 BetterPhoto Member |
Slide vs Print I have recently purchased a medium format camera and have been reading up on what type of film to pruchase. It seems like different people prefer both. So my situation is this. I am planning on shooting landscape photography with the intention of enlarging then to at least 16X20. My end result is having some really nice framed prints on my walls with the possibility of selling prints in the future. I am not asking about what brand, or ISO, but instead confused what would be better type of film to use for what I want and how to go about processing the film to end up with a high quality enlargement. I have heard print film is subject to how the lab processes it and also read slide film will lose its vibrance when scanned. Is this true with drum scan. Is this true at all. Any help is very appreciated.
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Alan N. Marcus |
Hi Fe A, Print Film vs. Slide Film: When it comes to viewing pictures, noting beats slide film projected via excellent projector onto a quality screen. This combination yields the greatest dynamic range. The secret is in the viewing. We view slides by transmitted light. Light from the projector transverse the dyes residing on the slide. As the light makes this passage, the dyes act as filters, allowing some colors to pass while blocking others. In this application using projected light the image on the screen is breathtaking because the light makes one transit through the dyes, the dynamic range of the color slide is greater than 256:1. Additionally, since the observer is generally seated in a darkened room, the slide-on-screen overshadows all. This view causes the human eye/brain to auto correct for color balance. This is the most impressive photographic presentation possible. When it comes to correctness of color, the negative film is supreme. Since the negative is never viewed by the audience, additional corrective measures can be built into the film. All color negative film incorporates two auto masks. This gives the film its customary orange color. Their purpose is to correct defects in the cyan dye and the magenta dye. Photo science has yet to make these two dyes in the correct strength and with the correct color. Cyan must be the exact opposite of the primary red and magenta must be the exact opposite of the primary green. The third, yellow dye is correctly positioned and is the exact opposite of the primary blue. To the casual observer the orange hue of the color negative is assumed to be a uniform base color however it is in fact this is two developed-up positive images superimposed on top of the three negative dye images. Some specialized negative films are even more complex. This advanced technology gives the color negative the advantage. The fact that the color negative must be printed or scanned for final viewing supplies an additional opportunity. The printing/scanning cycle can be thought of as a second corrective taking of the picture. Only this time, corrective measures are employed. The color and the intensity of the printing light is custom altered for each frame. This technology significantly improve the fidelity of the final image. Both the slide and the color negative have a dynamic range of 256:1 however, when either is printed on paper, the print is viewed by light that must transverse the dyes on the print paper. The path is viewing light, transverses the print dyes, strikes the white undercoat, reflects backward, makes a second transit through the dyes, this light is now observed by the viewer. This two dye transit path lowers the dynamic range of a print on paper to 64:1 or less. So which is best? Likely an argument will ensue. However, from a technical standpoint, color negative materials blow away all rivals when it comes to transferring images onto paper. However some like colors exaggerate with high contrast and vividness. For these folks, color slides printed on paper are unsurpassed. Me, I will take the color negative root. I must add, I think in the not to distant future, film will be mostly found at the museum right nest to civil war medical instruments. Read my lips – Go Digital. Alan Marcus (marginal technical gobbledygook)
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Mark Feldstein |
IMHO the answer to your slide/negative film debate is twofold. First, it's going to involve a fair amount of experimentation. Second, you need to find a professional/commercial grade printer that knows how to print both Type R and C-41 prints. I have three recommendations. Newlab in San Francisco, Gamma Photo in Chicago Gammaphoto.com is the best, and Isgo Photo in Burbank Isgophoto.com. Understand though, you have to participate in the process to some extent, in order to get what you really want. Labs can do average test strips or color checks on large prints but the turnaround takes time if it's not local. You can hold transparency film back at the lab, either have them do a snip test or shoot multiple rolls and then look at the film on a light box and decide whether pushing or pulling might help. As far as shadow detail, again that's a matter of exposure and processing. Expose for the shadows and process the film for the highlights. In my experience that produces the best results. But I also recommend a meter and learning how to use it properly. Don't run from one C-41 or transparency stock to another and I suggest if you find a lab willing to work with you, stick with them and work with them but most importantly, learn how to communicate technically with them. Find a couple you think you like, experiment to get the most out of them and your film. I should also note that when I shoot, I shoot three magazines or at least two bodies, one with transparency, one with color neg, and sometimes a third holder or magazine with b&w. That works well when shooting the same subject. For travel, etc., I still like to have two camera bodies or multiple magazines with E-6 film and C-41 as a back-up. I may even bracket my exposures by a third or half a stop either way depending on the scene. Film, afterall, is probably the cheapest commodity we have. Take it light; Mark
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