Is color transparency a dying process?

sanmich

sanmich

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I couldn't believe it when I saw it, but there is only one color slide film remaining with ISO>100.
I am worried we may see the end of chromes in a near future...
 
It is at serious risk. But high speed is not really the forte of slide film, so I would not rely on that as the measure.
 
sanmich said:
I couldn't believe it when I saw it, but there is only one color slide film remaining with ISO>100.
I am worried we may see the end of chromes in a near future...
Click to expand...

Quite possible. However, sensitivities are a poor indication, we've seen significant losses of high sensitivity film in CN as well - it is just that the industry and consumers had settled on a ISO 400 "standard" speed for the CN winter season, while anything faster than ISO 100 in slide has always been odd and perceived to be quite decidedly "fast".
 
Which is a pity because Provia 400X is fantastic film that looks stunning at EI 400 and holds up really well even out to EI 1600.

I really do hope it holds on for a lot longer... but failing that I've got my pretty well-stocked fridge of RDPIII, EPP, and EPR for as long as E-6 processing is available.
 
sevo said:
Quite possible. However, sensitivities are a poor indication, we've seen significant losses of high sensitivity film in CN as well - it is just that the industry and consumers had settled on a ISO 400 "standard" speed for the CN winter season, while anything faster than ISO 100 in slide has always been odd and perceived to be quite decidedly "fast".
Click to expand...

In the case of Kodachrome, there was a slow but steady decrease of film choice/sensibility until only K64 was available and one lab processing it. Then they only had to shut down the small niche they had created.
 
I was in my local pro lab last week and asked him about what processing demand was like. He said not much change over the last two years but demand for E6 was definitely looking more likely to go away than C41 or black and white.

Ronnie
 
sanmich said:
I couldn't believe it when I saw it, but there is only one color slide film remaining with ISO>100.
I am worried we may see the end of chromes in a near future...
Click to expand...
There are two that I can think of. Provia 400x and Rollei CR200.
 
Went to stock up on EPP a while back and was crushed to find it no longer available. Shot miles of that back in the early 90's and loved it for studio work with faces. Really a shame.

Best,
-Tim
 
I've never stocked a freezer as though the world would end, but if Provia 400x goes away, I'll buy a hundred rolls. 400x and 100f and my favorite color films.
 
Yes, colour transparency is dying. C41 film seems to be dong better in some ways. It holds a longer range than digital or transparencies so some use it specifically for that it seems.
 
Until a couple of years ago I had a real strong faith in slides. But now there is no more any local lab to process them. Slides are collected at the shop, than they wait to have a n interesting numbers to send them to an external lab. Which waits until there are enough to be processed. Than sending back to the shops, last times it took 4 weeks (its 'funny, the last Kodachrome I had to send to USA took only three weeks!). Longer time to wait, higher price and what is worse bad quality (scratches. dust). I'm afraid you are right, people will stop to shoot E-6 films.
robert
 
Yeah, it does look like it. On the one hand I'm a bit sad about it as I like looking at a nice transparency on a light table (especially in 4x5) on the other hand I must admit that I don't use much of it. It's more expensive to buy, it's trickier to expose right and it's a bit harder to scan on most consumer grade scanners with no adjustable light source.
I still have a box of Provia 100F 4x5 to finish up but after that I won't bother with more. My Epson 4990 doesn't do slides well and my Nikon 9000 doesn't scan 4x5. Just not worth the hassle.

PS: I should add that I've been lucky enough to have a pro lab in walking distance that does E6 in a couple of hours and for less than they charge C-41. They do a horrible job with C-41 but the E6 is quite good which is the only thing I use them for anymore. For C-41 I have to drive across town.
 
Projection is still a niche some people are interested in - some of my otherwise more Holga inclined friends recently did a slide show party, which was a massive success. And as Kodak already have axed Vericolor Slide, so that it is not possible any more to make projectable slides from negatives, that interest can only get its fuel from reversal film...
 
What's so ironic is that the demand for slide film is probably still much higher than the demand for the E6 process due to the lomo crowd using the wrong process...
 
sanmich said:
I couldn't believe it when I saw it, but there is only one color slide film remaining with ISO>100.
I am worried we may see the end of chromes in a near future...
Click to expand...

If we continue to shoot Fuji slide film, it will stay.

That Provia 400X is the only remaining ISO 400/27° slide film has one reason which wasn't mentioned here:
It is an outstanding material which surpassed all other 200 and 400 speed films by a great margin.
The other films could not compete against Provia 400X and lost the competition battle.
Ektachrome 400x was horrible in comparison, Rollei CR 200 is horrible in comparison (don't waste your money with this very grainy, low resolution and yellowish film, shoot 400X instead).
Quality of Ektachrome 200 and Provia 400X are comparable, but 400X has double speed (!) and can be pushed with good results to 1600.

Provia 400X deliver a quality, which we would have been happy to have with ISO 100 films in the 90ies.
It's absolutely great stuff: Finest grain ISO 400 color film, best sharpness, high resolution, natural, vivid colors, pushable to ISO 1600.
Let's shoot it, enjoy it, so it can stay alive.

Cheers, Jan

P.S.: And forget this nonsense told here about slide film being tricky to exposure. It's easy, even older cameras with integral metering or focus centered metering do a very good job.
I am using mines regularly with slide film.
And the modern cameras with matrix metering do an excellent job on exposing. 99% of my slides shot in my modern cams are perfectly exposed.
 
Well in all fairness, all that was said above is "trickier to expose right" which is far from nonsense. But I agree that this shouldn't be an issue for many of us. I'm certainly no sunny-16 wizard like Tom A. but I feel comfortable with 100 speed slide film and only a selenium meter and my own head (in daylight situations).
 
It is certainly trickier to expose, i.e. it requires more attention. Sure, if you're using a camera with a meter that's not much if an issue but if you're using a meterless camera (like e.g. a Hasselblad) outside with fast changing light you'll have to meter for each shot. With CN you can just wing it and adjust a stop here and there.
 
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