Slide film

**ChrisPlatt** · 03-25-2009, 06:02 PM

Slides aren't hard, really. I never bracket, even using Kodachrome.
Underexpose slightly for greater color saturation, about -1/3 stop;
i.e. for Kodachrome 64 set the film speed dial to ISO 80.

Chris

jgredline · 03-25-2009, 08:42 PM

Whoa, lots of responses. Thank you. I will go back and read them again more slowly.

**Ron Boggs** · 03-26-2009, 06:35 AM

If you can find one, I highly recommend the Pentax 5.5X APO loupe. It came out around the same time as the 67II body. It's fairly large and works better with medium format than the smaller loupes designed to cover the size of a 35mm slide. The 5.5X has a ridiculous amount of focus adjustment. So much that I can use it without my glasses. For checking critical focus on 35mm slides, you'll either need coin collector's vision or a stronger 8x loupe. I have very solid close vision--Mr. Myopia--and hence just use the 5.5X for both medium format and 35mm viewing.

Pentax also came out with a 5x-11x APO Zoom loupe about the same time as the 5.5x. Can't remember why I didn't buy it. I think it didn't cover the size of medium format slides as well as the 5.5x, but that may not be true. Can't attest to the performance of the zoom loupe. As I recall the 5.5x was around $100 and the zoomie was $175. Haven't seen either on the used market, but haven't really looked either.

Yes, both Pentax loupes are expensive and likely still so on the used market. But you know, people like us spend hundreds on computer moniters to get a better view. Why not enhance the viewing experience on the light table as well? If you are going to spend an hour or more sorting and editing, your eyes will appreciate a quality loupe.

Chris's comment about not needing to bracket is very accurate--as is his exposure setting! Slide film requires knowledge of exposure, but isn't some impossible medium either. I sometimes do a 2 shot bracket. One shot at my expected exposure--commonly with exposure compensation one way or the other--the second shot as a backup either lighter or darker. I can generally guesstimate that if I missed it, the second shot either needs to be brighter or darker than the first. One or the other, not both. I've never had a need for willy nilly brackets in all directions like the camera makers like to build into their bodies. You may want to do a bit of bracketing when new to transparency film. At the least that will help train you that your exposure choices are spot on.

k100d · 03-26-2009, 06:53 AM

Originally posted by Ron Boggs

If you can find one, I highly recommend the Pentax 5.5X APO loupe. It came out around the same time as the 67II body. It's fairly large and works better with medium format than the smaller loupes designed to cover the size of a 35mm slide. The 5.5X has a ridiculous amount of focus adjustment. So much that I can use it without my glasses. For checking critical focus on 35mm slides, you'll either need coin collector's vision or a stronger 8x loupe. I have very solid close vision--Mr. Myopia--and hence just use the 5.5X for both medium format and 35mm viewing.

Pentax also came out with a 5x-11x APO Zoom loupe about the same time as the 5.5x. Can't remember why I didn't buy it. I think it didn't cover the size of medium format slides as well as the 5.5x, but that may not be true. Can't attest to the performance of the zoom loupe. As I recall the 5.5x was around $100 and the zoomie was $175. Haven't seen either on the used market, but haven't really looked either.

Yes, both Pentax loupes are expensive and likely still so on the used market. But you know, people like us spend hundreds on computer moniters to get a better view. Why not enhance the viewing experience on the light table as well? If you are going to spend an hour or more sorting and editing, your eyes will appreciate a quality loupe.

funny i bought one last night from B&H. the zoom one is now cheaper than the 5.5x but i read some bad things about it online so i stuck w/ the 'prime'. both were around $80.

artobest · 03-26-2009, 07:08 AM

I would recommend a 4X loupe for 35mm. That way you get almost the whole image in view. As a non-professional photog I don't care that much about critical focus. I've long given up on achieving perfect focus every time!

