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How to get slides of prints for entering contests

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February 06, 2001

Submissions for many galleries and magazines are still presumptive that your color work is done using transparency (slide) film, even if the result will be large prints. Much B/W is done using B/W negative because there isn't much to choose from in B/W transparency (the only B/W transparency film is listed below).

You can get slide copies made of your negatives. Any full-service professional lab should be able to do this. This is not as easy as it sounds to do well. You want to ensure they can do a good job of it, so test their capabilities with a handful first, and find a projector and screen to evaluate their work. If they don't pass muster, try another lab.

Most studio work for portraiture and wedding is done using B/W or color negative. This is justifiable considering how many prints you might have to make from them. Most color gallery work is done using transparency. The color tends to be more vivid, slower transparency films are exceptionally fine grained allowing for very large enlargement, and the gallery can evaluate your work by projecting it. I suggest you begin using transparency films for your artistic work. BTW, when you do start using transparency films, don't _ever_ submit an original slide! Get a slide "dupe" made and submit that. Again, making good "dupes" is not easy; find a pro lab that can do this well.

Your initial challenge will be finding transparency films that you like. This is a very personal choice depending on what you want for your images. Here are some of the more popular ones you can try (these are all pro films):

Kodak:
Kodachrome 64 (PKR-64)
EPN-100
E100S
E100VS

Fuji:
Provia F-100
Astia 100
Velvia (RVP 50)

Agfa:
Scala 200X (the only B/W transparency film made)

All are ISO 100 except the Kodachrome and Scala, and all are very fine grained. These give you a good range of different color saturation, color accuracy and mid-tone rendition to pick from. Each has its own "character" just as you have found with color negative. I have been using all of the Kodak films listed plus Agfa's Scala for some time now. The Fuji films listed each have their devoted followings too.

I don't recommend higher speed transparency films (faster than ISO 100). They tend to be grainy when making prints enlarged to the size that would hang in a gallery. The exception is Agfa's Scala 200X which is very nearly as fine grained as the color ISO 100 films.

If you haven't seen a well-made large print from transparency film using reversal papers, you need to. They can be quite impressive. It's one of the reasons I stopped using negative films for this type of work some time ago . . . unless there was some other compelling reason to use a negative film.

-- John

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February 06, 2001