Suggestions on non-discontinued 4x5 slide film with natural tones

[jason995511]

So I've been using up the last of my Kodak E 100G 4x5 slide film and am needing to make the transition to a new slide film with similar tones. I usually shoot with Kodak 160/400 NC films but have been wanting to use slide films instead. The E 100 G was perfect but discontinued. Most of the other slide films I research seem to advocate saturation which is exactly what I don't want.
Can anyone suggest a 4x5 slide film that they like that will give me something close to the E100 G?
Thanks
Jason

[Brian C. Miller]

You have a choice of Fuji Provia (non-saturated) or Velvia (saturated).

That's it. There is nothing else.

E100G: gone.
E100VS: gone.
Astia: gone.
All of Agfa: gone.

[jason995511]

Thanks Brian.


You have a choice of Fuji Provia (non-saturated) or Velvia (saturated).

That's it. There is nothing else.

E100G: gone.
E100VS: gone.
Astia: gone.
All of Agfa: gone.

[Drew Wiley]

Provia is about as good as it will get. Astia would have been much closer, and could hypothetically be made in sheets again - but don't hold your breath! ("We'll wait and see if there's the demand" per Fuji). It's a sad day for chromes. If I were you, I'd scrounge for
whatever is left and put it in your freezer.

[John Rodriguez]

Down to my last few sheets of Astia :(

[ShawnHoke]

I love Provia in 4x5. Some might call it a tick above "natural," but it works for me. Obviously Astia was perfect for natural transparencies.

[Daniel Stone]

I've been reading about overexposing and pulling transparencies to flatten/neutralize them out color-wise.

Try exposing a few sheets @ 80asa, then pull 1/3 stop in development. Try shooting @ 100 too and pulling 1/3.

Dan

[Tobias Key]

Personally, I wouldn't start to try an learn a new slide film at this stage. Sadly, I think that they are earmarked for imminent demise. Better to try the new portra although even that might be gone in the next several years.

[Nathan Potter]

Get prepared to use separation negative (or positive) techniques in the future. Limited to non moving subjects of course but is simpler than it used to be using digital scan and print at the BEP (Back End of Process). Alignment of three B&W positives is a relative snap now.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[Drew Wiley]

Pull processing for contrast reduction works quite poorly with the current Provia. You could do it with the previous version (II), though with some crossover risk in the highlights,
and with Astia. Basically, you just end up with tone compression at the top, right where
it's often needed most. But no harm experimenting if it's not a valuable shot. Flashing is also a waste of time. There just isn't much "give" left is the remaining chrome films. Portra
is a far cry from the look of chromes - basically a muddy portrait film (if you're comparing
it to the relatively clean saturated hues of a chrome). Ektar is promising, however, and
that's what I've switched to, though even it is still has a significant learning curve if you're
accustomed to the look of chromes, and like all neg films, it takes quite awhile to learn to
evaluate just on a lightbox!

[Daniel Stone]

There are also filters used by the cinema industry that help to lower contrast overall, by raising shadow values. I can't remember the technical names of them(or what they'ree marketed names are), but that might be an option if you're interested in reading up on them.

I was in the orange county samy's this afternoon while waiting for some film to be developed @ DataChrome(great little E6 lab if you need a good lab, use them), and I was extremely dissapointed at how empty the film fridges were. Essentially empty... When I was working at the Pasadena store a few years back, the selection was essentially 2x what it currently is.

I guess cameras like the D800 have really taken a bite out of the market, especially since the price/performance ratio is quite enticing. Not to mention easily within reach of anyone with an OK credit limit... Heck, I've even given thought to trading in my D3 towards one since the cost is so low, and I've already got lenses... but that's another matter altogether.

Enjoy the transparency films that are available now, and learn to use them.

I agree with Drew, Portra IS NOT a replacement for chrome films. Ektar is close, but it still doesn't give me that same "feel" that E100G or Provia does, even with some extra digital post processing...

Dan

[C. D. Keth]

There are also filters used by the cinema industry that help to lower contrast overall, by raising shadow values. I can't remember the technical names of them(or what they'ree marketed names are), but that might be an option if you're interested in reading up on them.

There are many flavors. Lo-cons (tiffin) have a little diffusion and will halate around light sources. Ultra-cons (also tiffin) won't halate, or not as much. Digicons (schneider) are quite nice looking, though I have to use light values like 1/4 and under to be subtle enough for my eye.

One could also flash the film with a low exposure of white light. That will raise shadow values and slightly desaturate. You would generally want to pair that with slight underexposure.

[jason995511]

I appreciate all the suggestions and interesting techniques in getting the natural tones. I recently found a place with 50 boxes of E100 G left and I snatched them up. My son won't eat for a few months, but his dad will have plenty of film to shoot with. I don't mind the Portra films, except that I have a system with slides that works so well for me, I don't want to change that. I'm going to ride out the film for as long as I can until at gun point, I'm forced to change.

[ROL]

Perhaps learn to express color, or yourself, in monochrome?

[Drew Wiley]

The bigger issue will be the availability of E6 itself. I've still got some boxes of 8x10 chrome
of various flavors in the freezer, and wonder if it will be of any use down the line. No problem at the moment, but most of my new shots are being done color neg, so I'm not
exactly helping the E-6 local lab at the moment. And with hundreds of good LF transparencies already on hand, I already have enough to print from if I choose to do so.
Only a small percent will realistically ever get selected. I made the switch to neg once it
became apparent Cibachrome was doomed.

[Daniel Stone]

Yes Drew,

Ciba had been on the "chopping block" for a while it seems, since digital(even digital post with film) became the norm.

I shoot transparency film primarily because I like the look. Negatives(even Ektar, although I'm experimenting with it a bit on some shots) just don't have that "look" I'm after. Almost like there's a mask of sorts over the image. I've even handed drum scanned files of 4x5's and 8x10's over to a friend, a pro retoucher, and with his wizardry, I still didn't see what I really wanted.

Chrome has a "look", and having an original I can work from when scanning, that's a nice thing IMO...

-Dan