NEGATIVE VS SLIDE FILM

The

Photo Experience

 

Technical

Reference

     

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There is no shortage of opinions on which film to use.   In general, professionals use slide film because they are shooting assignments that require the use of slide film.  However, as we enter the era of electronic imaging, negative film has become a more competitive medium for the reasons outlined below:

  •  -  Negative film can handle a much wider exposure latitude, sometimes up to 7 stops.  This means that even if your miss the exact exposure by one or 2 stops, you can still salvage a decent image.  With a static scene, the photographer has time to calculate the best exposure but with race cars, you don't have time to change exposure compensation when they are speeding by at 200 plus mph.

  •  -  Negative film has certain advantages for electronic scanning.  Greater exposure latitude also means that you have more information on negative film which can potentially result in better scans.   For the next couple of years, there will be an increased number of images generated from scanning film thus giving negative film a competitive advantage.   

  •  -  The quality of 400 ASA speed "negative" film is better than 400 ASA "slide" film.  Therefore, if you plan to use a high speed film, your better choice may be "negative" film.

  •  -  With negative film, most of an image's color, hue, and density will be determined in the darkroom or in an electronic imaging program instead of in the camera as with slide film.  This means that using filters with negative film will not be quite as effective as with slide film.  However, I try to get my images processed and printed without color compensation so the full affect of filtering is more evident.  

There are a few other thoughts to consider when shooting with negative film:

  •  -  Don't under expose negative film.  In fact, some photographers make a habit of over exposing negative film by half a stop or more by adjusting the film's ISO downward.  (e.g.  shoot 200 ASA as 150 ASA)

  •  -  ASA 200 has improved immensely in the last few years and it is now difficult to differentiate from 100 ASA film.  200 ASA film compares more favorably to 100 ASA film than 400 ASA does to 200 ASA.  

  •  -  Negative films from the big manufacturers are all excellent.  However, most photographers have a preference for the Kodak Gold and Fuji Superia lines of emulsions as they are available worldwide.