Colour slide film recommendations

White Rose

White Rose

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Richard
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I've been having a lot of fun in the last 6 months playing with an OM2 and b&w film. So much so that I'm keen to try putting some colour slide film through the camera. I'm looking to do mainly outdoors stuff with shallow dof so I'll be using 100 ISO or lower. The lower the better actually as I find it hard to get the lenses wide open in sunlight even at ISO100 due to the rather slow top shutter speed of 1/1000.

If I get hooked I intend to buy a slide scanner, probably a V500. So my question is this, can anyone give me any pointers on suitable film types for scanning? Would low saturation or low contrast films be easier to scan? I'm prepared to try a few different films for size so any and all recommendations gratefully received.

Cheers

Richard
 
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Sorry to be a bit harsh but your wasting your time with slide film.

Koday have stopped all processing of colour slide film since November last year. I don't think anywhere else is processing them any more either. :(
 
Sorry to be a bit harsh but your wasting your time with slide film.

Kodak have stopped all processing of colour slide film since November last year. I don't think anywhere else is processing them any more either.
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Sorry to say this but thats completely wrong, Kodak stopped processing Kodachrome a few months ago, one type of slide film that used a very different and difficult process.
E-6 slide film is still readily available and easily processed by quite a few labs as its easy to process compared to Kodachrome.

Now that thats cleared up, it depends on what sort of photography your doing as to what slide film you use:

For landscape:

  • Fujichrome Velvia 50 for the most intense saturation around, just don't take pictures of people as their skin will look like its badly sunbrunt ats it portrays oranges as red. One of the most popular slide films around and very fine grained.
  • Fuji Velvia 100 is similar but a stop faster and has slightly less saturation.
  • Fuji Velvia 100F is again similar but with less saturation again.
  • Personally Velvia 50 or 100 is my fave out of these.
  • Kodak E-100VS, very saturated like Velvia, but more subtle. Doesn't make skin tones go red.

    For people/general purpose:
    • Fuji Provia 100F, very fine grained and neutral making it good for portraits
    • Kodak E-100G, again a nice neutral film with fine grain, some comment that it looks similar to Kodachrome (But nothing can beat Kodachrome for people shots)

    For action shots:
    • Fuji Provia 400X is extremely fine grained for a 400 speed film and is similar in colour to Provia 100. Can also be easily rated at up to 3200 and push processed for a slght increase in grain

    For processing I would recommend The Darkroom ( http://www.the-darkroom.com/fastcart/processing.html ) as their price is good, the quality and service excellent and the slides come back quickly. Until recently I used Peak Imaging who are also excellent but with their price rises I can no longer afford to use them when the Darkroom is about £4 cheaper for the same thing!

    Hope this helps!

    It doesn't really make much difference when scanning regarding the contrast, especially if the scanners been profiled with an IT8 traget, most slide film is pretty high contrast anyway.
 
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that's me snookered then, I don't really shoot colour neg at all....:LOL:

no but seriously, I think you may be confusing slide film with Kodachrome, Kodachrome is no longer manufactured as of yonks back and the only place on Earth that processed it has stopped processing it, but slide film is still very much alive......thank god...:)

Edit, Sam's Nijhad me lol

a few films not all ready mentioned are Astia and 64T, I dunno what's going on with Astia whether its still available in all formats or not but its iso 100 lower contrast natural colour nice portrait film, and 64T is tungsten balanced slide for use in places where tungsten is the only lighting like in studio or whatever.
Sensia is a cheaper version of Astia but its available at iso 400.
Personally, I prefer Velvia 100F for anything with no skin in it, Astia for skin and 64T..
 
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Thanks for the speedy responses. I've ordered a couple of rolls of Velvia 50 and a couple of Ektar 100 to get me started. I'll be trying them out on a variety of subjects so thanks for the tips re: Velvia and skin tones. I'm itching to get cracking now so hopefully my film order won't take too long :)
 
I bow to your greater knowledge.

Interesting posts and helpful as I always liked slide film and will have to look again.

