Am I crazy? Slides for a family trip...

David_Manning

David_Manning

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I'm going on a quick family two-day trip to Pittsburgh. We'll be in the city, which is picturesque because of it's topography.

My choices: D700, 35/2 and 24/2.8
M6, 35/2

So, I think I've settled upon my M6 for it's compactness (it is, after all, a family trip, not a photo assignment--which doesn't mean I can't shoot great pictures, I just don't want to be shlepping around gear for two days).

The next big question...film. I really like the idea of Tri-X or BW400CN for it's classic b&w look, but I've been doing that a lot, and would like to show an upbeat trip...so, color.

I'm getting extremely disappointed by my local choices of negative film processing (and especially printing and scanning). So, I think I've decided to shoot chromes and present a slide show when we return home.

Am I totally crazy?

I know families have been shooting and viewing slides for decades...I kinda like the retro feel of snuggling up for a slideshow from a quick vacation. In this day and age of digital, bright everything...should I rethink this?

I never thought I'd be the one to be so indecisive about what gear to take.

My overarching logic about the final output--slides--is that they'll show what I metered without some machine or untrained technician trying to interpret what I was attempting. After all, on chromes, black is black.

Again...am I totally crazy?

Opinions requested and valued.

----David.
 
Go for it. It sounds like price and one-hour convenience are not deciding factors for you, so really, why not?

Bring prepaid envelopes and mail each roll off as you go, to cut down on the wait when you're back home.
 
do it. good slide film through a projector looks amazing.

I covered a 4 day vacation with one roll of Kodachrome a year ago... the roll expired before i was born, but the picture quality was stunning...
(I used Kodak Elite Chrome 100 on another vacation and the results were just as good)

oh, Kodachrome. I got three rolls of ASA 200 from a friend recently...

cheers.
 
Go for it. Though the 'family trip' comment makes sense. Will they have the patience for you as you carefully meter? I'm off to Asia for two months starting next week, but I'm single and alone most of the time. It's going to be all Kodachrome and Elite Chrome. =)

The colours, oh the colours, when you project it on that white screen. =)
 
I just finished a fujichrome this evening shooting my family. I have a bunch of digital gear including an M8-2 with only 300 actuations. I prefer film, slides or B&W. Go for film !
 
I just got back from a two-week road trip through northern BC, Alberta (Jasper, Banff, Yoho, Edmonton) and the Kootenays. I shot Provia 100F in my M4, and Neopan 400 and Provia 400X in my M6.
The stuff from my M4 that was manually metered came out perfect. Metering with my M6 was a bit of a letdown but fortunately I bracketed. We also took snaps with my girlfriend's Pentax waterproof digital - which is the most fun camera to have. We got underwater shots, pictures in the rain etc.
I heartily recommend shooting your holiday on slide film! Take a manual meter if you can.
 
Yeah, you're crazy. And? That's no reason not to shoot slides. I don't now how many thousand I have filed upstairs. Easier to find than digi images, too.

Cheers,

R.
 
It's a good idea. I would make sure exposing my slides will be easy and successful: I'd use slide film for all sunny scenes because for sun I can keep my camera with the right settings always, and every slide will be well exposed. I'd shoot a RF with Sensia100 because it's Astia and costs a lot less. 1/500 f/8: sharp and vibrant.

For the rest I'd have another body with faster color negative. I'd take an AE camera with Portra 400 VC (for soft light a good contrast and saturation film because of the lack of direct sun) and a fast lens with warming filter, with my camera set at ISO 200 (for clean and as grainless as possible color).

This way I'd start the trip knowing I won't meter, not even once, and every shot will be perfectly exposed, and all I'll do is point, focus and shoot.

I would leave the digital home and bravely enjoy the real thing... Adrenaline!

Cheers,

Juan
 
Slide film

Slide film

I'd say yes!!!--absolutely!
Provia 400X is great but expensive.
Velvia 50 and 100 is also superb.
And do--as someone above suggested--take a P+S along, too.
Have fun!!
 
As a photographer who has recorded trips with slide film for over 25 years, I say go for it! My photos of our trip to Hawaii in April were all slides (19 rolls in two weeks) shot with an M7 and a handful of lenses. The most difficult part is throwing out the shots that just aren't up to par before sharing with friends.
 
Astia 100 and Provia 400X sounds like a very good choice to me as well.

Often it is not easy to get good scans (for reasonable money) from color negative films. And the grain of a film like 400VC seem a bit too much to me for 35mm. I have shot about 15 rolls of color negative films recently (Mostly 400VC with some Superia200) and just can not really appreciate the semi-automated scans (Coolscan 5000). I know it can be done well though.

So - go for slides and make a nice projection once back - I guess you family will let you shoot slides for later trips as well.

Still - a small P&S digicam could be nice for some fun shots and video.
 
I have been shooting slides for many decades. Of course I say your is a great idea. After development make a selection and do not project too many. It will be a real experience and I'm sure your family will ask to repeat it. But do not project too many, please.
robert
 
oftheherd said:
Sounds like a good idea to me. How does your family react to slides?
Click to expand...

+1 re: above. If during the slide show your family are going to sit there bored, rolling their eyes, and wanting to get away from lame, crazy uncle David who's stuck in the 1960s, then the Big Reveal -- what should be the most fun part of this exercise -- will be a letdown. (That's why I don't attempt such. My family would surely respond that way, as I do with my astronomer uncle who lectures/perseverates over the telescope on family trips. 🙂)

Of course there's the consideration too that if you think you'll end up wanting to scan a great number of these, that'll be a nuisance once they're mounted. But how many could possibly need scanning from a two-day trip...?

--Dave
 
You should have made this thread a poll... 🙂

But my $0.02 -- you're crazy!

The choice of gear is fine -- whatever gets you pictures that please you without interfering with your family vacation due to either bulk or slow operation.

But unless you know for a fact that your family (and whomever else might be interested) will like sitting through a slide show as their only means of viewing the pictures (every time they want to view a picture), then it's a slam-dunk assumption that they'll hate it.

If your local photo processing shop sucks at C-41, then won't they suck at chromes? And if you've got a good pro shop for slide film, then why not send them color negs?

If, however, you're planning to scan the resulting film, and a computer screen will be the primary means of viewing the pictures for folks not interested in the mid-20th-century vacation pix experience, then slides are a fine choice. And the traditional project-ability will be a private bonus for you.

Hmm, that came out to more like $2.99 in length, but the value is still at most $0.02. 😉

::Ari
 
I have been pondering the same thing. I would really like to do more color, but I HATE scanning color negatives and even looking at them. However color negs have the upside of great latitude and sharper scanning because of the thinner emulsion. Slides are pretty thick thus not as sharp when scanned IMO.

I have shot just one roll of Astia in 120 format. Can anyone comment on Astia compared to say 160NC or 160S color negatives?

I wish there was an easier way to get correct colors in color negative scans. Mine suck so I stick to b&w most of the time.
 
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