem. My CM has a warning if there is too much contrast in the scene. It will also fire the flash in program mode under the same circumstances. This has worked quite well; for example with a person in front of a black locomotive, or a person in a swimming pool with sunlight on the water. The flash evens out contrast ratio a bit. Of course this can be turned off. On another occasion, I got a "Low" warning when taking a shot of a white tent on a green lawn. I used AE lock on the grass and took the shot, which looks great. The CM has a center-weighted exposure algorithm similar to SLRs and good rangefinder cameras, so mostly you can just load slide film and blast away. If the camera (such as CM) gives you f-stop and shutter speed in the viewfinder, so much the better. You can decide whether you need to compensate at that point, or bracket as necessary.

 

The biggest limitation I've encountered with P&S cameras is with the zoom models, and the slow lenses at the telephoto end. You also need slow shutter speeds, which can result in blurry shots. Also, AF can be off with these cameras, but the CM tells you where it's focusing with the VF brackets and distance readout. You just have to constantly check that focusing wheel, because it is easily bumped out of place (e.g. off the AF setting and at 1.5 meters).

 

Anyway, I've shot Kodachrome 25 with my Leica CM with no problems. Good luck!

[steve_dawson1]

Yes, transparency film requires very accurate exposures. Some point and shoot cameras may have been designed more for print film, which allows a much wider exposure range. However, my Olympus Stylus Epic works fine with transparency film.

[dan flanders]

It is difficult to understand why all the ferment. When Kodachrome came on the market back befor WW2 most of us didn't have light meters, the film was agonizingly slow, and our lenses were usually somewhat soft wide open at f=3.5 (if we could afford that!). We made our exposures according to the tables in the little yellow box. and we were amazed if we got two or three good shots out of ten ( not because our exposures were bad but because we thought we had to take a pic of every pretty girl we saw or of just about anything else that happened). Some of us used one or another version of the Sunny 16 and found that we scored just as high as our more fortunate friends who could afford a Weston. It's true that print films have a wider lattitude than slide films but is that an excuse to be sloppy?

[andrew_hall1]

>It's true that print films have a wider lattitude than slide films but is that an excuse to be sloppy?

 

OT: overexposing/under-rating negative film is not sloppy at all. It's a prudent way of dealing with the film's underexposure intolerance.

[jbq]

In my personal experience, the Olympus Stylus Epic does a good job with slide film, so it possible to shoot slides with a P&S.

 

Understand that slide film has a limited range, and that it typically won't do a great job with highly contrasty scenes.

 

Shoot some tests with your current equipment, see what happens.

[frank uhlig]

You can use slide film with pinhole cameras. What does the camera have to do with the film that can be used?

 

The problem is exposure, and even SLRs will fail in TTL exposure sometimes.

 

Of course the worstest (sick) approach to your "travelling in a month" dilemma is that you want to become another person/photog in four weeks.

 

Ain't going to come about that quickly. So best stick with what you know, have used, etc.

[wai_leong_lee]

I shoot slides regularly on my Minilux and they are every bit as well-exposed as my M4. In fact, probably better, since the electronic shutter is more accurate.

 

There is no problem if your shutter speed and aperture are working correctly, and your meter is accurate. You just need to know how your meter is weighted, and be careful when metering. Having ability to set the aperture helps, although many good P&S like the T4 and Mju II do not. So too does the ability to set exposure compensation. Watch out for overly contrasty scenes which are beyond the dynamic range of slide films, and meter for the most important subject, else use fill-in flash.

[pensacolaphoto]

I use slide film quite often in one of the P&S cameras that I use. For example, I use a Minox 35GT, a Yashica T2, an Olympus Epic, a Leica Mini. Any of those gives me excellent exposure with slide film.

[keith_slater]

My father shot slide film with his Canon P&S (The first auto focus, Autoboy?) In the mid to late 80's. Nobody ever told him not to. I look back over his slides, and most of them are pretty good. Of course I have not tried to make prints from any of them.