Sorry Richard my lack of knowledge yet again doooohhhhh.
 
Everybody is allowed to miss the target every once in a while Chris, your lucky its in film where your profile is much lower and not actively patrolled by the gobby bunch....:D
 
Joxby, Astia is no longer sold in the UK on any format. Its still available in Japan and the USA in 120, sheet and possibly 35mm as far as I know and Sensia has been discontinued although there are still plenty of stocks of it. I wouldn't bother with the 400 version though, its quite grainy and has about half a stop of lattitude, it would be easier and better just to get Provia 400X. 64T is also discontinued and not stocked anywhere that I buy from usually.

I forgot to mention the consumer Kodak Elite Chrome series, available in 100, 100 Extra Colour (Similar to E-100VS, but doesn't do skin tones half as good) and 200. Their slightly cheaper but I've always found them to give good results when I use them occasionally.

BTW you said you got some Ektar, you do know that's colour negative film right? Did you mean Ektachrome which is the Kodak 'E' series?

Basically with Velvia don't bother taking portraits as you won't like the results and neither will your subject!
 
I've got loads of Astia, bit balled off with 64t though, my stock won't last forever.
I suppose that's it for T balanced slide then, except maybe some crappy slide copy film...:(
 
I use a v500 scanner and shoot a lot of slide film.

E6 can be processed in many places, I use peak imaging which I've found to be excellent.

Since the demise of Kodachrome, I've been using Kodak e100g which I think is excellent. Fuji velvia 50 is good by I've found it can be a bit over the top in saturation, good film though.
 
Thanks for the tip about Ektar. Should have paid more attention before ordering. I always planned to try a couple of rolls of various different films to see what I like, so it won't be wasted.

I've looked at the Elite Chrome films but thought view seemed suspiciously under priced compared to other brands. I might have a second look at them.

It surprises me how few low ISO films there are. I've been using ISO125 b&w film so far and its a struggle getting the lens wide open in bright light. Looks like I'll be needing some ND filters as well. The list just keeps on growing!

Cheers

Richard
 
Velvia 100 is my favourite, i found Velvia 50 way too saturated for my taste and i like having an extra stop in sensitivity with 100. I've tried Sensia as well and it wasn't much different than Velvia 100 when i projected them.

I'd ask why you want to shoot slide film? If you aren't going to project the slides then you are probably best sticking to colour negative film as i've found negative film easier to scan than slide film (i have an Epson V500), it's easier to expose correctly, it's cheaper to develop and more places develop C-41 than E6; though Jessops will normally do C-41 in house, if you take in E6/B&W they'll just send it off for developing (about 3 weeks wait). I'm not trying to discourage you i'm just pointing out the slide film has it's own issues you should consider though looking at positive film is nice and quite rewarding in itself.

I wouldn't worry about the Ektar 100, i've shot a few rolls of it and it's a great colour negative film (brilliant in medium format), its colour balance is much better than most colour neg film i've shot before, has good saturation as well. Though i will pimp Kodak Portra 160 VC (or the new plain 160) as well, beautiful smooth neutral colours, excellent for portraits, excellent for everything else as well.
 
Actually its easier to scan positive slides than negatives as you don't have problems with the film base colour then. Every negative film has a different coloured base which will obviously affect the colours produced if its not reversed correctly. Positives on the other hand juts give you the colours right after scanning, if a scanner is profiled with a suitable IT8 target for slide film them you should get about every time, the correct colours, exposure etc. You can't do that with colour negative film because of the film base colour issue. More recent films such as the new Kodak Portra 400 are better at scanning though.

I wouldn't bother using Jessops - unreliable quality and takes at least 3 weeks for about the same price as sending the film to The Darkroom or Peak Imaging who will have them with you in 3 -4 days usually.

As to projecting, there are tons of good/cheap slide projectors on ebay. Believe me nothing is like blowing up a good slide across the entire wall!

