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06/01/2005 07:09:26 PM · #1 |
I'm bringing my digital and film cameras on a trip and I've decided to shoot some slide film for the first time. I've noticed that slide film is not as forgiving of over/under exposure.
My question is: I've been shooting print film for quite some time and I'm able to get proper exposures shooting manually. Is there anything to be concerned with if I move to slide film? Obviously blown out highlights are blown out highlights, regardless of the film type... right? So I just have to be careful with the subject and the exposure settings right?
When I shoot film, I first make an exposure with my digital camera to make sure I'm on the mark, then I put it to film. This should also help.
Any advice at all about shooting slide film would be very helpful to me. Thanks for the input.
Message edited by author 2005-06-01 19:11:24. |
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06/01/2005 07:12:12 PM · #2 |
| If you say you are able to get 'proper exposure' in manual mode you'd be fine. |
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06/01/2005 07:14:02 PM · #3 |
Originally posted by xion:
If you say you are able to get 'proper exposure' in manual mode you'd be fine. |
Ok thanks.
Yeah when I say 'proper exposure', I mean 'the exposure that I wanted for that shot'. |
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06/01/2005 07:14:22 PM · #4 |
| the dynamic range of E6 film is a lot less than print film. |
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06/01/2005 07:17:01 PM · #5 |
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
the dynamic range of E6 film is a lot less than print film. |
Yes, but what does that mean in terms of my exposure settings?? That's my question. Do I shoot as I normally shoot print film, with my spot meter and manual? Or do I have to take other issues into account??
From my reading, it seems it's a matter of exposing for the shadows, as is the case with print film. I guess I'm answering my own questions here. Seems they recommend setting velvia 50 at iso 40 to get more detail in the shadows too. So I guess the range from shadows to highlights is "skinnier" than with print film, which is what you mentioned. But my spot meter is metering the same light regardless of film type.
Message edited by author 2005-06-01 19:26:04. |
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06/01/2005 07:24:36 PM · #6 |
| Yes shoot the same way as with print film. The dynamic range is less, but the exposure will not change. |
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06/01/2005 07:26:22 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by Baxter:
Yes shoot the same way as with print film. The dynamic range is less, but the exposure will not change. |
k. That's my conclusion at this point too. Thanks everyone. |
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06/01/2005 07:29:36 PM · #8 |
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06/01/2005 07:44:25 PM · #9 |
| There is no shame in bracketing when shooting slide film... |
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06/01/2005 07:50:21 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by rich:
There is no shame in bracketing when shooting slide film... |
Also a good point. :) I still bracket with my print film, but now I usually only need to make two exposures to get the actual one I wanted. Recently I shot a roll and almost half of the shots were not bracketed and they came out the way I wanted them to. So I'm getting better at reading my meter and the light. Yeah I'll definately bracket more with this slide film to start off.
Message edited by author 2005-06-01 19:50:57. |
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06/02/2005 12:16:46 AM · #11 |
| From memory.... it's been a few years since I shot anything on trani. When metering you need to make a decision on which part of the scene you are most interested in, Shadows or Highlights. Most trani films are not capable of recording the entire subject brightness range of most outdoor scenes. Or, meter for both and shoot for both, bracketing around the readings then wait for them to come back from the lab to see which one is best. This method is not very economical but you stand a good chance of nailing the shot you want. |
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06/02/2005 12:22:09 AM · #12 |
The dynamic range of slide film is less than that of print film. The dynamic range of slide film is close to that of digital.
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06/02/2005 02:52:58 PM · #13 |
It is a good idea when shooting slides to bracket. The exposure of print film is not as critical because adjustments can be made when printing (contrast can be adjusted using different contrast papers or filters and the print exposure can be adjusted to get a well exposed print from a slightly over/under exposed negative). For slides you only have one shot, because the slide will usually be judged with out having a print made. I have always been taught to bracket +/- 1 stop while shooting slide film if the exposure was critical. If you're just shooting vacation pics for yourself and you aren't that concerned then you can leave out the brackets.
Mike |
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06/02/2005 03:10:23 PM · #14 |
| Can someone recommend a good 100 ISO slide film? I'm looking at Velvia 100F right now. Anything better, in your opinion? |
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06/02/2005 03:18:03 PM · #15 |
Originally posted by nfessel:
Can someone recommend a good 100 ISO slide film? I'm looking at Velvia 100F right now. Anything better, in your opinion? |
I was in a class shooting nothing but slide last year and shot about a dozen rolls of both Provia and Velvia to try and decide which to use - I ended up going with Provia because I thought it had very good color and contrast, but was not quite as over-the-top as Velvia. You're going to get a lot of debate on that one though; there are a lot of Velvia shooters out there, and it does produce a beautiful slide. I just liked Provia a little better overall. My two cents.
