slide projector or digital projector ??

[danaher_dempsey__jr.]

<p>I will be moving to Arizona near four-corners. I would like to know the pros and cons of using a Mamiya Cabin 67-Z slide projector with 6x7 slides vs a digital projector with 24 mpx images from a Pentax k3. Landscape photos are the most likely subject.<br>

I have both 6x7 and 645 film cameras. I will need to buy a projector. Any thoughts on the screen image differences?<br>

-- Dan</p>

[alexo]

<p>There is NOTHING like a projected slide. No digital projector will hold a candle to a real slide</p>

[Jochen_S]

<p>I am not familiar with digital projectors, but to put it simple the largest format I am aware of in the display world right now is 4K = some 8MP. Price range starting at 3000 Euro and as usual the sky seems the limit. An additional slide projector is comparably cheap and should provide way(!) more resolution.<br>

(I assume you'll need that beamer anyhow, since you might not shoot enough MF to get 2-300 slides together.)</p>

[AJG]

<p>Digital projection is more convenient in many ways, but projection from larger film formats should still provide a better image than a digital projector that isn't extremely expensive. The college where I teach has digital projectors in the classrooms, and color reproduction is marginal at best and the contrast tends to be too high. If you go the digital route, make sure that you budget for calibration hardware/software for the projector and laptop if you don't already have it. Calibration isn't a one time thing either--the xenon bulbs in most projectors age and change color over their lifetime, and at the $200-300 price for some of them, you won't want to replace them at the first sign of visible color change. How are you planning to use it? Is it just for personal use or are you planning to do public performances? That answer might help us to provide some more useful answers.</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>Tried to answer an hour ago but it kind of disappeared on me.</p>

<p>Its not a straightforward issue at all</p>

<p>First you have to consider the images that you'll project. The 67 slide is "bigger" but you have to project exactly what you've taken and slide film is contrasty and difficult to use. Also you have no opportunity to adjust or correct colour, contrast, content as you do with a digital image and of course you can keep firing away with digital till you get it right, but with the 67 you're having to trust something you can't see. So I would not assume the 67 material to be better without knowing how good you are at using that medium. </p>

<p>To project 67 you need to mount the slides you project. You'll probably want to use glass mounts since they keep the slide flat , and glassless or card mounts if you can find them are cheaper but perform less well. Building a sizeable and ready to project portfolio of 67 slides is going to be expensive, time consuming , heavy and expensive. Sure you can cut down on some of these aspects by de-mounting after projection and recycling the mounts. But its a pain. Equally the Cabin Projector holds two mounted slides so you're having to take one out, add another in all the time. Good quality but not terribly convenient. A digital projector offers a lot more flexibility more easily to design and deliver varying presentations without organising physical slides. </p>

<p>Relative costs aren't simple either. Sure a good digital projector will be more expensive than an inevitably used Cabin. But, factor in the cost of film, processing and mounts over a number of years and the picture is much less clear.</p>

<p>You also need to consider what else you intend to do with your photographs. With slides you can pretty much project them or view with a loupe on a lightbox. With a digital image, you have many more options to print, place online, sell the image, without the costs and time associated with scanning. Interestingly I have about an equal number of slide and digital colour images. But I find that when it comes to showing my work or making up a Blurb book, I'm much more inclined to choose digital images because they involve so much less work </p>

<p>I don't have a digital projector, though I do project work that way at least several times a year at friends or when presenting to Photo Clubs. My experience with them is middling and despite a calibrated screen I'd say more often than not my images when digitally presented aren't a close match for what I see on my screen. They are more often too bright/saturated than too dull. Just looking at work myself, I'd rather use a decent screen than project. </p>

[AlanKlein]

<p>An 8K UHDTV is another option. You should be able to get a 70" for around $3000. </p>

[john_cooper9]

<p>I have been researching digital projectors for my wife who creates water color paintings of children. She has used 35mm Fujichrome 400 slides for years but it is getting more difficult to get E6 film and processing. The slide is projected onto watercolor board to obtain the fine detail inherent in a water color painting. </p>

<p>4K projectors are too expensive for us. The next best thing is a "business" class projector that has a resolution of 1080p. We plan on getting an Epson EX9200 PRO for $799. This projector's native mode is 1920 x 1200 which is more than 2M in pixel size. This Epson has been available only since last September and is not discounted yet.</p>

<p>As a bonus we should be able to enjoy blue ray movies from a PS3</p>

<p> </p>

[alexo]

