At 04:30 12/13/01, Mark Lloyd wrote:
So I should purchase like 50 rolls, put 45 of them in
a freezer somewhere and use the film up as I go along.
Sounds like a plan. How long does expired film stay
fresh if its kept in a freezer the entire time except
the time its in the camera?
Film will essentially stop aging in a freezer. However, it cannot be kept
for many years in deep freeze. Background cosmic radiation, which defies
lead shielding (gamma rays) will eventually fog the film, but that does
take a very, very long time. For most non-professionals with a "day job",
50 rolls at a whack is a lot of film! I use quite a bit and buy about 10
rolls at a time. Depends on what I'm planning and what's already on
hand. The most I ever ordered at one time was 25 rolls of film for
shooting my cousin's wedding. It was about twice what was needed, but it
covered two film speeds just in case I had too much trouble with the slower
film and needed to switch to the higher speed. Stuffed the rolls left over
into the reefer and gradually used them up over the year that followed.
Also I'm thinking about getting a roll of slide film
'just for kicks' since I don't own much of anything
for slides except my parent's 50 year old Kodak slide
projector thats been stuffed in the closet since 1984.
Get a 24 exposure roll of Elitechrome 100 or 200 (not the "extra color"),
Kodachrome 64, or Fuji Sensia 100 locally and shoot it to see what you
think. All three are general purpose with moderate saturation, but they
all have their own "character" in contrast and color rendition. You'll
find that each slide film is somewhat unique in this regard (along with
saturation) giving a wide range of choices about the "look" you want your
photographs to have. It has less latitude than negative film, so it's more
demanding of exposure accuracy. If you get hooked on slides, it's unlikely
you'll switch back to color negative except for special applications (i.e.,
portraits). A projector isn't essential, but an inexpensive light table
and 8X loupe to sort out what you want printed is if you don't have a
projector. If you do end up getting a projector, make certain you get a
good lens for it. A poor projector lens will make a superb slide look
terrible. I have an ancient semi-thrashed and basic Kodak Ektagraphic boat
anchor that was rather cheap used (a commercial Carousel), and got a
Schneider-Kreuznach lens for it. Made a dramatic improvement over the
original Kodak lens it came with.
Is it costly to make prints from slides, if you expose
them correctly will prints from lsides look better
than prints from color negative film. What slide film
would you recommend for someone who has no experience
whatsoever in shooting slides.
There are two common methods for printing slides. One makes an
"internegative" by photographing the slide using special color negative
film and then printing the internegative using color negative paper. The
other, generally preferred method is printing directly from the slide onto
"reversal" paper. Direct printing has worked out much better for me (there
are a few who swear by the internegative process).
The cost per print is higher using either method, although the local
Wal-Mart is doing this in their one-hour lab now for $0.58 per 4x6. These
are for the other half's photo albums and they'll continue to get my
business for small prints if they keep doing decent work. I believe
they're doing very high res scans and printing them on a dye sublimation
printer; OK for small prints, but not for large ones. Cost before that
from a nearby pro lab was about $1.50 per 4x6.
Printing from slides is trickier because there is a slight contrast
increase compared to the slide. Very high contrast slides often don't
print well and lose some detail in highlight and/or shadow depending on
print exposure. This happened with my TOPE 8 Kodachrome, but with that
image the loss of very marginal shadow detail and some of the brightest
highlights didn't matter. It is easier in another regard; the slide is a
much better "witness" for what the image should look like compared to a
color negative.
The higher cost per print is offset by not having all the slides printed,
just a few of the best ones. Decent prints from slides have a very unique,
vibrance unlike any color negative print I've seen. I can pick out the 4x6
slide prints in my other half's photo album by just glancing at them. It's
one of the reasons gallery work in color is almost exclusively done using
slide films. Which prints look better, color negative or color slide is a
matter of opinion (I've just expressed mine).
For large prints, an 8x12 Ilfochrome super high gloss display print costs
about $16, not counting shipping cost. I have mine done by a lab in Texas;
none of the pro labs near me does Ilfochromes. BTW, Ilfochrome is one of
the print materials of choice for galleries and museums. Ilfochrome's AZO
dyes have a very unique glow that brings a good image to life, and it has
exceptional display archival under 24x7 gallery illumination. If I don't
want to spend that much on an Ilfochrome, the Slide Printer in Denver makes
8x12 super high gloss display prints on Fuji "R" (reversal) paper for about
$6 each. IMO they're not quite as nice as a good Ilfochrome, but still
have a glow to them and they are very archival for 24x7 display.
-- John
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|