Why transparencies???

[Chaska]

As David said, projection is part of the fun. Nothing like loading up the carousel and looking at the shots larger than my TV screen.

[brent8927]

I've worked with both slide and negative film (like everyone else I think...) and I print everything on my own. Printing from color negatives is more fun because you can use room temperature chemicals, whereas with Ilfochrome (was Cibachrome) you have to use a water bath (or the drift-through method), unless you have a processor.

I used to prefer slides because of the intense color, but lately I've been finding the more muted colors that you get from color negatives (along with a wider exposure latitude) and have been shooting only with color print film, though I shoot much more black and white than color...

[Donald Miller]

Before you jump all over me, hear me out...

I am enthralled with the vivid colors and sharpness that only seem to be achieved with slide/transparnecy film. But when printing from transparencies, don't you lose a lot of the quality that you shot the film for in the first place?

After attaining some more experience with b/w, I think I will start playing with color again, and the thought of slide film both intriques and puzzles me? What do most of you Velviaholics do with your slides, once processed? Any recommendations to be made?

It has been some years since I worked with color transparencies. A great deal depends on what you want to do with transparencies if you decide to use that film. Transparencies shine when used for projection and in color separations for printing.

Transparency film has never had the ability to have the exposure scale that color negative film has. This can amount to two to three stops less. That in large part is why color transparencies have the vivid colors and the snap that you notice.

This means that prints made from transparencies need to have one of two compensations at the printing stage to realize their true potential. The first would be contrast masking (that is what Chris Burkett does) the second would be to produce a color internegative and then using the color internegative as the basis for the print. I have seen excellent prints made both ways.

When I shot color transparencies, I did print with both types of Cibachrome and found that contrast masking was absolutely necessary.

[modafoto]

As David said, projection is part of the fun. Nothing like loading up the carousel and looking at the shots larger than my TV screen.

What do you mean....larger than your TV screen...don't we all have projectors hanging and blowing CNN up on the wall

[Soeren]

I use transparency film for projektion only and its the only way I shoot color.
Nothing beats a good slide on the screen.
I also like the challenge, no postcropping etc, what you see is what you get and you better make the exposure right. Thats my media (besides B&W offcource)
Søren
5h to holliday

[gr82bart]

99% of my B&W is also slides - Scala. The only really B&W negatives I shoot are IR films.

Art.