I've been out of town for 2 weeks, just got back, so these comments in
response to an earlier query are a little late, but....
Here are some comments on slide films and why some folks use it instead
of color negatives.
1. slides have better archival properties than color negatives. stored in
the dark, kodachromes will last a long time. if sometimes projected
or printed, E-6 will outlast kodachromes, but both will significantly
outlast C-41 materials.
2. ilfochrome (cibachrome) prints made from slides are also more archival
than C prints (prints from negatives). any gallery I've ever talked
to who displays color photography will display and sell ilfocrhome
prints, but C prints are not considered to meet gallery archival
standards for prints to sell at serious galleries.
3. slides have die clouds instead of grains, giving less grainy prints,
and higher acutance prints (grain limits acutance, so less grainy
transparencies allows for higher acutance prints). It is high acutance
and not resolution that give orints from slides their crisp, sharper
appearance.
4. making prints from slides requires much labor or money or both. when
light shines through slides, the light passed through the highlights
can be 1000 times brighter than the light passed through the shadows,
and no print paper, whether for C or R prints can handle this contrast
range, so Ciba and Ilford are not lying when they say/said that it is
contrast inherent in using a slide for printing that leads to contrast
problems for ilfochrome prints. My own experience is that kodachromes
and provia often make nicer ilfochromes than velvia.
5. stock agencies and magazine editors have traditionally accepted slides
exclusively. I think this is because with a slide, the proof and the
source image are one in the same, so they see what they are buying and
know what they are getting. with a negative and proof, they have no
way of knowing how much skill and effort went into producing the
negative, possible lots of dodging and burning, for instance. Even if
the proof says how it was printed, they don't know that it is true,
so they don't really know for sure what is in the negative they would
be buying on the basis of a proof or contact print.
6. the same logic in '5' applies to the photographer. you don't really know
what you have with a negative. when I shoot color negatives, I end
up having to use a proof as a reference, and make 2 or 3 test prints
to get what I want, then with the exposure and color filtration recorded,
I can make prints freely. now I have to store the proof, and how it was
made to archive the image, along with the negative. with a slide, you
have one thing, the slide, to archive, and it is its own reference proof.
7. I'm not sure what basis there is for claiming that slide films are
sharper than color negatives. the sharpest color negative film,
Ektar 25, is sharper than the sharpest slide film, Velvia.
8. if you want to work on your technique, you need to control everything
up to the final image, which means either shooting slides, or shooting
B&W and doing your own development and printing (or shooting color
negatives and doing your own C-41 and C prints). if you don't do your
own darkroom work, you can still get this control shooting slides and
having the film developed commercially.
Now, above stands the case for shooting slide film, and most professional
photographers who shoot for stock, shoot for commercial magazines or shoot
nature images shoot slides. But professional wedding and portrait
photographers almost always shoot negatives. although films like
K64 and Astia have good skin tones and modest contrast, most or these
folks customers want prints, and it would be laborious and expensive to
make ilfochrome prints, cutting into profit. If you shoot on location
like wedding photogs do, you have to contend with unpredictable lighting
that can be corrected when prints are made. You can do this with slides,
but it then means that the slide no longer is the reference proof for
itself. Lastly, color negatives have greater exposure latitude, and
higher quality film at the higher speed ratings of ASA 400 and greater.
anyway, just a few thoughts. I shoot slides exclusively for landscapes,
macro shots, flower photographer, travel photography, and daytime urban
street scenes. I use color negatives and B&W for night scenes and
portraits.
cheers,
Joseph
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