OT Dale Labs slides

[marke_gilbert]

Ive searched the archives on this one, and they're pretty vague. Has

anyone had experience with the slides from negs process from dale

Labs? I'm interested only in getting slides to project in my

classroom, for family, etc. If this process is of reasonable quality,

I would think it would be great to have the latitude of print film,

and be able to archive and enlarge negs, but have sildes to view.

<P>How is the quality from this process?

<P>Thanks,

[trooper]

I got out of the habit a few years back, but I recall being quite pleased with the results. For the purpose you describe, I think you'll be very satisfied.

[Troll]

Very, very good. Been using them for years. I only use standard Kodak or Fuji film, haven't tried their house brand movie film tailings.

[mark_sampson]

What they offer is actually a spinoff of the motion-picture process. Filmmakers shoot 35mm color neg and have the neg contact-printed to film. Miles of it. So it's just gravy for a lab to offer the service to amateur still photographers. It's also easy for labs like this to spool up the leftover motion-picture film into standard cassettes and sell it cheap or give it away. It's high-quality film all right, and the processed negs can be printed by anyone. The kicker is that motion-picture film has a "rem-jet" backing on it, making it incompatible with standard C-41 process, thus ensuring your repeat business; since only they can process this film. The quality of the film process and the 2nd-generation slides is a direct function of the lab's quality control, which I have no direct experience with.

[bob_eskridge]

In 2001 I used two high quality P&S cameras (Ricoh GR1 & Minilux) with Kodak's Gold 200 film on a trip to the Republic of Belarus.

 

Dale did a good job producing the prints and slides. The slides were recently used in the classroom with excellent reviews. So for that purpose I would think they would work great.

 

On the other hand, I have concerns about their archival qualities. The slides don't appear to be Ektachrome.

[mark_sampson]

The slides are made on Kodak Vericolor Print film 5072, or its equivalent. So their archival qualities are equal to any other C-41 film; that is, non-existent. Just like Ektachrome or any E-6 film.

[al_kaplan1]

Motion picture release stock is designed for projection, with VERY bright lamps, time after time. The dyes used are chosen for good fade resistance under these circumstances. Color stability in long term dark storage is not a major concern since new prints can be made from the negative if a film is re-released a few years later.

 

The camera stock tends to be a bit less contrasty than consumer and pro still films. The normal procedure is to make a duplicate negative from the master print. The release prints are made from this duplicate negative, which saves the original from wear and tear and exposure to light. These two extra steps increase contrast along the way. When you print directly from the original negative onto release stock the slides have a very long scale and less contrast than you'd get when shooting Ektachrome or another reversal slide film. My ex wife has been using them for years, though, and just loves the quality and good service!

[frank_horn]

Don't the motion picture folks use the 70mm size, too? And weren't there some 70mm backs made for medium format?