Reversal Film Question.....

[will_hoffmann]

I'm pretty new to photography....so bear with me.

 

 

I bought a roll of Velvia 100 Color Reversal Film.

 

I didn't really know what it was.....I just knew it was a good quality film.

 

 

I then heard that you use the film for slides.

 

 

I don't want slides.

 

 

Is there a way to develop the film and print it to paper like with Negative film?

 

 

 

Any help is appreciated.

 

-Will

[Fotohuis RoVo]

Well you just bought one of the best reversal films on the market.

 

Yes you can scan from the positive slide and (let) it print to photo paper or make a cibachrome wet print from it.

 

Reversal films need very accurate exposure due to the fact there can be no (hardly) corrections been done afterwards because the film is developed according E6. Great color balance and indeed briljant for projection but due to above reasons less suitable for printing.

[thirteenthumbs]

Will,<br> I suggest you use the search feature and search for "cross processing Velvia" and read many of the previous posts to get a idea of what to expect. Normal processing then having a print made from the slide should give the best normal scene results.<br>Industry standard is to include the word Chrome in the name of a slide film and Color in the name of a print film. Examples: Fujichrome Velvia, Fujicolor Superia, Kodak Ektachrome, Elite chrome, Kodacolor Gold. If the name does not cnotain chorme or color then the box will clearly state negetive (print) film or transparency (slide) film. Its easy to remember.<br>Charles

[rob_sato]

Hi Will. Welcome to the wonderful world of photography!

 

Seriously,

if you want prints here are some suggestions. 1)Get the slides you shot developed normally with E-6 processing and then have them scanned by a lab to be made into prints. Most photo labs can do this. Costco and probably even Walmart has this capability. Bear in mind, that prints from slide films have a lot more contrast then prints from print films.

 

2) Go out and get another good film, this time for prints. If you don't want slide films again, don't buy anything with the word "chrome" written on it (Fujichrome, Ektachrome, Kodachrome) because that's guaranteed to be slide film.

Also look and see what kind of processing it uses. If it says E-6, that means it is a slide film (Stands for Ektachrome 6). If it says C-41, then is for color prints.

 

Print film has different characteristics from slide film. You can get away with a lot more mistakes in print film. But you have a lot less control unless you do your own printing.

 

Slide film quality drops really fast above ISO 100 (with the possible exception of the new Fujichrome 400x), but color print films can be of good general purpose quality up to at least Iso 400 and sometimes 800 (Especially the Fuji films)

 

My favorite color print films are Kodak High Definition 400 (available in 3 packs of 24 exposures each at your local drug store or Walmart) and then anything by Fuji followed by whatever else by Kodak.

 

Color print film is at the mercy of the photo lab technician who prints your pic. I've been to two labs in the same chain and they both printed the exact same negative totally different. One good, one terrible. Never settle for a bad print.

 

Color print film doesn't have as much sharpness as color slide film because it has a second generation image (the print) as the final product while in slide films, the slide itself (first generation) is the product.

 

Also, color slide film is a lot like digital.In general it can take slight underexposure a lot better then overexposure. (There are exceptions like the original Velvia 50 which could take slight overexposure well). Your Velvia 100 is often rated at iso 125 or even 160 by some shooters so they won't wash out the high lights or bright areas of the pictures.

 

Color negative is the opposite. It can take overexposure. A lot of it too! Up to four stops in some cases and still be able to make good pictures. Underexposure though is bad. Even a little underexposure with negative film can make all your blacks muddy greyish brown and give you bad general picture quality.

 

Good luck.

 

Anyway, finish up your Velvia 100 (you were right it is a good film, just not what you were looking for) and go get a good Kodak or Fuji Iso 200-400 color print/negative film (Kodak Gold, Kodak Max, Fujicolor) and have fun.

[larrydressler]

Have it processed in E6 for slides and have a CD made of them at the same time... make prints from the CD.

 

Larry

[will_hoffmann]

Thanks for the reply's.

 

So what's so bad about making prints of Reversal film?

 

I really like the way reversal film looks.......But I don't want to have to deal with sldes.

 

By the way I'm using an old Pentax K1000.

[will_hoffmann]

Also....is there any regular negative film you'd reccomend for someone who likes Reversal

film style?

[mark_denton]

Fuji Reala is a fine negative film, and while you'll never quite match the quality of colour reproduction of slide film, it does a very good job on landscape and nature photography. regards Mark <a href="http://www.markdentonphotographic.co.uk">www.markdentonphotographic.co.uk</a>

[ilkka_nissila]

There are no negative films which look similar to slide films. However you may be able to simulate the look with digitally captured files.

