 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| PhotoKB HomeDiscussion Groups Digital Photography Digital PhotoDSLR CamerasZLR CamerasPoint & Shoot CamerasFilm Photography 35 mmLarge FormatMedium formatDarkroomFilm and LabsOther EquipmentPhoto Technique Nature PhotographyPeople PhotographyTechnique GeneralGeneral Photo Topics General TopicsAustralian PhotographyUK PhotographyDirectoryPhoto Clubs |
Photo Forum / Film Photography / Darkroom / May 2004Prints from slides
I have a lot of old slides, mostly family snapshots, which I would like to make into color prints (3x5,4x6).to place in albums. I have had some done by local camera shops with pretty good results, but I would like to try it myself if possible. Does anyone know the procedure normally used for this? I would assume that they use a copying setup, with flash, and special film but am not sure. Once on film I would send it out for normal mini-lab processing. Also, any thoughts on the best way to make b&w prints from color slides. I do have a b&w darkroom, 1:1 macro lens, flash eqipment etc. Thanks for any tips, Len > I have a lot of old slides,..... which I would like to make > into color prints (3x5,4x6) > Does anyone know the procedure normally used for this? I would assume that > they use a copying setup, with flash, and special film but am not sure. No, they'll use Cibachrome paper. > Once on film I would send it out for normal mini-lab processing. It is possible to do that, but it much easier just to get the prints from your current slides.Ilford Cibachrome/Ilfochrome paper and chemicals are what you need.Made for making positive prints from a positive source(slides).Its a bit more expensive than normal RA4 colour paper/chemical, but not too much.I think Agfa also do a version. The chemical is a 3 bath process (+wash), dev/bleach/fix, easily achieved at home if you have the processing equipment. > Also, any thoughts on the best way to make b&w prints from color slides. > I do have a b&w darkroom, 1:1 macro lens, flash eqipment etc. There used to be a paper available from Ilford, but it is a long time (~20 years) since I last saw it, so you will have to copy the slides using a copier which you attach to the front of your lens, than take B+W shots of them,depending what camera you have, these copier attachments can be fairly cheap ~20-30 UKP, 30-45 USD on ebay. Alan.  SignatureTo reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'. http://www.dvatc.co.uk - Off-road cycling in the North Midlands. Cibachrome/Ilfochrome was never used for consumer grade prints from slides, too expensive and contrasty, at various times it's been internegatives, then the various Kodak reversal products. Today it's almost all digital, scan the slides and make C-type prints. You could use a t-mount slide duper and a low contrast film and get OK prints but really digital is much better for this application unless you have access to a slide duper with contrast controls. Signaturedarkroommike ---------- > > > I have a lot of old slides,..... which I would like to make [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > fairly cheap ~20-30 UKP, 30-45 USD on ebay. > Alan. > I have a lot of old slides, mostly family snapshots, which I would like to make > into color prints (3x5,4x6).to place in albums. I have had some done by local [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Thanks for any tips, Len Cheaper to scan and print them. I would only do Cibas for the very best ones. SignatureLF website http://members.bellatlantic.net/~gblank <<<For best results expand this window at least 6" at 1152 x 768 resolution > I have a lot of old slides, mostly family snapshots, which I would like to make > into color prints (3x5,4x6).to place in albums. I have had some done by local [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Thanks for any tips, Len Well, if you already have a darkroom and an enlarger that can accept color correction filters, and like enlarging in total darkness (no safelight for color materials), you can make Cibachrome/Ilfochrome prints from the slides, as others have suggested, though you'll still need to buy some equipment like daylight processing drums and agitator base, as well as the chemistry and paper. The simplest way, though, and probably the cheapest, is to rent, buy, or improvise a slide copying setup (any macro lens that can focus at 1:1, plus a diffusion backlit slide holder and a rigid mount for both camera and slide will do the job) and, as you suggested, rephotograph the slides onto conventional C-41 color negative film for handling at your local lab. If your camera has TTL metering, it will even produce correct exposures more or less automatically. BTW, the backlight is probably simpler as a filter corrected steady light than a flash -- a simple frosted tungsten bulb of low wattage with a filter for shooting daylight slide film under low temperature tungsten should give correct color rendition (and the negative printing will generally correct it somewhat anyway). SignatureI may be a scwewy wabbit, but I'm not going to Alcatwaz! -- E. J. Fudd, 1954 Donald Qualls, aka The Silent Observer Lathe Building Pages http://silent1.home.netcom.com/HomebuiltLathe.htm Speedway 7x12 Lathe Pages http://silent1.home.netcom.com/my7x12.htm Opinions expressed are my own -- take them for what they're worth and don't expect them to be perfect. Thanks for the replies so far. This may help narrow down my question. I dug out the slide-to-color print order I had processed a few years ago by a local camera shop. Sure enough the negatives were there too. They are on 5325 internegative film. The prints are made on common Kodak Royal paper. They did this job in house, using thier own mini-lab to print. So the question seems to be - how did they get the 1:1 image on the film? Maybe someone here worked in a lab and would know the setup used for this. To clear up any confusion, I am not interested in display prints, just saving the old, sometimes fading, images on old slides for family