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[OM] Re: which slide film?

Subject: [OM] Re: which slide film?
From: "Dean Tyler" <dtyler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2004 09:30:22 -0400
First, I will admit I have only used Sensia a few times and can't comment on
it too much.  Over the last year I have experimented with many slide films.
In the past I shot Fuji films, but decided to try Kodak for a while.  As for
the 100G, I didn't like it for the type of shooting you are describing.  It
seamed very neutral and would be a good portrait film.  E200 was too grainy
for my tastes.  100GX has a little more punch and 100VS is very saturated.
The one thing I noticed it that proper exposure was more critical with the
Kodak films.  When I shot 100GX and provia side by side, the 100GX did not
look very good if the exposure was off by 1/3 stop while the Provia looked
better.  100VS and the consumer version EBX (which I heard is the same film)
is an interesting film.  It is very saturated by holds whites and blacks
very well.  In some cases 100VS is too saturated.  Blue skys turn almost
purple.  I like this film and still shoot it because in the right
circumstances, when I want vivid color, it is beautiful.  Now, I am back to
shooting Provia almost most of the time.  It has fine grain, nice color, can
be pushed and seems to have a little better latitude that the Kodak films.
Velvia 100F is a good film also, but if I add an 81A or KR1.5 filter with
Provia I can get a more warmth like Velvia.  Astria 100F is a great film for
people pictures.  The grain is very fine and it picks up shadow detail lost
in other slide films.  When I use Astria I find myself using a lot of
filters to compensate for its neutral palette.  400F is a good and expensive
film.  It might be a good choice for your temple shots, but I don't like the
grain on scenic shots.  After a year of experimenting, I mainly shoot Provia
and carry a couple rolls of 100VS for the right moment (for example, I took
some pictures of swans on an overcast day and the brownish/blue water looked
like a brilliant blue on the slides).  You might want to go to
www.photosig.com and look at some photos.  You can search the photo library
by film and scroll through pics for each film type.  For example, you can
see the difference between 100vs and velvia and decide what may fit your
shooting style.  Cost was the main reason I shoot mostly Provia.  I buy a 20
roll propack for under $80 USD, so it is less than $4 per roll.

As for print film, I keep trying it but go back to slides.  For me, I have
more trouble scanning print films, but more importantly I like looking at
slides and feel I can evaluate them better on a light table.  When I know I
need speed, I shot NPZ or Fuji's consumer 800, but I would rather use a
tripod than shot prints.

There are my unorganized comments.  I hope they were helpful.  BTW, I would
love to see a full tiff shot with Astria scanned on your Minolta.
Currently, I don't think there is a finer grain slide out there.

Dean

-----Original Message-----
From: James Michael King [mailto:jking@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Friday, September 10, 2004 6:47 AM
To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [OM] which slide film?



this email is probably going to cause groans and maybe a holy war or two
but here goes anyway.

Until about a month ago I was only using fuji print film but was never
that happy with the results when I scanned them in using a minolta dual
scan 4. I upgraded to the scan elite 5400 but still was not impressed.
My father ( a long time slide film user) suggested dumping print film and
going over to slides. So I brought 4 cheap fuji sensia slide films and went
to the local part (my usual film testing ground) with an om 3 and a tamron
90mm F2.5 lens and olympus 35-70 F3.6. I was very impressed with the results
when scanned in and can see that the limiting factor in the quality was
the print film rather than the scanner.

I now have the urge to go back and re-photograph many of the places I
visited in China over the last 4 years or but want to do so with the best
film available. I mainly take still life and
architecture/temples/golden buddas, sun rises and sun sets and
water refleections. I use s tripod and run at F8 or F11 for
maximum resolution but often because of the lack of light in
temples and their dislike of cameras I have to poke a 24mm or 21mm wide
angle through the temple door on a tripod and use shutter
speeds of up to 8 or 10 seconds! Therefore I am interested to know
what films the group would recommend?

I would also like to ask
1. In the uk fuji sensia slide film is about half the prove of velvia,
provia and astia. Is the additional cost of these films worthwhile over
the sensia?

2. I managed to find some technical specifications for sensia, provia and
velvia on fujis web site. I see that the velvia 50 is not sutable for me
because it can't handle long exposures without filters and compensation.
However, I could not find any specs for astia and the specs for sensia
don't say if it is ok for long exposures. does any one know?

3. if astisa is suitable for me does it justify the extra price premium
over provia 100F or velvia 100F?

Regards and thanks for reading
James


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