Loupes are expensive. The older Ohnar loupes were great value, but they are no longer made, I think (in my experience, the new ones sold as Ohnar in the UK are not actually Ohnar, and are of vastly inferior quality). I believe the Jessops Pro 4X loupes were Ohnar, so if you can pick up one of them on the 'bay, you're in luck!

**Ron Boggs** · 03-26-2009, 10:05 AM

Artobest makes a very good point about not only quality loupes but about being able to fit the whole image into your view. Most 4x either fit or almost fit a 35mm frame which is a good thing. The Pentax 5.5x fits the entire 35mm frame and gets maybe 2/3 of a 6x7 frame into the view. Very handy. I've only had one 8x that fit an entire 35mm frame, but it was such a cruddy loupe that I think I threw it away! I think those optics were made from a plastic magnifier that came in a box of Cracker Jack's (an "old" snack item in the U.S. that comes with a "prize" inside).

Schneider's loupes were pretty popular with photo editors 10 years ago (and prior) when virtually all print workflows used slides. Surprisingly, many magazines still prefer slides or 120 transparencies for their publications, though the majority have gone to purely digital workflow. I contacted two magazines last week and both prefered slides/transparencies to digital submissions--one of them didn't even accept digital submissions which shocked me. So there is still a publications market for such films.

Soooo, it's possible to shoot on slide/transparency film, select the best on your light table with a nice loupe, label them and send 'em off to a magazine--all without using the computer at all! Mind you I shoot more digital than slides anymore, but I PREFER shooting and selling without scanning or computing!

artobest · 03-26-2009, 10:16 AM

Originally posted by Ron Boggs

The Pentax 5.5x fits the entire 35mm frame and gets maybe 2/3 of a 6x7 frame into the view. Very handy.

Now I want one.

**fs999** · 03-26-2009, 04:14 PM

I loved Agfachrome, now Velvia...
I posted one here five minutes ago... (must be seen on black)

Ira · 03-26-2009, 04:19 PM

Originally posted by fs999

I loved Agfachrome...

Wow, now I feel old. Even thought it came after Kodak, it's been YEARS since I heard the name.

Nesster · 03-26-2009, 04:24 PM

Ah yes, Agfachrome... I shot it with a Pen FT half frame...

Here's another name from the past: Panatonic X b&w film.

Stevopedia · 03-26-2009, 06:59 PM

I just got my first slides back from Dwayne's and... I'm thrilled with 'em!!!!

Sure, it was Elite Chrome 200 pushed a stop so the colors were a bit off and the blacks turned into reddish browns, but they're still some of the best images I've seen. My ME Super got the exposures (mostly) right too.

I'm definitely gonna get myself some Provia 400X sometime soon. There's no way I'm gonna stop shooting slides now. OH, and I definitely have to try Kodachrome

**tranq78** · 03-26-2009, 07:54 PM

Originally posted by Ron Boggs

If you can find one, I highly recommend the Pentax 5.5X APO loupe.

+1 on the Pentax 5.5x SMC loupe. I bought mine used for a good price because there was a fracture line on the clear plastic, but it's still 100% functional.

It is a great device. I recently have been using mine not for looking at slides but for mostly looking up the teeny-tiny print in a couple of cheap non-english dictionaries when I'm helping my son do his language homework. The text is about 3-4 point and on cheap paper so this loupe is invaluable. I also have a Zeiss 3x loupe for medium format but I haven't used it since I got my 5.5x.

Originally posted by Ron Boggs

Chris's comment about not needing to bracket is very accurate--as is his exposure setting! Slide film requires knowledge of exposure, but isn't some impossible medium either. I sometimes do a 2 shot bracket.

Velvia for landscapes and nature, combined with good quality glass... yum. That "thud" you hear is your jaw hitting the floor as you stare at the images in awe. Provia is great too.

I sometimes bracket 2-3 shots with slides but I'm paranoid. I've actually found the metering in my Pentax film cameras to be quite accurate. So in my last trip to the Rocky Mountains I didn't bracket much at all.

