tri-x of color slide film?

msheppler

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Hello all,

I've been shooting fine grain slide film (astia) but want to move to a film that has more grain and has accurate color rendering. What films should I be looking at?
 
Well, I just shot a roll of Velvia 100 with my Konica Hexar, and the slides were just beautiful and sharp, so I guess that's NOT what you are looking for. Seems like I get more grain with Kodak Ektachrome. Keep shooting slides!
 
Kodachrome 200 was sadly discontinued in 2007 though you may still find some on eBay but it'll likely go for too much as you'll be going for it against the Kodachrome die hards (arguably I'm one of them) and they will pay a price.

You may find though that even Kodachrome 64 will suit you as its still available, and still processable (process paid as part of the film's price) -- it's got fabulous realistic though sometimes punchy colours, quite unique for a film with such a great reputation for great skin tones. It's also got a certain amount of grain but it is bitingly sharp. I love the stuff and it's worth trying it just to say you shot Kodachrome before it was killed off by Kodak entirely. Just remember it's K14 process, not E6 and you can't send it anywhere, in fact there's only one place it can be processed, Dwayne's in Kansas - but it is process paid so that shouldn't be an issue.

Finally, Provia 400X is brilliant stuff. Punchier than Astia but good for skin-tones on the whole, but not ridiculous super-saturation like you get in Velvia.

I'd go for some K64 first, if you like it, shoot it while you can, then move to Provia.

Kodak's Ektachromes (E100G/E100GX) are nice but also very fine grained, and E100VS/EBX whilst fairly grainy for a 100 ISO slide film (RMS 11 I think) -- it might be too much colour saturation; but it does fare better than Velvia 50 and 100/100F.
 
Hi
I used to shoot K64 years ago and would like to again. What is the average turn around time from the Uk?

Mike

I don't think it's ever taken longer than 3 weeks. Which isn't too bad, sometimes a couple of weeks seems the average.

You can get it from:

- www.7dayshop.com : They do a good price on 3 or more at £7.79 a roll. Sounds a lot but considering it has the processing paid that's actually very very competitive as I get my slides mounted which usually costs about £5.50 a pop just for developing.

- Boots - the larger high street stores have film and stock Kodachrome 64. Whilst it's not cheap on its own (£12.74 or something like that a roll!) they do often as they have at the moment 3 for 2 offers on. So you can get 3 rolls for £25 or so which is not much more than ordering over the 'net.

There are other stockists but these are my reliable favourites.

Vicky
 
Provia 400x

Provia 400x

Thanks for your replies. I have some Provia 400X in the fridge. I tried it and unfortunately the processor screwed up the developing so I ended up spending alot of time cleaning up the scans. I'll try working with it again.
 
Thanks Vicky. That seems a reasonable time. I have been buying HP5 at Boots under a similar offer. Didn`t know about the K64. I will give it a try next month. At present I shoot Fuji 400.
 
Hmm. Most slide films these days are formulated with fine grain in mind, so you may have a hard time finding something that looks similar to Tri-X- depending on how you process your Tri-X. Leaving that aside, I'll second the suggestion of Provia 400. For slide film, it can be fairly grainy. As for color rendtion, well, that's pretty subjective; and of course, how the film is stored, exposed, and processed will all affect color rendition, too-as will the atmospheric conditions the film is shot in. I hope it isn't news to anyone here that color is so difficult to handle with precision in any photographic process. Ok, maybe I'm being too nit-pick-y or over the top about this, but my point is that there are so many factors here, and the over-all subjectivity of the results seems to dictate that you're just going to have try a few things and decide for yourself. Like many things we ask each other about here, this is one of those questions to which five photographers will give you five different answers, each with certainty that theirs is the last word on the subject.

So. For my own shooting, I find Provia 100F to be the most neutral, natural color slide film for general use under most conditions; however, it's pretty fine grained. Provia 400 is, to my eye somewhat weaker in terms of fidelity to the original subject color; but it does show more grain, and has roughly the same basic speed as Tri-X (if that's what you are looking for). It does offer a shadow of the pushability of Tri-X, but only a shadow. Color gets flattned out and looses punch as you push- but you do gain grain. This is pretty well true with all chrome material in my experience.

You'll really just have to do your own testing; let us know what you think when you find something you like.
 
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Thanks for the thoughtful replies. What started this string was oddly enough a Robert Frank show that I saw in DC. The silver prints in the exhibition had beautiful grain which was not apparent when at a normal viewing distance but added to the aesthetic of the photographs. And then I thought, could I achieve this effect in color? Why fight grain, especially in a 35mm analog format?
 
I find Kodak's Elite Chrome 100 is pretty nice for color fidelty and some grain.

I sometimes have it cross processed which increases the grain and makes the colors a little wacky but I can scale back the color shifts in Photoshop and get shots that are sorta Tri-X like and contrasty (which is how I develop my Tri-X). My flickr color gallery is all cross processed Elite Chrome some with the color tweaked to be more accurate, some not:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mediumstudios/sets/72157600100136772/

Also it's cheaper than Provia 400 by a few dollars which encourages me to shoot more of it, much like Tri-X. You can get if from Adorama for about $5/roll vs more like $7/roll for Provia 400.
 
Ektachrome P1600 is a true ISO 400 film that is designed for a one- or two-stop push. Used at 400 without pushing it is pretty flat, but when pushed, especially to 1600, it gets contrasty and grainy. That might give the gritty PJ look you may be looking for. Pricey, though!
 
Provia 400 is an excellent film but in my experience hardly has grain as trix can have. It has grain as fine as almost a 100iso film.
If the op really wants grain I think he better pushes a 400iso film one or two stops.

Cheers,

Michiel Fokkema
 
I dont really like grainy slide film but agree with the others that if you push it that is what will happen.

These are pics I underexposed (not on purpose) and "pushed" in photoshop.

For me, the Cenuria is the least pleasing, the Astia the best.

Konica Centuria
3359581794_82ea118a1b.jpg


Cenutria again
3244772460_aa5824b945.jpg


Agfa Precisa
3370275663_6c2a31b35d.jpg


Astia
3388710209_62af23d821.jpg
 
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