Slide or negative film to scan for colour or black and white

[Philip Freedman]

I usually use Fuji Provia 100, scan the slides on a Canon film

scanner and then use Photoshop, choosing between keeping in colour or

converting to black and white, depending on the subject. If I want

to use an ISO 400 film for low light conditions and scan the results,

should I use Provia 400 or a colour negative film?

[rich815]

Interestingly enough I have found Kodak Portra 400NC to be excellent for B&W conversions. Flatter contrast and less saturated colors I believe may make for a smoother and more extended tonal look when converted to B&W.

[EricM]

Hopefully Scott Eaton will see your request, but he hasn't been around for awhile. He's a wealth of knowledge on this...

[scott_eaton]

The answer is both.

 

There's no reason to exclude either slide or high quality print films for color desaturation because both have advantages and disadvantages.

 

Slide film will have a stronger contrast range in the midtones while print films will carry their much longer lattitude and smoother highlights. Provia 100 will beat about any 100 speed print film in terms of sharpness while UC 400 vs Provia 400 is more of a dead heat.

 

Scanning technique also plays a big variable in this, and you might find Kodak Portra UC easier to work with over Provia 400F's narrow lattitude, or you'll find the greater 'snap' in the midtones of the slide film to work better with your subject matter.

 

In any case I would try a leading slide film (Provia 100 is sure one of them) vs a higher end print film such as NPH or Portra UC and see what works out best for good old monochrome channel mixing in Photoshop. Note I left out Reala simply becuase it's usually found to be too low in contrast for the typical aethestics of mono work.