But I digress. Here's why I'm posting. I've found there is another reason to take another shot of the same scene at the same meter reading... cheap, high quality dupes!

By this I mean if you get a slide you really like you always run the risk of losing or damaging it (you slide shooters know what I mean!). So if you take a second or even third image right away you essentially have a duplicate you can store safely away, and it will be much cheaper and of better quality than having a slide dupe made.

Blue · 03-26-2009, 08:17 PM

A light table will be your friend!

sir_bazz · 03-26-2009, 08:18 PM

Originally posted by Ron Boggs

If you can find one, I highly recommend the Pentax 5.5X APO loupe.

Got mine from Adorama about 12 months ago. So much nicer than the cheap plastic alternatives that are on offer locally.

bazz.

B Grace · 03-26-2009, 08:47 PM

Originally posted by Nesster

Ah yes, Agfachrome... I shot it with a Pen FT half frame...

Here's another name from the past: Panatonic X b&w film.

Nesster, Pan-X is gone but not forgotten. I think the next best thing is Ilford Pan-F Plus. As with Pan-X, "available dark" photography is not really an option.

A couple of years ago my company had a "garage sale" which means someone placed a bunch of old items in a conference room and we were allowed to take what we wanted free of charge. I snagged a nice Ektagraphic III-A with a tray plus the Kodak slide stacker attachment, remote, and a decent Apollo zoom lens. All free.

I like Velvia 50 quite a bit. I've shot Kodachrome but it seems like the scans of it I have lean a little too far to the purple side. The slides look great projected though.

03-26-2009, 06:35 AM	#33
Ron Boggs Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: MT Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,349	If you can find one, I highly recommend the Pentax 5.5X APO loupe. It came out around the same time as the 67II body. It's fairly large and works better with medium format than the smaller loupes designed to cover the size of a 35mm slide. The 5.5X has a ridiculous amount of focus adjustment. So much that I can use it without my glasses. For checking critical focus on 35mm slides, you'll either need coin collector's vision or a stronger 8x loupe. I have very solid close vision--Mr. Myopia--and hence just use the 5.5X for both medium format and 35mm viewing. Pentax also came out with a 5x-11x APO Zoom loupe about the same time as the 5.5x. Can't remember why I didn't buy it. I think it didn't cover the size of medium format slides as well as the 5.5x, but that may not be true. Can't attest to the performance of the zoom loupe. As I recall the 5.5x was around $100 and the zoomie was $175. Haven't seen either on the used market, but haven't really looked either. Yes, both Pentax loupes are expensive and likely still so on the used market. But you know, people like us spend hundreds on computer moniters to get a better view. Why not enhance the viewing experience on the light table as well? If you are going to spend an hour or more sorting and editing, your eyes will appreciate a quality loupe. Chris's comment about not needing to bracket is very accurate--as is his exposure setting! Slide film requires knowledge of exposure, but isn't some impossible medium either. I sometimes do a 2 shot bracket. One shot at my expected exposure--commonly with exposure compensation one way or the other--the second shot as a backup either lighter or darker. I can generally guesstimate that if I missed it, the second shot either needs to be brighter or darker than the first. One or the other, not both. I've never had a need for willy nilly brackets in all directions like the camera makers like to build into their bodies. You may want to do a bit of bracketing when new to transparency film. At the least that will help train you that your exposure choices are spot on. Last edited by Ron Boggs; 03-26-2009 at 06:44 AM.

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03-25-2009, 06:02 PM	#31
ChrisPlatt Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Rockaway Beach NYC Posts: 7,692	Slides aren't hard, really. I never bracket, even using Kodachrome. Underexpose slightly for greater color saturation, about -1/3 stop; i.e. for Kodachrome 64 set the film speed dial to ISO 80. Chris

03-25-2009, 08:42 PM	#32
jgredline Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: LosAngeles, Ca. Photos: Albums Posts: 10,628 Original Poster	Whoa, lots of responses. Thank you. I will go back and read them again more slowly.