albums. I am talking about maybe a hundred or more prints, so ilfochrome and other wet processes are out for this task. Getting good b&w prints has driven me half mad already so I don't even want to think about color. Len > To clear up any confusion, I am not interested in display prints, just saving > the old, sometimes fading, images on old slides for family albums. I am talking > about maybe a hundred or more prints, so ilfochrome and other wet processes are > out for this task. Getting good b&w prints has driven me half mad already so I > don't even want to think about color. Len Getting good B&W prints from colour negatives [or I guess slides] is harder then colour prints. At least that's my expierence. Nick > Thanks for the replies so far. > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > processes are out for this task. Getting good b&w prints has driven me > half mad already so I don't even want to think about color. Len The last time I had prints made from slides by a lab I asked and they told me how they did it. They used a Nikon with a 50mm f1.8, a bellows and a bellows slide copier attachment. I have since used the same setup to make copies of art work on both negative and slide film. While I prefer to use Nikon any SLR with TTL metering, a bellows attachment and a bellows slide copier will work. (I prefer Nikon for work like this because there is an excellent market in used accessories which allows me to sell off anything I won't need again for about what I paid for it.) Back to technique. Wait for a nice sunny day, load the film of your choice, mount the bellows and slide copier attachment, mount the whole setup on a tripod (if you have one), point the camera out the window at a clear patch of sky, set the camera on aperature priority, and press the shutter! [Of course if it is a nice day it is better to go outside -- or at least open the window.) For your requirements that is all there is to it. If you want to make slide copies instead of negative copies it gets a little more complicated if you need to get close or exact color matches. If that is the case use artificial light with color correcting filters. I use a 100 watt bulb in a reflector as my light source. I then take a series of two sets of three photos of each slide I am copying. One set with an 80B + an 82C+ an 82A filter and one with only the 80B and the the 82C filters. Each set consists of one shot one stop higher than the meter reading, one at the meter reading, and one at one stop lower than the meter reading. HTH Jerry If you point the camera at a clear patch of sky, won't you get a blue tint--even with a copier light diffuser? >I have a lot of old slides, mostly family snapshots, which I would like to make >into color prints (3x5,4x6).to place in albums. I have had some done by local [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >Thanks for any tips, Len Fine grain color negative film, bellows for a 35mm camera with a slide copier attachment and a good light source should give you a pretty good negative to work with, or if you ike get them developed and printed at any local 1 hr foto. > I have a lot of old slides, mostly family snapshots, which I would like to make > into color prints (3x5,4x6) A slide duplicator is the tool for the job. Lots to choose from, look at ebay. Use an internegative film, otherwise the contrast will be excessive. Fuji I-TN is the only one I know of that is still in production. Kodak still makes the stuff in motion picture stock. The Fuji film comes in 100ft rolls, so you will have to load your own cassettes. You may want to use a genuine photo store for processing rather than the drugstore or Wal-Mart - most places won't take hand-loads and a photo store will print appropriately if you tell them they are internegatives. Use a camera with TTL metering. For a light source use a blue filter and an incandescent lamp, a TTL flash or last and least, daylight. SignatureNicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics. Remove spaces etc. to reply: n o lindan at net com dot com psst.. want to buy an f-stop timer? nolindan.com/da/fstop/ Great replies. Interesting that Nicholas and Jerry suggested "sunlight" or "clear sky" as a light source. Are you referring to the clear (blue) nothern sky of "sunny/16" fame? When you refer to using sunlight as a light source, I assume you are referring to the use of a diffuser as a backdrop for the slide in a copying setup. My question is - would there be a difference in color balance (color temperature) if the diffuser was pointed at the clear blue sky or directly lit by the sun? Or, similarly, if the white side of a kodak gray gard, being used for a backdrop, was lit by direct sunlight or turned to the blue sky? Obviously there would be a difference in intensity, but are both sources 5500K? The point may be a little esoteric for the task at hand, but I would be interested in any thoughts on this. Len > Interesting that Nicholas [that's me] ... suggested "sunlight" or > "clear sky" as a light source. Whoops -- My advice was/is: "For a light source use a blue filter and an incandescent lamp, a TTL flash or, last and least, daylight. " As in: use daylight as the last resort. > Are you referring to the clear (blue) northern sky Ah, see: already 'daylight' is giving problems - there are many 'daylights' and they are not even consistent. Is that clear sky as in: LA, Montana, elevation, at dawn, an hour before sunset (the best light for color slides IMP'sO), Caribbean, Mediterranean ...? > of "sunny/16" fame? Sunny 16 is subjects in full sunlight, in the summer, between 10am and 4pm, and with the sun over the photographers back (and while standing on one leg and twirling a dead chicken, no doubt). I my experience this does give good results with bad cameras where the resulting excess contrast makes up for poor focus and lens flare. And where the picture is so fuzzy you can't see the subject is squinting. > When you refer to using sunlight as a light source ... If I had to, I would use