 

One problem with making prints from reversal film is that it requires a scanner with a good dynamic range, and then some skill in doing the scans and adjusting them to print well. It's doable and the results can look great - just look at how pics look in high quality magazines. But it's not trivial. Often if you use reversal film you may be disappointed in the quality of prints made by commercial labs. It's just that they don't care as much about your pics than you do, and may have a different vision from yours.

 

Still it's worth a try. You can get a Nikon Coolscan V and do your own scans and then print them on an Epson pigment inkjet to get great looking prints.

[roger_smith4]

"I really like the way reversal film looks.......But I don't want to have to deal with sldes. "

 

Try a Pentax DSLR which should take your old lenses. keh.com has some used in the $300 range. That's as close as you're going to get to reversal/slide film without shooting it.

[will_hoffmann]

Thank everyone.

 

I'll try that Fuli Reala.

 

Is there any place you reccomend to take Reversal film to be made into prints?

 

I don't have a scanner or Inkjet

[will_hoffmann]

Also....how do people develop Reversal film that they've shot movies on?

 

 

Like Buffalo 66 for example.

[discpad]

Will, the machine that processes movie film is called a cine processor, which uses a continuous roller transport technique to drag the film through the various baths.

 

Most all commercial moviemaking is shot on negative film, then "printed" onto another negative film which "reverses" the image -- Think of getting prints back when you submit color negative film for processing.

 

By the way, I second the suggestion for Fuji Reala color negative film... See these shots on Reala 100:

http://users.snip.net/~joe/knoxville/index.htm

 

Hope this helps!

[will_hoffmann]

Thanks guys.

[john_castronovo]

This may be true if you're getting scans from Costco or Walmart where the usual machine operator has minimal training or experience, but there's no reason to accept it from any quality oriented operation. Prints from slides should be equal (and usually superior) to scans from print film, and contrast should never be an issue so long as the slide isn't completely washed out.

 

We do a lot of high end scanning from all types of films, and I've confirmed with my colleagues around the world that since the time scanners were invented, transparencies have always been and they remain the source of the very best scans.

 

They're also easier to scan than negatives. The reason the average low end lab has trouble with it is only due to the lack of training and poor setup of the equipment.

 

john castronovo

tech photo & imaging

fairfield, nj

 

Rob Sato wrote:

 

1)Get the slides you shot developed normally with E-6 processing and then have them scanned by a lab to be made into prints. Most photo labs can do this. Costco and probably even Walmart has this capability. Bear in mind, that prints from slide films have a lot more contrast then prints from print films.

[lorrie_nyx]

<p>apologies in advance for any annoying ignorances, i'm very much a beginner on film, the only knowledge i have is from my dad's 70's photography book!<br>

I had a colour reversal film in batch of old film given to me by my boss (who doesn't use film anymore) and I used it as normal and just got it developed in ASDA (definitely no special treatment there!) but they came out fine (even survived my ASDA's historically atrocious scanning), the only difference was the colours were a bit strange, but i really liked them!<br>

i've put some examples below, can someone tell me if this is due to the film and so they'll always turn out like this (in which case i'll definitely be searching for some more) or whether this is some kind of freak effect because it was old film?<br>

<img src="http://www.neumagazine.co.uk/images/uploads/CNV00015.JPG" alt="" /><br>

<img src="http://www.neumagazine.co.uk/images/uploads/CNV00024.JPG" alt="" /><br>

<img src="http://www.neumagazine.co.uk/images/uploads/CNV00007.JPG" alt="" /><br>

<img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4086/4840238737_ee92d7efe1_z.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="429" /><br>

I also tried doing a few double exposures as I'd just got a new camera (Ricoh XR2s) which has this function and I'd read you were supposed to underexpose the photos slightly for multiple exposures but the one that came out best was the one that i think i forgot to do this on is the double exposed one above<br>

I've since read the leeway with exposure is quite low on colour reversal film which would make sense as to why the later attempts at double exposure (when i remembered you were supposed to underexpose them!) were so dark. um, not really sure where i'm going with this, help!?<br>

<img src="http://www.neumagazine.co.uk/images/uploads/1234header.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="339" /><br>

<img src="http://www.neumagazine.co.uk/images/uploads/CNV00025.JPG" alt="" width="580" height="388" /></p>

[steve m smith]

<blockquote>

<p>Try a Pentax DSLR which should take your old lenses. keh.com has some used in the $300 range. That's as close as you're going to get to reversal/slide film without shooting it.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I think Kodak Ektar will do better than that.</p>