[photo-3d] Kodachrome Debate

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  Its interesting how one thread can creat another on this list. The
first thread on Kodachrome a couple of days back was an inquiry about
how many users of Kodak's famous slide film there were. Now this same
subject has spawned a new debate about Provia-Velvia vs Kodachrome. This
debate has been interesting, but has already taken place on another
internet newsgroup, rec.photo.film. I see the same arguements and comments
that I did on the other group.
  It really comes down to a matter of tastes when choice of film is to
be made. We are fortunate that so many different types of slide films are
still available for our very old Realist cameras. (Mine's a 1953 vintage)
  My humble opinions on this subject are based on a 26 year use of the
older K-25, and the more recent KM-25. I am a grain fanatic and stereo
photography has made grain even  more important to me. The smaller 5 perf
size of the Realist when magnified makes a slightly grainy film seem a
lot more so.
  So for anyone who might be interested I have tried all of the following
chrome films in my Realist.

  KM-25   Very good grain, excellent color accuracy, long archival life.
          Only down side is processing. A&I about the best since Kodak
          Findlay closed. Kodak Fairlawn quality suspect and irregular.
          Since the ASA 25 is so slow, I use it where I have bright
          sunlight. This summer, thats been a lot here in Ohio.

  KM-64   Fair grain. Too grainy for a grain fanatic like me. Again great
          color accuracy and long archival life. Same processing problems
          as KM-25 so A&I the reccomended place to send it.
          Since its a bit faster than KM-25 its a bit easier to use. But
          it went on my "not used for stereo list" because of my fussy
          grain standards.

  KM-200. Never tried it since KM-64 was too grainy. So I crossed this off
          the stereo use list long ago.

  Now that leads this thread to the E-6 films.

  Velvia-  Used this twice both in medium format 2d and stereo 3d. Very
           fine grain. Easy to get processed anywhere. I use a local pro
           lab.
           BUT.... too saturated for my tastes. Skin tones look like
           everyone has been out in the sun way too long. Its kinda on
           slow side too. Some pros have shot this stuff at asa 40 to
           decrease the saturation and I am told it looks fine. Never
           tried the asa 40 trick, but its on my list of things to do.
           If the asa 40 trick doesn't work, off the stereo list it goes.


 Provia-   Used this both in medium format 2d and Realist 3d. Looked
           better as far as grain goes in 2d medium format. Good color
           accuracy. Easy to get processed. But a bit too grainy for
           grain fanatic again. Off the stereo list it went.

 Provia 100F  For grain fanatics this was nervana. Finer grained than
              my beloved KM-25. Easy to process too. BUT, it does have
              a tendancy to be a bit cyan biased. So color accuracy isn't
              quite as good as KM-25. But in many situations such as
              indoor shooting with flash, you can't beat it since it
              allowed a much smaller size f-stop than KM-25. So I got
              great grain and depth of field.

 E-100S       Probably the nicest E-6 film I have ever used as far as
              color accuracy is concerned. Its just dead-on accurate.
              BUT, again its grain was just to obvious and off the
              stereo list it went after 2 rolls of trying.


       After all the above experimentation, I came across an RMS grain
table posted on a web site that pretty much verified what I had already
concluded. But what works for me is not applicable to someone else's
worksheet requirements.

       I have settled on KM-25 for outdoor bright sunlit situatios, while
for more difficult days and inside, its Provia 100F.

       -Fred Sole