kodak Ektachrome Elite exposure advice

[victor anthony]

Hi,

I just ordered some Kodak Ektachrome 100 to take to Burgendy (France in a few weeks time.

Wondering if I should under or over expose at all and if so by how much

Never used slide film before

Cheers.

 

[furcafe]

With slide film you normally want to expose @ the rated speed since it has less exposure latitude than print film. I know that it is often recommended to slightly overexpose some of the more dense emulsions, like Velvia 50 (often recommended to be shot @ 40), but I don't think Ektachrome 100 is 1 of those films. No harm in a little experimentation, though (but if you do, do it in small increments, like 1/3rd of a stop).

 

[angeloks]

I put the Kodachrome 64 at 50, the Astia 100 at 80 and the Velvia 100 at 80 as well.. For the Ektachrome, I couldn't say... Someone must have used that film before. Anyway, I heard good things about it !

 

[35mmdelux]

I've shot alot of chrome during my shooting career (since 1971) and I'm glad I did because I wasn't shooting B&W. Chromes and B&W are the most stable of films as you know. I still shoot lots of chrome, unless its a paid job or I want to kick out some prints fast.

Here is the deal: Many say to under-expose chrome film by one stop. Only last year did I try this method to my greatest regret. What happens is that the dark areas go even darker and there is very little way of bringing back these darkened out details. Remember the song "Black is Black?" Sure enough black is black with under-exposed chromes.

So, I'm back at shooting on the mark. If it says 64, then its 64, etc.

Lastly, with computer technology hitting it on the mark may give you greater flexibility when printing.

Good luck-

 

[Trius]

I have never heard anyone say to underexpose chrome by one stop in general use. For some scenes/subjects, yes, that might be appropriate. But if there is a general rule of thumb for exposing chromes other than box speed, it is to underexpose by 1/3 or maybe 1/2 stop. If there are very dark areas, then yes, you will lose more detail in those shadow areas. But the thinking is that highlight detail is better retained, especially on very brightly lit areas of the scene, and it is preferable to slightly underexpose overall than to have blown highlights.

I have a subjective feeling that modern chrome emulsions have more dynamic range than previous emulsions, hence shooting at box speed is "safer". In the past, I would expose Kodachrome II @ 32 rather than 25 (again, dependent on the scene), but K25 was more amenable to shooting at box speed, and similarly K64 can be shot at 64 while KX was better shot at 80. Again, just my experience. And shooting current K64 at 80 doesn't hurt much and yields some increased saturation, if you want it.

As for Elitechrome 100, the last role I shot I rated at 100, and bracketed a few shots to 125. Both worked very well.

In limited experience, I have found that I didn't need to underexpose Velvia; box speed seemed to be fine.