03-26-2009, 06:53 AM	#34
k100d Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Toronto Posts: 3,911	Originally posted by Ron Boggs If you can find one, I highly recommend the Pentax 5.5X APO loupe. It came out around the same time as the 67II body. It's fairly large and works better with medium format than the smaller loupes designed to cover the size of a 35mm slide. The 5.5X has a ridiculous amount of focus adjustment. So much that I can use it without my glasses. For checking critical focus on 35mm slides, you'll either need coin collector's vision or a stronger 8x loupe. I have very solid close vision--Mr. Myopia--and hence just use the 5.5X for both medium format and 35mm viewing. Pentax also came out with a 5x-11x APO Zoom loupe about the same time as the 5.5x. Can't remember why I didn't buy it. I think it didn't cover the size of medium format slides as well as the 5.5x, but that may not be true. Can't attest to the performance of the zoom loupe. As I recall the 5.5x was around $100 and the zoomie was $175. Haven't seen either on the used market, but haven't really looked either. Yes, both Pentax loupes are expensive and likely still so on the used market. But you know, people like us spend hundreds on computer moniters to get a better view. Why not enhance the viewing experience on the light table as well? If you are going to spend an hour or more sorting and editing, your eyes will appreciate a quality loupe. funny i bought one last night from B&H. the zoom one is now cheaper than the 5.5x but i read some bad things about it online so i stuck w/ the 'prime'. both were around $80.

03-26-2009, 07:08 AM	#35
artobest Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Swansea, Wales Posts: 455	I would recommend a 4X loupe for 35mm. That way you get almost the whole image in view. As a non-professional photog I don't care that much about critical focus. I've long given up on achieving perfect focus every time! Loupes are expensive. The older Ohnar loupes were great value, but they are no longer made, I think (in my experience, the new ones sold as Ohnar in the UK are not actually Ohnar, and are of vastly inferior quality). I believe the Jessops Pro 4X loupes were Ohnar, so if you can pick up one of them on the 'bay, you're in luck!

03-26-2009, 10:05 AM	#36
Ron Boggs Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: MT Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,349	Artobest makes a very good point about not only quality loupes but about being able to fit the whole image into your view. Most 4x either fit or almost fit a 35mm frame which is a good thing. The Pentax 5.5x fits the entire 35mm frame and gets maybe 2/3 of a 6x7 frame into the view. Very handy. I've only had one 8x that fit an entire 35mm frame, but it was such a cruddy loupe that I think I threw it away! I think those optics were made from a plastic magnifier that came in a box of Cracker Jack's (an "old" snack item in the U.S. that comes with a "prize" inside). Schneider's loupes were pretty popular with photo editors 10 years ago (and prior) when virtually all print workflows used slides. Surprisingly, many magazines still prefer slides or 120 transparencies for their publications, though the majority have gone to purely digital workflow. I contacted two magazines last week and both prefered slides/transparencies to digital submissions--one of them didn't even accept digital submissions which shocked me. So there is still a publications market for such films. Soooo, it's possible to shoot on slide/transparency film, select the best on your light table with a nice loupe, label them and send 'em off to a magazine--all without using the computer at all! Mind you I shoot more digital than slides anymore, but I PREFER shooting and selling without scanning or computing!

03-26-2009, 10:16 AM	#37
artobest Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Swansea, Wales Posts: 455	Originally posted by Ron Boggs The Pentax 5.5x fits the entire 35mm frame and gets maybe 2/3 of a 6x7 frame into the view. Very handy. Now I want one.

