400 Slide film

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What is your favorite 400 speed slide film, or are they all awful? I have not tried a 400 silde film for many many years, they used to be so bad, but every now and then I feel they might have been improved and might actually be useful now. I hear a good deal about 400F Provia, for example

I do use K200, or Sensia 200, but in the past I have found this is a fast as I dare go without getting terrible grain and poor saturation. Anyone care to give me their opinions as a starting point for my own investigations?

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), October 29, 2001

Answers

Robin,

Actually the best 400 chrome i have used is Kodak E200. The trick is to push it to 320 and have the lab push one stop and it looks great. You can even rate it at 640 and have the lab push it two stops with good results. Pushing it even tends to warm it up very nicely, although you will lose some shadow detail. I also found that it handles the green of flourescents very well - I don't need to use a magenta filter if I use a bit of fill flash.

I've also heard that you can push Provia, but I've never tried it.

john

-- john locher (locherjohn@hotmail.com), October 29, 2001.


This is one place where digital SLRs, like the Nikon D1x, really shine: ISO 1600 on a D1x looks better than Provia 400F!

Oh, well...

I've been pretty happy with 400F. I certainly think it's the best 400 speed slide film and actually, I prefer using it at 1600 than Kodak's P1600.

Regards,
Fergus

-- Fergus Hammond (fhammond@adobe.com), October 29, 2001.


Provia 100F rated at ISO 320 and push-processed one stop was my favourite until Provia 400F came along. I'll be 100% happy if Provia 400F is as saturated as Elitechrome Extra Color 100 (Provia is fine, it's just that I like brilliant exaggerated colours). John, does E200 rated at ISO 320 and pushed 1 stop give more saturated results than Provia 400F?

-- Hoyin Lee (leehoyin@hutchcity.com), October 29, 2001.

I have shot so much ISO 100 chrome, and love it, but I need some speed for the coming darker months. I am happy with Sensia 100 (it costs $6.54 per roll with processing). I know Provia 400F is probably the best non-pushed 400 speed chrome solution, but it costs over $14 per roll with processing! Since that's too much (except for special occasions), and since I can't push process (I use Fuji Mailers) what's the next best thing? Sensia 400, or Elite 400? Any thoughts?

Thanks.

-- Dan Brown (brpatent@swbell.net), October 29, 2001.


I think Provia 400f (RHP) and Sensia 400 (RH) are closely related emulsions. Everything I read about them seems to indicate it. You can buy the Sensia 400 from BH for $8.14 with Fuji mailer but you will have to give $12.24 for the Provia 400f with the Fuji mailer. For a little over $20 you could try one of each and decide if there is enough difference to pay more.

-- don (wgpinc@yahoo.com), October 29, 2001.


Robin,

I have used Ektachrome 400X Professional (EPL) for a couple of years now and have been happy with the results. 8x10 prints are pretty good, although certainly not in the same class as E100VS or E100SW. When projected, the slides have a nice "pop" to them for a 400-speed film.

I have read good reviews of Fuji's Provia 400 but have yet to find a compelling reason to switch.

Good luck.

-Nick

-- Nicholas Wybolt (nwybolt@earthlink.net), October 29, 2001.


I feel that Provia 400F is a finer-grained emulsion than the Sensia 200 of a few years ago. Good enough to actually shoot with.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), October 29, 2001.

Hi Robin, here are some sample shots taken with Provia 400 F:
The kids are captured with a 300mm lens, the rabbit with 300mm lens plus 1.4 teleconverter. Scans from slides. Colors and resolution is good, but Velvia is more spectacular in my opinion. Yet, if you need the speed ...

Cheers,

Dietmar

PS: No, I did not use a Leica lens.

-- Dietmar Moeller (moeller@phys.columbia.edu), October 29, 2001.


Hoyin,

Kodak E200 at 320 does have pretty good contrast, but I've never shot Provia 400F before so I'm not sure how it compares. One trick it to underexpose slide film a litle (about 1/2 - 1 stop) and then develope the film at its rated speed to add saturation. This will reduce the shadow detail of course, but it can really look good if the light is nice.

john

-- john locher (locherjohn@hotmail.com), October 29, 2001.


My most-used 400-speed transparency film is actually a 320-speed tungsten film: Kodak EPJ. I usually rate it at 1000 and have it pushed two stops, though I have been known to use it at 2000 with a 3-stop push. Saturation is intense, colors can get a little weird, and it's quite grainy when abused like that, but it looks cool as hell.



-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), October 29, 2001.



If that's a picture of a gal using slide film, it looks kinda freaky with an odd color contrast which I like in a wierd way... spacey look. Thank goodness that I need to spend a few bucks to shoot slides then!

Alfie

-- Albert Wang (albert.wang@ibx.com), October 30, 2001.


I guess I will have to try Provia 400F. I have used a only a couple of rolls of Provia 100F, and I am not sure I like it that much. It is fine grained, but seems very low in contrast, I think I prefer Sensia/Astia 100. So I am not sure I will find Provia 400 to my taste; still I will try. Maybe I will also try the Sensia 400, but somehow I think I will find the grain in it a bit much as, although I find Sensia 200 is OK, I would be loath to have more grain than this.

Mike's idea of using the tungsten film is interesting and works for him, but I am after something a bit more natural - I like the shot though.

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), October 31, 2001.


Is the Fuji processing for Provia films much preferable to E-6 processing at a good local lab? Given that mailing unprocessed films may become problematic soon, local labs may be the only option.

-- Tim Nelson (timothy.nelson@yale.edu), November 01, 2001.

Pray tell, what is going to be wrong with mailing E-6 film to Fuji, this is a change that would be most expensive and undsireable.

-- Dan Brown (brpatent@swbell.net), November 01, 2001.

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