a uniformly cloudy day and aim the kit and caboodle at the clouds. > the use of a diffuser as a backdrop for the slide in a copying setup. A slide copier has a sheet of opal glass through which the light shines to illuminate the slide. Aim the glass at the light source. If using a homemade rig then a uniformly lit white card a foot or so behind the slide will also work. > question is - would there be a difference in color balance (color temperature) > if the diffuser was pointed at the clear blue sky or directly lit by the sun? Yeah, about 5000 Kelvin (give or take a thousand or so). A slide of a white house will show a nice deep blue house in the dupe. So will someone's pearly blue teeth ... > The point may be a little esoteric for the task at hand, but I would be > interested in any thoughts on this. Len Too much thinking is what gets folks into trouble. To learn or to prove you have to do. Try shooting a test roll, taking good notes of _everything_, of a few representative slides lit by various sources and see what looks best to you. SignatureNicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics. Remove spaces etc. to reply: n o lindan at net com dot com > Great replies. > > Interesting that Nicholas and Jerry suggested "sunlight" or "clear sky" as > a light source. Are you referring to the clear (blue) nothern sky of > "sunny/16" fame? No. What you are after is an even background color. It doesn't have to be northern light. > When you refer to using sunlight as a light source, I assume you are > referring to the use of a diffuser as a backdrop for the slide in a > copying setup. Nice, but not necessary. > My question is - would there be a difference in color > balance (color temperature) if the diffuser was pointed at the clear > blue sky or directly lit by the sun? Or, similarly, if the white side of > a kodak gray gard, being used for a backdrop, was lit by direct > sunlight or turned to the blue sky? Obviously there would be a > difference in intensity, but are both sources 5500K? There will be a difference in color temperature. Some color temperatures (from Andreas Feininger's "The Color Photo Book" are: Clear blue sky ranges from 13,000 to 25,000 Hazy blue sky 9,000 Lightly overcast sky 7,500 Heavily overcast sky 6,500 Noon sun + blue sky 6,000 Electronic flash 6,000 Standard daylight 5,000 Blue photoflood 4,800 100 watt tungsten bulb 2,860 60 watt tungsten bulb 2,790 40 watt tungsten bulb 2,760 > The point may be a little esoteric for the task at hand, but I would be > interested in any thoughts on this. Len When you are shooting color negatives and having them developed in a one hour lab you don't have to worry since their equipment is preset to optimize human skin tones (for caucasians with average complexion). Since the original question pertained to making prints of a large quantity of old family slides the additional information probably does nothing more then add to the confusion. HTH Jerry Thanks for the replies. Sometimes trying to beat the pros out of a few bucks just doesn't pay. The internegative film, which seems to be one of the keys to good prints, only comes in 100 ft rolls at a hundred bucks. Then I have the problem of winding it into cassettes which may not lend themselves to machine processing. Plus a lot of experimentation. My local camera guy has it all set up and the details worked out. Basically, I was just investigating the the feasibility of doing it myself to gain a little more control over the variables involved (i'm sure anyone on this forum can appreciate that). I will, as suggested and for my own curiosity, do some experimentation with different light sources and may also try some lower contrast film (portrait/wedding type?) that is generally available in standard cassettes. Thanks again for all the ideas and info, Len > Then I have the problem of winding it >into cassettes which may not lend themselves to machine processing. Actually internegative film is processed exactly as normal c-41 film. The problem is really trust. Most finishers don't like taking reloads as sometimes the reload is not what the photographer says it is. It could really screw up the chemistry and all the rolls that come after it. I have used 35mm internegative. It is balanced for 3200k light so sky light will not work. Best is to use an enlarger. I use a 105 Nikon enlarging lens and a Bessler 23c. I also use a Motorized Nikon F-3 without the lens. Just lay the camera where the easel would be and focus down to 1:1. Seems my exposure is about 1/8 of a second at f11 using 15y and 10m filters. Once zeroed in, it goes fast. Image quality is also good. Larry > I have a lot of old slides, mostly family snapshots, which I would like > to make into color prints (3x5,4x6).to place in albums. I have had some [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Thanks for any tips, Len Len, I'm not hearing too much about scanning the slides. I have a hugh collection of 35mm slides that are pretty much all the photo documentation we have of my children ages 2-11. I first borrowed a scanner and when that proved feasible bought one of my own - it is my "digital" camera also as I currently scan negatives when needed. You will have to determine the quality, but for 4x6 you don't need a really expensive scanner - besides you don't want to store all those 56 meg files. My wife and I take turns feeding it while we watch TV. A good but small sorting table and a loupe also help cull out the unremarkable ones. Get it down to a reasonable number, scan them, use something like Irfanview or ACDsee to organize the results, print out some proof sheets, then send the final digital files to someplace on line. Maybe you will even consider transferring them to disk or optical disk to send to others. For printing, send mine to Wolf photo down the street and pick them up four hours later -can't beat a 30 cent 4x6. Just a thought. Regards, Roger |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2009 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.