Richard if your interested in slower B&W film then try looking here at Adox's range:

http://www.ag-photographic.co.uk/adox-film-11-c.asp

Their films come in ISO 100, 50, three 25's (one orthochromatic, i.e not sensitive to red light) and 20 types which should be way slow enough, especiallu when you add a contrast filter. Just don't get the 20 version unless you developing it yourself as it needs a special developer or its effective speed is 80. However Palm Labs will develop it on request in the special developer for a small surcharge, look at their price list link at the bottom of the page.

http://www.palmlabs.co.uk/

Unfortunately a lot of the really slow colour film is now gone, people demanded faster film so thats what's offered now. The ultimate slow colour neg film was probably Ektar 25 from about 20 years ago, but it wasn't too popular so it was discontinued, and of course there was Kodachome 25 which was the standard for high resolution pictures for years but that was discontinued around 2002 as well.
 
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White Rose said:
Thanks for the tip about Ektar. Should have paid more attention before ordering. I always planned to try a couple of rolls of various different films to see what I like, so it won't be wasted.
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Ektar is a nice film, I've only used it in 120 and not in 135 (yet).. so if you find you don't like it.. .. .
 
This is my 2 penny's worth on slide film.

I predominantly use Velvia 50 for landscape and macro work. I love the high saturation effect.

I also experimented with Sensia 100 which has a warmer less saturated tone, though unfortunately this has been discontinued and there are limited stocks now still around.

I have also tried Kodak 100 VS & G, and in my humble opinion they produce a much more natural rendition of the subject in terms of colour & tone.

If you are thinking of scanning, then I would recommend at minimum calibrating the scanner with IT8 target. This is particularly important for Velvia 50. You may also find that you struggle to lift the detail out of the shadows with Velvia 50.

I also purchased Vuescan for scanning slide as I found that this produces better results than my scanners software.
 
I shoot slide because I love the bloody stuff..../end pretty much

wait...and this really only applies to me because often I forget there are smaller formats that I don't really use, but I love the fact that the camera produces something after developing, with no scanning/printing or projecting, you get a 6x6 transparency that when chucked on a light box, is absolutely beautiful.
Doesn't have the same impact on 35mm maybe, but then I'd shot a hundred rolls of 6x6 before my first 35mm.
Neg film is ok, but you don't get anything straight out of the dip...:)
 
ive had fair results with velvia, but the colours are a little... intense
Kodak Ektar isnt bad though :)
 
joxby said:
I shoot slide because I love the bloody stuff..../end pretty much

wait...and this really only applies to me because often I forget there are smaller formats that I don't really use, but I love the fact that the camera produces something after developing, with no scanning/printing or projecting, you get a 6x6 transparency that when chucked on a light box, is absolutely beautiful.
Doesn't have the same impact on 35mm maybe, but then I'd shot a hundred rolls of 6x6 before my first 35mm.
Neg film is ok, but you don't get anything straight out of the dip...:)
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(y) I'm with you all the way here... There's just a certain something about the finished product emerging from the soup. The larger the tranny format, the better it gets for me... Whereas I'm reasonably cool with shooting C41 on the 35mm cameras, mainly as the only way to see them in their full glory is getting out the projector/screen , I definitely prefer E6 on the MF cameras, and I think that if I were to get a large format camera it'd be highly unlikely for it to even see C41 media.
 
I was only talking about my own personal experiences of scanning films, i've always had to do less processing to get the results i want with colour negative film (and B&W). When i try to scan slide film it's always too dark and the colours are off; the only way i've found to improve this somewhat is to adjust the histogram for each scan by dragging the gray point down to brighten the shadows.

I won't deny that holding and looking at slides is nice, particularly in MF 6x9 format (i'd love see a 4x5 or 8x10 slide), but you can't project MF slide film (not anything above 6x6 with a rare 6x6 projector) cheaply so it feels a bit pointless using it in MF but makes sense in 35mm as projectors for that format are easier to find, repair and maintain.
 
Large format slides are amazing, it's even more like a finished product than MF as it's approaching the size of a finished product
 
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