Slide Film Choice

[Graemebo]

I havent touched film now for about 5 years but my sister has her wedding
in August and has asked me to do a few pictures of her brides maid as
a gift and was thinking on doing some of the photos on slide

I use a 1D Mk2 N and will probally use my 24-70L can anyone tell me
the best slide film at the moment and if it really is worth useing it
as i think she would like some large prints from the shoot,

Thanks All

Graeme

[racingpinarello]

I would go for a Lexar 2 gb flash memory card.... The 1D mk2 would make perfectly large prints for this purporse.

If you really wanted to go the slide film route...I would choose Astia 100 from Fuji. I love this film, and I think it does great for skin tones and is very forgiveable.

Loren

[Graemebo]

Thanks for that quick reply i shall try the Astia if u recommend it,

I have plenty of cards for my 1D and shoot only RAW so i can
compare the photos just have ot get a nice day now to do the photos

[another view]

I've never shot Astia, but have shot a lot of Provia and Velvia. I think I'd try the Astia for this - it would probably be the best choice out there unless you need the speed of Provia 400F. How do you load it in a 1D?

I got out of film and would really stick to digital too unless you needed the extra exposure latitude with neg film; slide film really being similar to digital in this regard. I really can't think of an advantage to shooting slides here - curious why you thought of that.

[drg]

If you really have not touched film for that long don't bother now. The 1D Mark II N will make enlargements as good or better than 35mm slide film.

Astia will enlarge as well or better than any film out there, but it is obviously film. Should you be planning on shooting MF Astia cannot be beat for 100 speed color film.

For latitude, neutral balance, good flash performance, color accuracy and so forth, the Professional 400 speed offering in print film from FUJI is the wedding film of choice. Even at 11x17 in the 35mm size it will produce beautiful images. In the various incarnations and labels it has been my goto wedding FILM for small format for many years.

My recommendation is that since you are familiar with the Mark II, use it. If you don't already have one, get a 580EX flash. This flash really makes the Mark II's perform! We've had several discussion and postings on this in several of the forums.

Best wishes to both you and your sister, and let us know how things turn out. Post some photos if your sister doesn't mind!

[Cowgirl]

WoW! Slide for a wedding?

I used to be 100% film and slides until I switched to DSLR. Then I only used slides for landscape/wildlife, and Portra film for good skin tones & weddings. I found that Portra was nicer for reds/yellows, and Fuji green/blues - but that was just me. I started with Fuji then switch to Portra, then switched to DSLR.

If I MUST use slide I would probably go with a 400 ISO.


Best wishes with your slide project!

Kathy

[greghalliday]

Cowgirl is right. Using slide film for a wedding is pretty bold. Ilfochrome is going away (very quickly I might add) and interneg processing has never looked that good to me. What is your particular reason for shooting slides? Does the client want to project the image? Will they be mounted on a lightbox for some special display? Will they be 35mm, MF, or large format?

If you insist on slide, Astia is indeed the best (IMO) portrait slide film. But, if it were me, I would avoid the potential headache (and family strife) by shooting print. Portra 160VC is my favorite. Also Fuji 160NPC (or whatever they're calling it these days) is a great alternative. Printing is leaps and bounds easier and exposure is not touchy at all.

Shoot slides if you must (they are easier to drum scan), but make sure you are 100% dialed with your equipment, workflow, etc...

As an aside, I have printed larger digital images on my Epson than I ever would have with 35mm slide film (even Velvia 50). Just some food for thought.

Happy shooting, and may the wedding photo gods smile upon you.

Greg.

P.S. If you've shot weddings before, ignore the following. Everything that can go wrong will. Have back-up equipment and sometimes triple-up (batteries especially). Props go along way for kids' attention getters and lite-disc reflectors are more useful than they would seem (except the gold foil lined ones). And an off camera flash bracket is a must. Borrow one if you don't do portraits much, but avoid the Bogen/Manfrotto brand. I hate mine.

[Photo-John]

Stick with the digital. Unless you really want the look of a particular slide film and aren't willing to work with your digital files to get that look, digital will be better. It's much more forgiving that slide film, you get instant exposure feedback, and I like the end product better than film. If you shoot RAW and check your histogram to make sure you don't overexpose, I don't think any film can compare.