03-26-2009, 04:14 PM	#38
fs999 Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Luxembourg Photos: Gallery Posts: 8,635	I loved Agfachrome, now Velvia... I posted one here five minutes ago... (must be seen on black)

03-26-2009, 04:19 PM	#39
Ira Inactive Account Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Coral Springs, FL Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 5,216	Originally posted by fs999 I loved Agfachrome... Wow, now I feel old. Even thought it came after Kodak, it's been YEARS since I heard the name.

03-26-2009, 04:24 PM	#40
Nesster Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: NJ USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 13,072	Ah yes, Agfachrome... I shot it with a Pen FT half frame... Here's another name from the past: Panatonic X b&w film.

03-26-2009, 06:59 PM	#41
Stevopedia Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: South Carolina, USA Posts: 273	I just got my first slides back from Dwayne's and... I'm thrilled with 'em!!!! Sure, it was Elite Chrome 200 pushed a stop so the colors were a bit off and the blacks turned into reddish browns, but they're still some of the best images I've seen. My ME Super got the exposures (mostly) right too. I'm definitely gonna get myself some Provia 400X sometime soon. There's no way I'm gonna stop shooting slides now. OH, and I definitely have to try Kodachrome

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03-26-2009, 07:54 PM	#42
tranq78 Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,005	Originally posted by Ron Boggs If you can find one, I highly recommend the Pentax 5.5X APO loupe. +1 on the Pentax 5.5x SMC loupe. I bought mine used for a good price because there was a fracture line on the clear plastic, but it's still 100% functional. It is a great device. I recently have been using mine not for looking at slides but for mostly looking up the teeny-tiny print in a couple of cheap non-english dictionaries when I'm helping my son do his language homework. The text is about 3-4 point and on cheap paper so this loupe is invaluable. I also have a Zeiss 3x loupe for medium format but I haven't used it since I got my 5.5x. Originally posted by Ron Boggs Chris's comment about not needing to bracket is very accurate--as is his exposure setting! Slide film requires knowledge of exposure, but isn't some impossible medium either. I sometimes do a 2 shot bracket. Velvia for landscapes and nature, combined with good quality glass... yum. That "thud" you hear is your jaw hitting the floor as you stare at the images in awe. Provia is great too. I sometimes bracket 2-3 shots with slides but I'm paranoid. I've actually found the metering in my Pentax film cameras to be quite accurate. So in my last trip to the Rocky Mountains I didn't bracket much at all. But I digress. Here's why I'm posting. I've found there is another reason to take another shot of the same scene at the same meter reading... *cheap, high quality dupes!* By this I mean if you get a slide you really like you always run the risk of losing or damaging it (you slide shooters know what I mean!). So if you take a second or even third image right away you essentially have a duplicate you can store safely away, and it will be much cheaper and of better quality than having a slide dupe made.

03-26-2009, 08:17 PM	#43
Blue Moderator Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Florida Hill Country Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 17,377	A light table will be your friend!

03-26-2009, 08:18 PM	#44
sir_bazz Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Melbourne, Australia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 184	Originally posted by Ron Boggs If you can find one, I highly recommend the Pentax 5.5X APO loupe. Got mine from Adorama about 12 months ago. So much nicer than the cheap plastic alternatives that are on offer locally. bazz.

03-26-2009, 08:47 PM	#45
B Grace Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Western Missouri Posts: 429	Originally posted by Nesster Ah yes, Agfachrome... I shot it with a Pen FT half frame... Here's another name from the past: Panatonic X b&w film. Nesster, Pan-X is gone but not forgotten. I think the next best thing is Ilford Pan-F Plus. As with Pan-X, "available dark" photography is not really an option. A couple of years ago my company had a "garage sale" which means someone placed a bunch of old items in a conference room and we were allowed to take what we wanted free of charge. I snagged a nice Ektagraphic III-A with a tray plus the Kodak slide stacker attachment, remote, and a decent Apollo zoom lens. All free. I like Velvia 50 quite a bit. I've shot Kodachrome but it seems like the scans of it I have lean a little too far to the purple side. The slides look great projected though.