John, welcome back to the bright side, or right side, or cost per shot side.....
What size film are you going to use, 35 - 120 - 4x5 ?..... Velvia 50 as we knew it is limited to only 35 - 120 these days, no more Large Format. The other Velvia 100 is still being produced in most sizes.
Many folks use Provia & Velvia 100 and seem to get excellent results with them. It's still out there in most all format sizes to date. Other folks are trying the negative films with good results. Those are the Ektar and Porta flavors from Kodak. Folks in the UK using Large Format seemed to have gone to the negative films quite a bit some time back now.
All the stuff has a bit of color traits they lean towards, so, it's a matter of preference and how you process it in PS overall in the end.
For processing you might list where you're trying to ship from to see if others have a locale close to you. We've had very good results here in California with Samy's camera, as well as a couple other locales in AZ. & CO.
You can fine tune all that through internet searches too for locale and pricing overall as it seems to change often these days. Good luck......
Posted by Lon Overacker on December 28, 2012 at 10:19 PM
John,
Paul provided some excellent feedback, I'll try to add a little. As time goes on, at least for me, it's now more about cost and availability of film, especially the large format. I've gotten to the point that I can overcome many of the various film's shortcomings in PS, and I buy almost strictly on price. Having said that, in my experience: Velvia 50 has the best and truest color reproduction. It's also has the worst dynamic range. V100/100f trend towards reds/magenta. Astia is suppose to be great for natural skin tones, but I find to brown/yellow for nature work - but has the best dynamic range of slide films. Provia kinda sits in between all those. Pretty good with range and color reproduction, but many people find it's treatment of blues to be way off in many cases. In the end, you also have to consider scanning variables as well when it comes to dynamic range and color. Which is why processing can make a huge difference as to whether or not a film will work for you.
As far as processing goes, there are still plenty of labs out there, it's a matter of finding one. Interesting at this point because many labs for E6 processing have shut down and there are many fewer of them than say even 5 years ago. What that does mean though the ones that are left are probably still doing enough E6 business to keep their machines maintained and running. With no specific names to recommend, I honestly would hop on Google and search for some labs and start comparing prices and services. I think you're on the east coast, or maybe in the Heartland, I forgot... but lots of choices in the NY metro area and probably Chicago too.
Be curious to hear what is attracting you back to film. Of course, I still love it. ;-)
John: wish I could help you out but places in my area of NY are far and few between. I assume you are talking 35mm. When I was doing slide film I would bring it to a local place called Photo Lab. They in turn would send it out to Illinois I believe. I would just have the film strip processed. I think for a total cost of $15. When I received the film strip I then would bring it to a local place called Photo Image to have it scanned onto a DVD. Total cost $24 for scanning depending on what size scan you were having done, small, medium or large. At this point in time with the advancements of digital these small shops are on very shakey ground. I don't know what to really tell you John. Love film, always loved film and I have a vintage Nikon F4 sitting on my desk collecting dust. I hate to be the prophet of doom and I wish it wasn't happening but like Paul and Lon mentioned, it's even getting difficult for them. I did switch to negative film for awhile and the particular film I was using, that I really liked, was discontinued and that was kind of like the straw for me. Good luck in your pursuit and I also would be interested in how you make out. John
Posted by Eva McDermott on December 30, 2012 at 10:10 AM
Hi John - I used to use E6 Labs in Atlanta Georgia but I recently found out they are closed for business. I have also used oldschoolphotolab in Dover NH. I scan my 120 format transparencies with an Epson V750 scanner with Silverfast Ai 8 software, a betterscanning.com height adjustable holder with ANR glass to help keep the film flat.
I just looked at the "Where Are You From?" thread in General Discussion and found that John is from the Chicago area. So, if anyone knows of a lab that does E-6 in his area, that would be helpful.
My experience with films echos that of Lon's remarks. I would like to add a note regarding reciprocity, though. The flavors of Velvia, and Provia and Astia have different reciprocity characteristics. You can find the data on Fuji's website, but, typically, you need to increase exposure time. Fuji also recommends filtration, but with Photo Shop's capacity to remove color casts, this is less important than it once was. Below are a couple of examples.
