Is there anything as pretty as Velvia on a lighttable?

Gorgeous! Nothing quite like a Lightbox with slide film on it, I used to spend a good amount of Tuesday mornings picking up my run and peeking over the shoulders of fellow shooters to see what their take was. Good times.
 
Huss,

Someone gifted me a few rolls of Velvia 50 in 220.

The previous year I tried to B&W film for New York's Fashion Night Out, but I got skunked. The poor lighting combined with fast shooting gave me poor results with no keepers.

So armed with Velvia 50, a Pentax 67 with TTL prism, and a Vivitar 383, I had decided to try things differently.

My pals here on RFF in New York told me that Velvia 50 is the most unforgiving film that requires perfect exposure, and they recommended using Tri-X.

So all this trash talking goes on and on here at RFF in the NYC Meet-Up section.

So I'm on 5th Avenue, somewhat dressed up not looking like a surfer dude, when I see Nellie, the cute young barmaid from Puck Fair where we have our monthly Meet-Ups.

I didn't realize that she is also a model, and she is with five of her model friends. Then I think to myself, "Is this really happening, and is this my dream come true?"

So I blow a few rolls of Velvia.

When it was dark out the high guide number meant that basically like a stun gun I was blinding people on 5th Avenue near 57th Street with my flash.

When I got the slides back from Dugal, I found that the TTL with the AE Prism on the Pentax 67 worked flawlessly.

Of course I bought the slides to the very next NYC Meet-Up. I ended up giving my trophy slides to Nellie as a tip.

I say six models on Fifth Ave during an event is much prettier than slides on a table.

"I was just minding my own business," I say. LOL.

Cal
 
For many years, I used Velvia and also regular Fujichrome slide film in 35mm and 120 format. Inspecting 6x9 slides over a light table was very nice indeed.
 
Transparency film is unsurpassed

Transparency film is unsurpassed

Transparency film is a league of its own. Not only on a light table, but even more in projection!
It is absolutely impossible to get such a quality in digital imaging:
The three-dimensionality of a slide is unique. Digital images are looking very flat in comparison.

The color brillance of chrome / reversal film is also unique. The detail resolution of slide projection is decades ahead of digital projection, which only offers tiny 8 MP resolution at best, and that at ridiculous high prices. I have done lots of side-by-side comparisons, and digital projection just sucks. Slide projection is king.

Yes, and Velvia 50 is really awesome. There is a reason why it is such a legend and "the" landscape film.
 
Yes, Velvia. My firt rolls were underexposed, because it's what I used to do to my Kodachromes. But eventually I learned to trust the ISO rating by Fuji. It does get a bit contrasty in full sunshine. When I used to process Velvia on my own, i would overexpose it 1/2 of a stop, then process it at - 1/2. It yielded a perfectly contrasty transparencies...
 
Really showing my age here, but I miss Kodachrome-X. Its colors (as I remember them) were the best of all the Kodachromes. They were deep, warm and rich! (to me)
 
Calzone said:
Huss,

Someone gifted me a few rolls of Velvia 50 in 220.

The previous year I tried to B&W film for New York's Fashion Night Out, but I got skunked. The poor lighting combined with fast shooting gave me poor results with no keepers.

So armed with Velvia 50, a Pentax 67 with TTL prism, and a Vivitar 383, I had decided to try things differently.

My pals here on RFF in New York told me that Velvia 50 is the most unforgiving film that requires perfect exposure, and they recommended using Tri-X.

So all this trash talking goes on and on here at RFF in the NYC Meet-Up section.

So I'm on 5th Avenue, somewhat dressed up not looking like a surfer dude, when I see Nellie, the cute young barmaid from Puck Fair where we have our monthly Meet-Ups.

I didn't realize that she is also a model, and she is with five of her model friends. Then I think to myself, "Is this really happening, and is this my dream come true?"

So I blow a few rolls of Velvia.

When it was dark out the high guide number meant that basically like a stun gun I was blinding people on 5th Avenue near 57th Street with my flash.

When I got the slides back from Dugal, I found that the TTL with the AE Prism on the Pentax 67 worked flawlessly.

Of course I bought the slides to the very next NYC Meet-Up. I ended up giving my trophy slides to Nellie as a tip.

I say six models on Fifth Ave during an event is much prettier than slides on a table.

"I was just minding my own business," I say. LOL.

Cal
Click to expand...

Nice story... can you post some of the photos here?
 
I've used a lot of different slide films since 1972, most of them sadly long gone, and think most any slide film looks good on a light box (or in a viewer, or projected).

The light box experience is one of the reasons I tend to shoot mostly 6x6. (Well, that, square composition, and the magic of a waist-level finder. Now, if I could just get a 6x6 projector.)

- Murray
 
I haven't had the pleasure, but I've read about 8in x 10in Kodachrome transparencies looking pretty good on a light table.
 
8x10 kodachrome. I have also read about that. I can't imagine what they would look like when properly backlit. I have always wished someone would bring it back, or an equivalent to it. Sadly not to be.
 
I would just add that the effect is multiplied if you shoot Velvia with an outstanding lens and view it on the light table with a high-end loupe.
 
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