[photo-3d] Re: Prints Or Slides?

["Thom Gillam" <ThomGillam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

--- In photo-3d@xxxxxxxxxxx, markaren@xxxx wrote:
> ...there is no reason to shoot print film for quality prints. Slide 
> film can be printed with the same quality as a negative, at only a 
> slightly higher cost. Why not have the option of choosing either 
> without loss of quality.
> How? Have your slides printed on a Fuji 370 (aka Fuji Frontier
> machine). The prints will look as though they were printed from a 
> negative. No contrast increases or color shifting......the machine 
> is that good! BTW,Jim sent me 2 pairs of prints from the same neg
> to compare a quality machine with the Fuji 370.
> At first I thought the quality was the same, a second look the 
> quality was the same. Under magnification I studied infinity points 
> and to my surprise the digital Fuji machine looked sharper. The 
> finer details are sharper using a digital machine? I was stumped. 
> The prints from slides are 100% right on! 
> So I recommend you find this machine in your local area, shoot slide
> film exclusively, and have choice prints made on the Fuji 370. 
> Several Ritz Camera stores have this machine so you'll have to call 
> for locations nearest you.

This is the first compelling argument I've heard suggesting the Fuji 
machine as a workable solution to a serious problem.  Mark's
reasoning is sound: a print made from a negative and a print made
from a slide (using this direct process) is the same generation.  One 
step to print from either.

The argument could be taken further by suggesting that if grain is an 
issue, slide film can be obtained which beats the best print film: 
i.e. ASA 25 vs. ASA 50 (fastest print film of which I am aware).  
Therefore the best prints from slides are theoretically sharper than 
any which could be obtained from negative.

Even so, the REAL advantage to this suggestion is that getting slides 
developed is much cheaper than getting prints from negatives, and you 
may then be selective about which slides you submit for printing.

All that having been said, please check my next reply to Bob Weir.

Thom