After looking at the charts for the Fuji products, V-50 has the worst reciprocity, with V 100F, Astia and Provia having the best.
I did not look at the reciprocity characteristics for color neg films.
As you know, obtaining correct exposure for chrome films is critical, due to their reduced dynamic range. It is advisable to expose so that detail is retained in the high values, letting the other tones on scale fall where they may. In my opinion, the best way to determine what is 'correct' is to run some tests with your chosen camera, film, lab, and scanner to see what works best.
John, if you're in fact in the Chicago area here is a processor I found through some other photo sites they all seemed to recommend. They are a bit pricy, but they are still doing E-6 & C-41.
Discussion
6 repliesWhat size film are you going to use, 35 - 120 - 4x5 ?..... Velvia 50 as we knew it is limited to only 35 - 120 these days, no more Large Format. The other Velvia 100 is still being produced in most sizes.
Many folks use Provia & Velvia 100 and seem to get excellent results with them. It's still out there in most all format sizes to date. Other folks are trying the negative films with good results. Those are the Ektar and Porta flavors from Kodak. Folks in the UK using Large Format seemed to have gone to the negative films quite a bit some time back now.
All the stuff has a bit of color traits they lean towards, so, it's a matter of preference and how you process it in PS overall in the end.
For processing you might list where you're trying to ship from to see if others have a locale close to you. We've had very good results here in California with Samy's camera, as well as a couple other locales in AZ. & CO.
You can fine tune all that through internet searches too for locale and pricing overall as it seems to change often these days. Good luck......
Paul provided some excellent feedback, I'll try to add a little. As time goes on, at least for me, it's now more about cost and availability of film, especially the large format. I've gotten to the point that I can overcome many of the various film's shortcomings in PS, and I buy almost strictly on price. Having said that, in my experience: Velvia 50 has the best and truest color reproduction. It's also has the worst dynamic range. V100/100f trend towards reds/magenta. Astia is suppose to be great for natural skin tones, but I find to brown/yellow for nature work - but has the best dynamic range of slide films. Provia kinda sits in between all those. Pretty good with range and color reproduction, but many people find it's treatment of blues to be way off in many cases. In the end, you also have to consider scanning variables as well when it comes to dynamic range and color. Which is why processing can make a huge difference as to whether or not a film will work for you.
As far as processing goes, there are still plenty of labs out there, it's a matter of finding one. Interesting at this point because many labs for E6 processing have shut down and there are many fewer of them than say even 5 years ago. What that does mean though the ones that are left are probably still doing enough E6 business to keep their machines maintained and running. With no specific names to recommend, I honestly would hop on Google and search for some labs and start comparing prices and services. I think you're on the east coast, or maybe in the Heartland, I forgot... but lots of choices in the NY metro area and probably Chicago too.
Be curious to hear what is attracting you back to film. Of course, I still love it. ;-)
Lon
My experience with films echos that of Lon's remarks. I would like to add a note regarding reciprocity, though. The flavors of Velvia, and Provia and Astia have different reciprocity characteristics. You can find the data on Fuji's website, but, typically, you need to increase exposure time. Fuji also recommends filtration, but with Photo Shop's capacity to remove color casts, this is less important than it once was. Below are a couple of examples.
V-50:
* 1/4000s--1 second: No correction
* 4 seconds, 5M filter, +1/3 stop
* 8 seconds, 7.5M, +1/2 stop
Astia 100F:
* 1/4000s--1 minute: No correction
* 2 min, 5B filter, +1/3 stop
* 4 min, 5B, +1/2 stop
After looking at the charts for the Fuji products, V-50 has the worst reciprocity, with V 100F, Astia and Provia having the best.
I did not look at the reciprocity characteristics for color neg films.
As you know, obtaining correct exposure for chrome films is critical, due to their reduced dynamic range. It is advisable to expose so that detail is retained in the high values, letting the other tones on scale fall where they may. In my opinion, the best way to determine what is 'correct' is to run some tests with your chosen camera, film, lab, and scanner to see what works best.
Have fun with your return to film!
--P
GAMMA PHOTO