Reversal film

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A single slide, showing a color transparency in a plastic frame
A single slide, showing a color transparency in a plastic frame

In photography, a reversal film is a still, positive image created on a transparent base using photochemical means. The terms slide and transparency are also used. Contrast with negative and print. Reversal film is also a type of motion picture film that yields a positive image on the camera original without an intervening negative.

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[edit] History

The earliest practical color photography was the Autochrome process. This was an additive 'screen-plate' method which produced a color slide, but was fairly dim, and with the color resolution limited by the fineness of the screen-plate.

The earliest practical method using a 'subtractive' method was the Kodachrome process, the first commercially successful amateur color film, introduced in 1935. It produced much brighter color transparencies. It was initially offered in 16 mm format for motion pictures; 35 mm slides and 8 mm home movies followed in 1936. Originally used mainly for news reportage, it gradually gained wider popularity. Some amateurs were using Kodachrome for family snapshots as early as 1940 with many utilizing 35 mm roll film adaptors with common 4″×5″ "press cameras." At this time, color print film had many shortcomings including high cost of film and processing and short print life. Amateurs who could afford slide film and projection equipment used it extensively until about 1970, when color print film began to displace it.

To about 1995, color transparencies were the only photographic medium used for serious publishing, and were widely used in commercial and advertising photography, reportage, sports, stock, and nature photography. Digital media have since gradually replaced transparencies in many of these applications. The use of slides for artists submitting to juried shows or applying for solo exhibitions, applying to art schools or for residencies (or the like), however, is still nearly universal for a number of reasons, among which is the actual or perceived lack of color fidelity in digital media.

[edit] Characteristics

Slides are still generally preferred by professionals and many amateurs when working with traditional film.[citation needed] Slides are often sharper and have better color reproduction.[citation needed] Generally, slides have a longer life span than color prints. Kodachrome is well known for its archival qualities, with its color not fading for many years. Theoretically, they should last about 200 years; compared to 30 to 50 years for Ektachrome & Fujichrome process E6 color reversal film, 50-70 years for negative color process C41b film (e.g. Kodacolor or Agfacolor), and 20-30 years for Process RA4 color prints. The Kodachrome K14 process is extremely difficult to perform as even small deviations from the exact specifications will affect the output quality. It is a process that is naturally imperfect, with a small amount of contamination across the color layers occurring, which produces a specific and un-replicatable effect. Though the chemicals are not relatively toxic, the complicated process requires the film chain processors to run almost 24/7 to maintain efficiency. Because of the drop in volume and the complexity of the process, there is only one place remaining in the world that processes K14 for consumers. Ektachrome and Fujichrome slide films are the only remaining color reversal films that can be readily processed in many cities and larger professional photo studios, and they all follow the standardized E6 process.

Direct positive slide film is less forgiving of exposure errors than the negative - print - and development process chain. With negatives, the overall value may be sensed after processing and the exposure of the positive image controlled to compensate. The simplest point and shoot and disposable cameras do not even control exposure, a demonstration of the wide exposure latitude of the processes. It is also more cumbersome to display if only a few images are to be shown, although small battery powered direct viewers are available and suitable for use by one or two viewers.

A slide is a special type of transparency intended to be projected onto a screen using a slide projector. This allows the photograph to be viewed by a room-full of people at the same time. Slides were at one time an important medium for presentations, but LCD projectors, though inferior in resolution and color reproduction, have largely replaced traditional slide projectors for this purpose.

The most common form of modern slide is the 35mm slide, essentially a positive-image printing onto the standard 35 mm film used in the movie industry, then placed inside a cardboard or plastic shell. Older projectors used a sliding mechanism to manually pull the transparency out of the side of the machine, where it could be replaced by the next image, and it is from this that we get the name "slide". Modern projectors typically use a carousel that holds a large number of slides, and viewed by a mechanism that automatically pulls a single slide out of the carousel and places it in front of the lamp.

Transparency film, in sizes ranging from 35mm roll film up to 8x10" sheet film, are produced by Kodak and Fujifilm. Agfa, Konica, and 3M Scotch discontinued all their film production. Essentially all reversal film sold today is developed with the E-6 process or the K-14 process, with the overwhelming majority using the E-6 process.

Polaroid produced an instant slide film called Polachrome. It was packaged in cassettes like normal 35mm film. A separate processing unit was used to develop it after exposure.

Slide frames, 1940 (metal) to 1985 (plastic)

Slide viewer

Slide archive box

Slide frame 6x6 cm

[edit] Black and white

Black and white transparencies can be made directly with many types of black-and-white film using reversal-processing. It was once popular for presentation of lecture materials using 4" by 5" glass mount slides. Such positive black and white projection is now rarely done, except in motion pictures. Even where black and white positives are currently used, the process to create them typically uses an internegative with standard processing instead of a chemical reversal process. In the cinema black and white is used largely to reproduce a film noir appearance.

Black and white reversal films are less common than color reversal films. Agfa discontinued manufacturing their Agfa Scala 200x Professional black and white reversal film (along with their other B&W and color photo films), which can be developed either with their proprietary Scala processing procedure by Main Photo & Imaging Service of California,[1] which processes much of the worldwide market for exposed Scala. The dr5 lab [2] in Denver, Colorado also reversal processes Scala, along with many other conventional B&W negative films using their proprietary dr5 process developed by David Wood. The Foma company of the Czech Republic produces the only remaining dedicated black and white reversal film for 35mm stills, Fomapan R, which is also available in Standard 8mm, Double Super 8 and 16mm cine formats. Kodak also currently produces a kit for reversal processing of TMAX film.

Black and white reversal films are more commonly used in production of motion pictures. Kodak Tri-X Reversal Film 7266 and Kodak Plus-X Reversal Film 7265 are black and white reversal films used for movie making.

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