Anyone out there recommend a color negative film that performs closest to slide film in terms of saturation, color accuracy and fine grain? I know there isn't a film that acts just like slides, but what would be a good substitute?

I'm basically looking for convinience of processing (since I don't always know where to take E-6 processed film when I travel) and latitude that negative film offers.

Thanks for any input.

-- victor (danzfotog@yahoo.com), December 13, 2001

Answers

Tain't no such animal, but I would try Fuji Superia Reala 100 print film. 'Bout the best you can get I think.

Anyone else?

-- Steve Hoffman (shoffman2@socal.rr.con), December 13, 2001.

Depends what you're looking for. Neg film (C41) is finer grained, at the same ISO than transparency film (not including Kodachrome). Fuji Superia 100, for example is a bit finer grained than even Provia 100F. Color saturation and color accuracy are in a large part determined by who prints your negatives, and conversly how tightly your E6 line is monitored (though there is really no equivalent in neg films to the super-saturated E6 films such as Velvia. I think people have it in there minds that slide film is better than neg because that is what magazines and such required for so long, though this was more a matter of what was the eaiest to scan......

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), December 13, 2001.

I like the Fuji Superia 100 for a great combination of latitude, good color, great shadow and highlight detail and fine grain. Skin tones are good and it is fast enough to handhold most of the time but allows wide aperture for portraits if you need it. Cheers!

-- Don (wgpinc@yahoo.com), December 13, 2001.

though there is really no equivalent in neg films to the super- saturated E6 films such as Velvia.

There was Ultra 50, certainly very saturated and sometimes available on ebay. However, it wasn't particularly "accurate" in color, not that Velvia is either. If the long-rumored Ultra 100 ever shows up, that might do it also.

I think people have it in there minds that slide film is better than neg because that is what magazines and such required for so long, though this was more a matter of what was the eaiest to scan......

Not quite. It was easiest with color separations, not scanning, that resulted in usage by magazines, and the ease of matching color. With scans becoming more acceptable in publishing, many magazines no longer care what the original medium is as long as the scan is properly prepared. I just got a stock deal - stock used to be all slides, and all they want is scans, so the world is changing...

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), December 13, 2001.

Until a few months ago, I wouldn't touch print film other than for snapshots, but I had a roll of Royal Gold 400 leftover from the last wedding I went to and decided to play with it. I was absolutely amazed by the results after it was run thru a Frontier machine. Perhaps there are better combinations, but I really like the color pallette(sp) that I've been seeing (somewhat sedate, a touch pastel, and very rich). Nothing like slide, but pleasing.

-- Ron Buchanan (ronb@fusive.com), December 13, 2001.

Jeff, the reason I didn't mention color seps was that probably other than you, me and a few other 'oldsters' in this forum, most wouldn't know what I was talking about ;-) The times they are a'changin'.....

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), December 13, 2001.

The thing about C41 is that the results are as much, or perhaps more, a product of the lab as the film itself. That said, I shoot Portra 160VC and love it. My lab does a bangup job with it.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), December 13, 2001.

I shoot Portra 400 VC and Fuji Reala 100. I was just wondering if I could do better than those two in terms of getting images closer to the saturation of slides.

I realize that quality of photo finishers will affect the final product, but I wanted to make sure I was using a film that came closest to slides to kind of even the playing field, as it were.

Thanks for the comments. More are welcome.

-- victor (danzfotog@yahoo.com), December 13, 2001.

I agree with Jay on the Porta 160 VC. I recently tried it when a friend gave me a roll as pay-back for an equipment loan, and I shot it not expecting anything special. Boy, was I surprised! My lab here in Florida says that they have really tweaked the color pack for this film, and they produce excellent results with it. I made some 11 x 14s from a few negatives and the results were much better for portraits than my normal everyday film. It has become my "people" film for semi-formal portraits.

In regards to print film that emulates slide film, there is a bit of apples and oranges here. Looking at a reflected image from the surface of paper and comparing it to a trans-illuminated image from a properly exposed slide on a light table or when projected is not fair to the print film. Even if all aspects of the film characteristics are equal as far as grain and contrast on both types of film, you can't beat that "look" of the light coming through the slide. Some of my most eye-popping slides make rather average prints that never give me the results that made me think the slide was worth printing for. Even when all things are equal... they are different.

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), December 13, 2001.

Another vote for Reala. It's head and shoulders above anything else.

-- Dave Jenkins (djphoto@vol.com), December 13, 2001.

If you print your color negatives in your darkroom on your own you will see that all negative films are very close to slide films! The quality of hand printing is far away the quality of a very good minilab.

Street Photography by Dimitris Kioseoglou

-- Dimitris Kioseoglou (kosefoto@otenet.gr), December 14, 2001.

Try Konica Impressa 50. Since Royal Gold 25 was discontinued, this is the richest most saturated color neg film around.

-- jay goldman (goldman@math.umn.edu), December 14, 2001.

When you folks refer to "Fuji Reala" do you mean Fuji "Superia Reala"? That is the only Reala that I have been able to find for 35mm for the last few years. There used to be a different film called "Reala" which I don't think is made any more. When people rave about how great "Reala" is I wonder which film they are talking about.

-- Steve Rosenblum (stevierose@yahoo.com), December 14, 2001.