Re: Frame 39 (was Re: born again)

["Charles E. Love, Jr." <cel14@cornell.edu>]

At 10:39 PM 12/4/96 -0500, you wrote:

>I have used Provia for commercial work in 120, 4x5 and some 35mm with a
>great deal of success.  Sharp, good color, good shadow detail.  Velvia
>can be beautiful but as Marc says, better under low contrast conditions.
>It definitely can get garish if not given extra exposure- depending on
>lighting, I rate it at EI 32 or 40.

Yes--I think virtually all the people who use a lot it rate it like that.
The problem with exposure at EI 50, though, is not "garish," I would say,
but just too light in the highlights, which is why I downrate it.
>
I wrote: " Well, I ran a lot through mine (use MF more now).  Do you think
there's some special color balance issue that makes this true (i.e., do
Leica lenses have some special quality that works best with Kodachrome)?"
>
>Well, you have to watch how this is  phrased or there'll be another rash
>of "glow" sightings!  I have shot a lot of Kodachrome 25 in Leica R's
>and find with the right light conditions the slides will almost look
>3D when viewed, particularly with cloud formations in the scene.
>Definitely has something to do with the glass I'm sure. Speculation on
>my part, but perhaps the rich color rendition of the Leica glass, the
>sharpness and the sharp edge definition of Kodachrome make the right
>combination.  Oddly enough in the M, I rather prefer the Kodachrome 64.
>I use the Summicron 50 m and 35 m.  Overall I would say I can make
>"better" photos under a wider range of lighting conditions with either
>Leica sytem with Kodachrome than other films. (I'm speaking here of
>outdoor photography, primarily)
>Mike Gardner
>
I was really asking about color balance in the Leica lenses and in
Kodachrome.  Today K looks subdued, though many years ago it was regarded as
too brightly colored and too red.  You appear to be saying that Leica lenses
saturate the film more than others--I'm not sure that's so.  Also, perhaps
because of its higher contrast and fine grain, I think Velvia gives the
appearance of being sharper than anything--big prints made from it have a
snap like nothing else.  I found Provia a little less that way, but with a
bit more shadow detail and a little less saturation.  I agree with you about
K25 vs. K64--I always liked 64 better, though 25 is finer grained, and that
did show up in big enlargements.  BTW, I'll admit that I like Velvia better
in larger formats, where it seems a bit less wildly colored and contrasty
(the bigger film area helps a lot).

Charlie
Charles E. Love, Jr.
CEL14@CORNELL.EDU