Support our Sponsors, they keep FADU free:   AG Photographic   The Imaging Warehouse   Process Supplies   RH Designs   Second-hand Darkroom Supplies  

Notices

Go Back   Film and Darkroom User > Colour Work > Colour film

  ***   Click here for the FADU 2015/2014 Yearbooks   ***

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 25th April 2015, 12:53 AM
Jimmy Jimmy is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 34
Default negative or slide

was thinking of getting some colour 120 film as a little side project to my B+w work. wont be developing myself, but will treat myself to the occasional shop develop,scan and will orint the odd frame non digitally hopefully if not too expensive.

so what should i get negative or slide? im a bit confused
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 25th April 2015, 01:35 AM
Argentum's Avatar
Argentum Argentum is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Sceptred Isle
Posts: 3,066
Default

slides being positive require special paper to print direct to paper and it's no longer being made. So you won't be printing slides yourself unless you do it digitally.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 25th April 2015, 06:50 AM
DaveP DaveP is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Sheffield
Posts: 990
Default

I thought you could still print slides if you use an intermediate negative step - does anyone actually do this?
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 25th April 2015, 08:34 AM
RH Designs's Avatar
RH Designs RH Designs is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Yorkshire Dales
Posts: 1,088
Default

You can do that, but there's little point if you haven't made the original exposure yet. The OP is in that position, and given the difficulty of printing slides these days (unless you use digital methods) the choice would have to be negative film. Having said that, a projected 120 slide can look amazing!
__________________
Regards,
Richard

RH Designs darkroom equipment : dalesphoto.co.uk
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 25th April 2015, 09:43 AM
marty marty is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Italy
Posts: 340
Default

As said above. If you want to print chemical way it has to be negative film. As DaveP said theoretically it is possible to print from slides via an internegative, photographing the slide on negative film with a macro setup that is. I said theoretically because the internegative film passed away long ago, as far as I know. I made some experimentation with Portra 160 as interneg film with a varying degree of satisfaction, very fussy procedure and I'm not sure if it's worth apart if one already has some old slide and wants to make a print from it.

Cheers, M.-
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 25th April 2015, 10:52 AM
JOReynolds JOReynolds is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: St Albans UK/Agde France
Posts: 1,074
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveP View Post
I thought you could still print slides if you use an intermediate negative step - does anyone actually do this?
Internegative film for stills has not been manufactured for more than a decade because results from Kodak-Pathé Ektachrome paper and the Fuji equivalent, process R14 and R3 were so good by comparison - but no longer manufactured either. 35mm Internegative film for motion-picture use is still manufactured but is, of course, only available in bulk.
Ordinary colour negative film yields awful results as an internegative unless used with contrast masking.
To scan well, positive (slide) film needs to be exposed to within 1/2 stop. Meter off a grey card or use incident-light metering. Negative colour film scans nicely using the initial settings recommended by the manufacturer and gives greater exposure latitude - best to bracket or, if in doubt, over-expose a bit. Different brands of film need different initial scan settings, requiring some experimentation.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 25th April 2015, 12:15 PM
Jimmy Jimmy is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 34
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Argentum View Post
slides being positive require special paper to print direct to paper and it's no longer being made. So you won't be printing slides yourself unless you do it digitally.

Yeah like i said, i wont be doing any colour printing work myself


so i gather theres two options

print digital- still the same question what is best slide or negative for best image quality? (assuming top notch scanning)

print chemically from a professional printers - ive read both neg and slide can be done, but the sensible option is use a negative.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 25th April 2015, 12:39 PM
Argentum's Avatar
Argentum Argentum is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Sceptred Isle
Posts: 3,066
Default

Fact is that most labs today scan to print digitally. If you want custom hand printing then its expensive.

Modern colour negative films are designed with scanning in mind so the orange printing mask is not as heavy as it used to be which makes scanning them easier. So slide or negative is a moot point. Both can scan very well.

If you aiming at drum scanner then I'd say slide but most labs don't drum scan and their scanners and experience will predominately be with negative films.

Also your subject contrast range may well be better suited to the dynamic range that negatives have.

So on balance its probably better to use negative film unless you really know what you're doing with slide film exposures.

The benefit of slide is that you can see what the colours in it are if you are scanning it yourself whereas you can't with negatives.

And some colour negatives are better suited to skin tones although I rekon that goes out the window as soon as you put the film into a scanner, unless the scanner has been very well calibrated for the particular film being scanned. And that comes back to the point above in that most labs will have worked out good settings for scanning each film type. At least they should have if they are a good lab.

So its your call which way you go with it. Neg or Slide, both are capable of very high quality output if handled correctly.

Last edited by Argentum; 25th April 2015 at 01:01 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 25th April 2015, 03:18 PM
DaveP DaveP is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Sheffield
Posts: 990
Default

In my experience it's WAY easier to get a decent scan from a correctly exposed piece of transparency film than it is to get a decent scan of colour note converted with satisfactory colour. It's a pain in the arse.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 25th April 2015, 04:00 PM
Argentum's Avatar
Argentum Argentum is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Sceptred Isle
Posts: 3,066
Default

true if you don't know how to adjust colour curves when doing your own scans. But if you are letting the lab do the scans then they will have it sorted if they are any good. And in that case its more about subject dynamic range being more closely matched to film dynamic range and the colour matching of skin, landscape tones or other subject tones that you prefer in any particular stock such as portra or some other film.

Also slides have much higher density which can cause you problems depending on your own scanner and whether it handles that density.
Fact is there is learning curve to all this if you are doing it yourself and slide or neg can produce excellent results if you get it right.
Reply With Quote
Reply
Support our Sponsors, they keep FADU free:   AG Photographic   The Imaging Warehouse   Process Supplies   RH Designs   Second-hand Darkroom Supplies  

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
leitz Focomat V35 negative and slide 2x2 carriers jdhealey Sale or Wanted 2 18th January 2015 07:53 PM
Slide Mounts MF CambsIan Colour printing techniques 8 17th January 2013 05:09 PM
Slide mounts DavidH Equipment miscellaneous 1 9th February 2011 08:14 PM
A45 Slide Group hectorpaljr Meetings 2 9th May 2010 03:54 PM
Slide projector Miha Equipment miscellaneous 12 2nd May 2010 02:33 PM


All times are GMT. The time now is 03:44 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.