<p>I inquired about digital projectors some time ago on these forums and people recommended the LCD projectors because of the greater and more consistent color brightness. I tried them and they're good, but it's not the same as a med format slide projected on the screen. </p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>No digital projector that the average individual can afford to buy will even come close to the quality of a projected slide, epecially in medium format.<br /><br />But what is your purpose in projecting slides? Just for yourself? Part of a public presentation? Will other images (from 35mm film, digital sources, graphics, film/video, audio, etc.) be incorporated? if the answer to any of those is yes, digital would make your life far easier.<br /><br />Back in the days of slide shows, it was rare to use just one projector in any professional public presentation. The standard was two projectors with a dissolve control for smooth transitions from one slide to the next. Sometimes a third projector so titles could be superimposed over the slides.<br /><br />Not a good idea to project original slides frequently or for any length of time. The intense ligth and heat from the projector bulb can fade the images. And every time the slide goes in and out of the projector there's the risk of scratches.<br /><br />Also consider whether the audience will notice the difference between slide projection and digital projection or wheher they would care. Looking at a projected image from say 20 feet away you're not going to be able to see the fine details that you see when you put a loupe on a slide on a light box regardless of what kind of projection you use.</p>

[sanjay_chaudary]

<p>Hi, thought I would add a few of my thoughts. John, which city and which country are you in?<br>

<br />I have a 35mm slide projector and the projection of the slide especially fuji velvia is awesome. The scan lacks the contrast and warmth. I have seen digital projector as in office and doubt that it would be as good.<br>

<br />Cardboard mounts are available on e-bay. If you are looking for plastic mounts (glass or glassless), gepe makes them and ships them out of germany. It can be ordered online through gepe's site. They are present under medium format - 54mm x 68mm in boxe containing slide mounts - glass and glassless. They come with metal masks.<br>

I picked up the mamiya projector, but am yet to project as I broke bulb while bringing to India.<br>

Cabin projector is available on e-bay. I found mine on bhphoto. you might want to check voltage supply. I picked up 120v version and had to buy a transformer. By default, one can place one slide in it. It requires a slide carrier tray to view more than one.<br>

There is a tray for fully strip of negative , one for 6x7 , another for 6x6 and 6x5 , one for 35mm slides.<br>

<br />HTH. shot my slides - waiting to get them from lab. I am in India. if you are interested, I have a group called film photography india - please feel free to join - its open to all</p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>Sanjay raises a good point about the one slide limitation without a carrier. Looking at photos of this projector, it's not clear to me how it would work with any kind of large capacity tray system like a medium format version of the Kodak Carousel. If it can't, it would seem to be very challenging to put on any kind of actual slide presentation as opposed to just being able to look at a few slides at a time.</p>

[john_cooper9]

<p>Epson EX9200 PRO digital projector, an update.</p>

<p><br /> I went to my local Best Buy, the projector was not in stock, although a dummy was on display, and they said they are not carrying the Epson EX9200 PRO any more, although they had 40 in their Orlando warehouse. Rather than order one I went to Staples and they had one in stock, and I bought it.<br>

<br /> Good news, its works better than I expected. The image is bright and clear showing fine details needed to create a watercolor portrait. Images taken with an A850 and added to Photo on our MacBook Pro 15 inch Retina were used to test the projector. The MacBook was connected to the projector with a Staples HDMI cable.</p>

<p>I also used to shoot 6x7 slides and have the Linhof version of the Cabin projector. The image projected is amazing. For detail it is hard to beat. But for convenience and with sufficient detail for a watercolor painting the Epson projector is up to the job even if it only puts about 2M of pixels on the screen.</p>

<p>Interesting that the original digital camera a Sony A850 24M image goes to a 12-14M jpeg and then to 15 inch Retina display of about 3M and then down to the 2M of the projector. I wonder why I need such a large original - I guess for printing large sizes.</p>

[sanjay_chaudary]

<p>Hmm, adding some more info for anyone else who might look up the mamiya cabin info.<br>

This projector supports 6x7 slides , 6x6 , 6x4.5 and 35mm slides . It also can hold unmounted 120/220 film strip.<br>

Please note that only a single slide of 6x7 is supported by default. Other formats plus the strip are supported by using twin slide carrier or the 120 film strip carrier.<br>

<br />There is also the gotschmann , supposed to have better optics (schneider lens - not personally used). The more advanced versions support tray. Gotschman projectors are heavy and expensive, compared to the mamiya cabin pro 67z . </p>

[AlanKlein]

<p>Interesting pdf on various models.<br>

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB0QFjAAahUKEwjm4JD7uYHJAhUDbT4KHcB9A34&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bhphotovideo.com%2FFrameWork%2FProduct_Resources%2FSourceBookProPhoto%2FSection12Projectors.pdf&usg=AFQjCNENZveILNHApOE13lzbnzvdtVhbkg&sig2=bo93Sd1edeD6Q8eoQKkdGg</p>

[hjoseph7]

<p>The only problem with slide projectors is that most of them are extremely noisy.</p>