[gary_pinkerton1]

I shot about 60 rolls of Kodachrome 200 over a year and half, a couple of years ago, with a Leica Mini II. 95% of'em turned out just fine.

With the Mini, I could lock in the exposure/focus with the camera's shutter button. Neat little camera, and the lens/film combo had some good results.

[randall_pukalo]

There is a BIG MYTH that shooting slide film is some sort of Voodoo Majic. It is EASY!!! In fact any decent PS, such as any of the Olympus Stylus series (Epic, Zoom 80/105/120/140/150/170)will produce wonderful results.

Buy some slide film, and see what you have been missing! You will fall in love with the results, nothing compares to the beauty of slides!

[al_kaplan1]

I want Kodak to bring back K-II, process K-12. THAT was great film!

[richard_saylor]

I shot Kodachrome in a Minilux (40mm) and a Yashica T4 Super (T5). No exposure problems with either camera.

 

Richard

[charles_stobbs3]

And bring back procesing in Rochester (Kodak Park, Rochezter, NY 14650).

Unless my memory hasa failed along with everything else.

[juergenf]

I used to own a Leica C2 and I have shot slide film with this camera with good results. The key to shooting slides with p&s cameras is to use the spotmeter (if it has one) and point the meter at a 18% gray tone at the same distance as your objects (to avoid out-of-focus photos).

[e_b7]

Kodak in Palo Alto, CA used to turnaround Kodachrome in a day. The best I can do now is a week. Some progress.

[nzdavid]

I've shot quite a few slides (ISO 100) with a Mini 3, and have been very pleased. Here's one

of Naxos, Greece, taken a couple of years ago. As others point out, exposure is critical. I

find the M6 more accurate in this respect with its centre weighted metering (or using a

handheld meter), but a point and shoot is still very handy. Watch for very contrasty scenes

which are likely to underexpose (white buildings and bright blue skies). Another

important question is which slide film: I'd recommend ISO 100 - Fuji Provia, Astia or

Sensia, Kodak Ektachrome or Agfa Precisa. Not Fuji Velvia, it requires exposure

compensation. Fuji Sensia 200 would be another good choice.

Otherwise, just take lots of photos and enjoy. There's nothing like a slide show for

enjoying vibrant colour, and bringing back the feeling of really being there!<div></div>

[jeff h.]

I suppose I should answer that you can only shoot slide film with a new Leica MP

(preferably some a la carte version) and a new 35/2 ASPH lens. But I cannot tell a lie. You

can use slide film in any camera and enjoy the bright, bold, vivid colors that negative film

cannot match. Yes, slide film requires more precise metering and exposure control, and

doesn't have the latitude of negative film. Big deal. A decent P&S has a more accurate

meter and better exposure control than most Leicas ever made. I shot slide film for years

on an old Olympus Infinity Jr P&S. I keep a lowly Nikon EM loaded with only Fujichrome. I

got/get great photos from both cameras. Sure, you will get a couple of shots per roll that

aren't great, but even a under/over-exposed slide has a certain beauty to it! What do I use

my Leicas for? Black and white (with its miles of latitude). So select a good slide film (I am

partial to Fujichrome: Velvia 100 for daytime landscapes and Provia 400F for almost

everything else) and shoot away!

[celerystalksme]

Jeff,

 

Do you do anything special when shooting slide film with your p&s? Do you put it on spot-meter or not? Do you exposure lock on a 18% gray surface? Do you do any other voodoo magic to get things exposed right?

 

Or do you just shoot willy-nilly as if you had color negative film with tons of exposure latitude?

 

Thanks!!

[seanb]

I use slide, Velvia and Provia mainly, in my Ricoh GR1v, and have been generally happy with the results. 90% of the time you can just let the meter get on with it.

 

For scenes where there is something that might fool the meter (lots of bright sky, for example), the Ricoh has +/-2 stops compensation, or you can hold the setting and recompose.

 

You should definitely test your camera with the sort of shots you take, to get a feel for how it meters in different situations.