Edit - A good article on Luminous Landscape -
//www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/film/velvia100f.shtml
There's some points in favor of Provia, and others in favor of Velvia - it's a personal preference thing really. If you have time to shoot both before the trip, especially side by side (I did exaclty that; I had two cameras to play with) you can really compare the two.
Message edited by author 2005-06-02 15:24:53. |
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06/02/2005 03:24:46 PM · #16 |
I shoot a lot of slide film, generally Provia or Sensia, I rate them at 125 Iso, using the honeycomb meter setting I shoot straight only bracketing occassionally and have no problem with exposure.
I have a Minolta 800si which is very accurate regards exposure. |
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06/02/2005 03:46:35 PM · #17 |
Originally posted by rich:
[quote=nfessel] Can someone recommend a good 100 ISO slide film? I'm looking at Velvia 100F right now. Anything better, in your opinion? |
I shoot about 50% slide and about 50% neg through my Pentax 645. I have to agree I love Provia 100F, hated the old Provia to the point of almost not trying the new. Excellent sharpness, invisible grain, fabulous color. I still prefer the old 50 Velvia to the new 100F, but for color saturation you can't beat Velvia- just don't shoot people with it, it has improved skin tones over the old 50 but still no where near a portrait slide film like Astia (is that still around?). I shot some of the Kodak 100G and the 100GT and have to say they are really really nice films, but my preference still is for the Provia 100F.
One question, how come you decided to go with Slide? For a negative film have you tried the Kodak 100 Ultra Color (Pro), love that stuff.
Message edited by author 2005-06-02 15:55:54. |
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06/02/2005 04:09:04 PM · #18 |
Originally posted by vxpra:
Originally posted by rich:
[quote=nfessel] Can someone recommend a good 100 ISO slide film? I'm looking at Velvia 100F right now. Anything better, in your opinion? |
One question, how come you decided to go with Slide? For a negative film have you tried the Kodak 100 Ultra Color (Pro), love that stuff. |
I'm experimenting with different types of film. I've been shooting a lot of black and white print film (HP5 Plus, TMAX, etc.), and now I'm interested in seeing what I can do with color. I may go back to black and white, or stay with color, or both, who knows? :) No I haven't tried 100 Ultra Color, but I may. Thank you for the tips.
Message edited by author 2005-06-02 16:10:29. |
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06/02/2005 07:19:55 PM · #19 |
| I read somewhere that you should expose for the highlights with slide film and the shadows with film. Film being more forgiving. |
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06/02/2005 07:47:23 PM · #20 |
Originally posted by nfessel:
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
the dynamic range of E6 film is a lot less than print film. |
Yes, but what does that mean in terms of my exposure settings?? That's my question. Do I shoot as I normally shoot print film, with my spot meter and manual? Or do I have to take other issues into account??
From my reading, it seems it's a matter of exposing for the shadows, as is the case with print film. I guess I'm answering my own questions here. Seems they recommend setting velvia 50 at iso 40 to get more detail in the shadows too. So I guess the range from shadows to highlights is "skinnier" than with print film, which is what you mentioned. But my spot meter is metering the same light regardless of film type. |
What it means is that you will not get the same range of values light to dark that you can get with print film. Generally, you want to keep everything that you want detail in a roughly 4-5 stop range (depends on the film). So, if you are using a spot meter, decide what areas are the lightest that you want detail, and what are the darkest if they are within the range of your film, you're in business, expose to the middle of that range. If not, you will have to decide if you want blown highlights or blocked up shadows. While it is possible to salvage some shadow detail when printing from E6, it's not easy and not very effective, much less so than with digital shooting RAW. Another consideration is that if you do plan to print from the slides, you will get yet another increase in contrast, so it's better to keep the range of values well within the range of whatever film you are shooting.
As for recommendations on emulsions, I like the Ektachrome 100 look. There is one version, 100X, I think that is slightly warm toned and gives excellent skintones, similar to Kodachrome. The regular version is quite neutral and the sheet film version is what I mainly used for products when I was shooting things like that. I really dislike Velvia and its fake-looking, plastic oversaturation, but that's just me.
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06/02/2005 09:01:19 PM · #21 |
When I was a student we used Lith\Line film in our cameras rated it at 10iso Then contact proof and process them in paper dev (bromo) and got some realy cool B&W slides. You can dev them with a red light on in the dark room and stop them when you see an image forming on the emultion. I know there are some off the shelf B&W slide films on the market today but don't know what they are like. You can also project your 35mm colour negs in the enlarger onto 4"X5" or any other size ( you can get it up to 1m wide) sheet film (Lith\line) and get some great results that way. Maybe not whatyour after but something to think about.
edited for the contact proof step.
Message edited by author 2005-06-02 21:10:21. |
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