Need recs on slide film, please

[Eiron]

After KR ended I shot a few rolls of color neg film but eventually went digital. Now I'm faced with meeting family members from a "lost branch" of the family & I want to capture them on film. My desire is to use something as archival as possible, but also with as much of the KR feel for color as possible.

I read thru about half of the "What photographic medium are YOU going to use after Kodachrome?" thread (pages 1-3 & 7-10), & all of the "Archival film" thread. From those threads I came away uninterested in Fuji's chrome products. I guess I'm favoring Kodak film, but I really don't know the difference between Elite & VS. And I know nothing about either Rollei/AGFA or Lomography slide films.

Any suggestions and/or info on either of the Kodaks, or the others?

Thanks!

Greg

[KR4myF2AS]

For people, I would opt, if possible, for Ektachrome E100G (if you can still find it). The film renders skin tones quite accurately and has good neutrals. If finding E100G is problematic, my recommended second choice would be Elitechrome. Fujifilm's Provia also has decent skin tones; however, as a dyed-in-the-wool Kodak guy (I have only ever used Kodak products for my color work, so I am a "little" biased), I would do a lot of leg work/driving/talking on the telephone before I would settle for a non-Kodak colour film).

Ektachrome E100VS is a wonderful film for landscapes, wildlife and fine art work ("VS" denotes very saturated), It is not, however, terribly flattering for many lighter complexions. As well, it may be less archival than its sister film (EK offers no information in this regard). Happy hunting and shooting!

[Eiron]

Yeah, I'm kinda partial to Kodak products myself, even if they have abandoned reversal film shooters.

I also found the "Seeking recommendations for a film" thread which promotes the Rollei/AGFA film for color that's close to KR. But the last post in there was 16 months ago & nobody seems to have any positive reports of Agfa film archival life.

So I'll probably end up ordering either Elite or VS for the archival life, unless someone has more current information available.

[wlodekmj]

Originally Posted by Eiron

...I'm faced with meeting family members from a "lost branch" of the family & I want to capture them on film. My desire is to use something as archival as possible, but also with as much of the KR feel for color as possible.

I guess I'm favoring Kodak film, but I really don't know the difference between Elite & VS.

This has already been answered in this thread.

Originally Posted by Eiron

And I know nothing about either Rollei/AGFA or Lomography slide films.

Agfa Precisa CT 100, sold by Lupus, is now made for them by Fuji, and looks a lot like Fuji Provia 100F.

Rollei Digibase CR 200 Pro is Agfa Aero film, cut down to 35mm size by Maco. It has always had a warm tone, or an orange cast if you prefer, but all batches I have purchased recently have had a strong orange cast. Is this the tail end of a large purchase from Agfa that has deteriorated with age? If so, maybe Maco will get a new master roll and the cast will weaken - I hope.

Lomography X-Pro Chrome 100, when I tried it a year ago, turned out to be Elitechrome 100 repackaged for Lomo. I assume Lomo are just selling remaining stock, since they will not be able to get more from Kodak.

Lomography X-Pro Chrome 200, when I tried that, turned out to be the same as Rollei Digibase CR 200.

Rollei Crossbird, also sold by Lomography stores, is again Rollei Digibase CR200, but labelled "Process C-41" for people who want their E-6 film to be cross-processed, but who have trouble getting their photo stores to develop E-6 film on C-41 processing lines.

So slide film users are faced with buying remaining Ektachrome stock, buying old film, buying Fuji from Fuji or under other names, or buying Agfa Aero film under various names. Or hoping that Kittlegraphy will get his K-lab working!

[sdkodachrome]

Originally Posted by Eiron

So I'll probably end up ordering either Elite or VS for the archival life, unless someone has more current information available.

I would recommend E100G also, for archival life and people.

VS is "very saturated" color, and that can be very nice on scenery, but may be too intense for people.

The problem with Elite Chrome is knowing what you're getting. Some Elite Chrome is eseentially E100G repackaged (just "aged" differently), but other Elite Chrome is simply E100VS repackaged (just "aged" differently). But it's hard to tell if you're ordering online which one you're going to get, because often it doesn't say in the description and you can't trust the picture that's attached.

Meanwhile, if you act now (who knows when it'll disappear?), 35mm E100G is still in stock here:

http://uniquephoto29.reachlocal.net/...00asa-1884576/

Based on my last experience, you may not get it individual boxes as shown in the pciture. You may get it 5-packs, or if you order in something other than a multiple of 5 you may get just the round plastic cans (that hold the film), with no cardboard outside. Thus if you want to be sure to have a cardboard outside, order in mulitples of 5.

While the same site also has Elite Chrome for sale:

http://uniquephoto29.reachlocal.net/...100asa-3923463

the description mentions "features colors with high saturation" (even though it then claims "produced natural looking skin tones". Well, I don't trust it to to do the latter if it does the former, and if it indeed does the former it is E100VS-ish.

But that's my issue with Elite Chrome. Elite Chrome is always something essentially repackaged, but you're not always sure quite what. That's why I prefer to just buy either E100G or E100VS, and to therefore know what I'm getting.

(I don't believe Kodak ever made Elite Chrome as a separate film. Back when E100GX existed, that's what Elite Chrome was reported to be like. Then when E100GX disappeared, so did the version of Elite Chrome that resembled it. Then when all that was left was E100G and E100VS, surprise, surprise, there were regular and "extra color" versions of Elite Chrome. There was some sort of post-processing, maybe only aging, maybe a bit more, that was different between Elite Chrome and its corresponding Ektachrome, but at the manufacture side, I don't see any reason to believe these Elite Chrome was ever truly separate emulsions.)

Btw, long after conventional photo stores finally all run out of it, all these Kodak reversal films will be on sale on eBay, though who knows at what prices. If Kodachrome is still being sold there, obviously Ektachrome will continue being sold there. But it may or may not be affordable, and you'll have to evaluate the likelihood of good storage, as within a year or so all Ektachrome will be officially expired.

[Eiron]

Thanks everyone for the information. It was extremely helpful in making my decision.

I did choose E100G to shoot my upcoming "new family" pictures & look forward to the results. I expect to shoot no more than 2 rolls of 36, but went ahead & ordered 5 rolls anyway. My wife wants to go back to her family's reunion next summer & I should be able to use the rest of it then.

[Eiron]

Well, I got my package last night & inside were 5 separate rolls with stickers on the plastic canisters, no boxes, & every roll is E100VS.

The included receipt shows that they ordered & billed me for the (more expensive) E100G. Very disappointing...

I'm leaving tomorrow morning, so I'm not sure what I'll do for capturing archival pictures of my newly-discovered family members. I'll let you know what Adorama says, but their website no longer shows 35mm E100G as an option.

*Edit* - E100G is no longer available from Adorama, so I guess I'll try to find standard Elite Chrome locally. If they had told me they were out, I could've ordered standard Elite Chrome from them instead, or E100G from uniquephoto...

[lxdude]

Be sure to tell Helen Oster at Adorama, who is their customer rep. You should get an adjustment on the price, at the least.
helen.oster@adoramacamera.com

[Eiron]

Thanks lxdude, I'll definitely let her know what happened with my order.

Nobody had any kind of Elite Chrome in-store, so I decided to shoot b&w, T-Max 100.

[Chris Sweetman]

Originally Posted by Eiron

Thanks lxdude, I'll definitely let her know what happened with my order.

Nobody had any kind of Elite Chrome in-store, so I decided to shoot b&w, T-Max 100.

Now CVT - continuous variation in tone, otherwise more popularly known as B&W, will last a few generations. No issues with colour fading here.

Chris