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julio
Mar 14, 2003, 5:35 AM
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I've never shot slide film before and looking to get started. I've heard good things about Fuji Provia...I found fresh film on ebay for $5.25 a roll plus $6 shipping no matter how many rolls i order. Is this a good deal? Anyone know where to get it cheaper?
Also, I live in Tacoma, WA, but don't know any good camera shops. Where should i get this stuff developed, or does it matter? Thanks for all the help.
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peanutbutterandjelly
Mar 15, 2003, 9:24 PM
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I have bought film on ebay before, and if you look you can find good deals. One thing to check is the date the film expires. About the 1 hour photo lab comment, if you go to a CVS, Walmart, RiteAid, or just about any 1 hour lab that is cheap and not just a photostore/lab your results will not always be up to par. Stores that make their money only on photo stuff and the like a lot of the times have good labs. For these you will pay between 10-14 a roll of C41. These stores will also be the ones that will have slides done in house.
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willstrickland
Mar 17, 2003, 5:32 PM
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I order 20pks from Adorama or B&H, something like $86. Forget E-bay, after all, you'll want someplace you can order from again in the future. If you're just starting with slides, just pay a little extra for single rolls of various emulsions (Provia, Velvia, Ekatachrome, etc) and figure out which you like best (or if you even like dealing with slides). Then if you're into it, buy "pro packs" which are typically 10-20 rolls packs and a substantial savings.
For processing, call around your local labs and ask if their E-6 (that's photo-speak for slide chemistry) is DIP AND DUNK processing.
This is VERY important if you're serious about your slides. Did and dunk processing means that the film is removed from the cassette, clipped by the ends to a hanger bar and submerged in the chemicals. Other process use roller transport and other means...this is BAD. It's bad because these mechanism will scratch the piss out of a whole roll if there is any grit, dirt, or just about anything in the mechanism.
FWIW, I pay $7/roll for 2 hour dip and dunk E6 processing.
A good slide on a good light table will blow your mind compared to prints.
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bontrager
Mar 17, 2003, 6:02 PM
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I agree with willstrickland. Propacks are the way to go. If you live in a big city you can get good deals and have the assurrance that the film is fresh and has been kept at temperature.
The developing is also important as Willstrickland said. I use a lab that also does snip tests. They process the first few frames and see whether to adjust the time of developing. This is great especially if you are new to slide film and you want to see how your camera's light meter is working. After you shoot a few rolls you can then see if they are having to pull or push the film and if it is consistent. If you get the same rating for pushing/pulling the film you can then set your camera meter to compensate.
Also remeber that is you store your film in the freezer to give a day for them to thaw out. You don't want condesation on your film to happen.
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julio
Mar 18, 2003, 4:05 AM
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First of all, thanks to all of your for your help and advice. I have new questions now about processing. On place i talked to was going to charge me $20 or so for development and prints...$7 sounds like a better deal to me....but is that for prints from the slides also...or how does that all work? Thanks, i'm new to this and whatever basic info you can give me is much appreaciated.
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trenchdigger
Mar 18, 2003, 4:51 AM
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Slide film ROCKS. Once you get hooked on slide film, it's hard to go back. For landscapes and outdoorsy stuff, you can't beat Fuji Velvia. The colors are just incredible with that stuff. It's just not very good with skin tones. Provia is better, I believe, and it also has much more vibrant colors than most print film. I've also had good results with Kodak Elite Chrome.
The only drawback to slide film is that it's harder to have prints made. Generally you don't get prints made of all the shots from a roll. You will have a roll developed, choose your best images, then have prints of those made. A Loupe (little magnifying glass slide viewing device) and back lit opaque screen (which you should be able to find at a photography shop) will allow you to view the actual slide. Since I like having most of my images on the web, plus I wanted the ability to crop and do color correction in photoshop, I decided to get a film scanner. I picked one up on ebay (Minolta Dimage Scan Elite f-2900) for around $250 which was a steal for the quality of the scan. Beware - some of the cheap film scanners scan VERY poorly. With the Minolta f-2900, I can blow up to 12x18 from digital images without much graininess or loss of sharpness. From digital images you can have 4X6 prints made at wal-mart for less than $.50 and 8x10s for $3.74. I pay $3.50/roll of 36 for processing through my school.
One thing to remember with slide film is that it's a lot less forgiving with over/under exposure. Make sure you meter correctly or your shot won't come out. Also, you can't shoot half a roll and let it sit in the camera for a while without deterioration of quality.
I have not bought film on e-bay, but I've looked many times. I've been shelling out close to 8 bucks a roll at the local ritz camera shop for 36 frame rolls of Velvia. 5 bucks a roll is excellent. Also, you may be able to find good deals on "expired" rolls. As long as the date is recent and the film has been kept cold, you shouldn't notice any difference in the quality of the pictures.
Here's a page of shots from my last JTree trip. http://thefishinmagician.com/jtree/ The color shots are from a roll of Kodak Elite Chrome 200. I much prefer fuji in both print and slide film though. Have fun shooting.
~Adam~
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