At 04:11 3/8/02, you wrote:
I am about to try a roll of slide film for the first time. I think that I
had herd that you should meter slide film 1/2 stop lower or higher, I
can't remember which.
What are the thoughts about shooting with slide film? I am using an OM1,
or OM2SP. Both bodys' meters have been right on with print film.
Don Gaikins
Don,
For your "first time out" with slide film, shoot it at its rated
speed. You'll have enough to consider with its narrower
latitude. Shifting the EI by a half-stop from rated speed is pretty
radical with slide film, which shows obvious exposure differences with a
one-third stop shift.
While under-exposure is the nightmare with negative films, over-exposure is
the nightmare for transparency. There are two philosophies among long-time
tranny users. It is dependent on what film they are using and whether the
trannies are destined for printing or projection (or perhaps both).
(a) Many users of high saturation Fuji Velvia (in particular) will shoot it
at EI 40 instead of its rated ISO 50. This is deliberate over-exposure by
1/3 stop to reduce its saturation, and create a "thinner" slide. Those who
do this claim it "prints" better for them (direct printing to reversal
materials: Fuji R, Ilfochrome, etc.). This isn't exclusive to Velvia
either, just much more commonly done with Velvia. Personally I've found
that printing under-exposed "thick" trannies is inherently problematic.
(b) Some users of other slide films will deliberately over-expose
*slightly* by one-third stop (i.e. EI 125 versus its rated ISO
100). Primarily useful for projection with higher power lamps and/or
faster projector lenses (projector lenses have an aperture rating: f/2.8,
f/3.5, etc.). The projector "bores a hole" through the thicker tranny
with, yes, slightly higher saturation, but the ambient room lighting must
also be very low for this to work too.
Again, when just starting, use it at rated speed until you get a "feel" for
what you get and how you want to adjust it from there. Personally, it's
quite rare for me to shoot any slide film at other than its rated speed. I
will make exposure adjustments for individual frames based on strong
backlighting, etc., just as one would with negative films, but that's
exposure placement for the scene and not anything done just because it's
slide film.
-- John
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