Not that long ago I tried slide film for the first time. Specifically Fujifilm Provia 100F in 35mm strength. And wow. Everything I heard and saw was true. Beautiful colors and amazing detail.
Wilson then showed me a roll he shot on his Pentax 645. To which I internally responded, “Yes, more of that, please. And thank you.” So a roll of 120 film it is. What to use? First up slide film has only a few downsides:
- Has to be sent out and takes weeks to get back.
- More expensive to have developed.
- Film is known to be forgiving exposure wise. But not slide film. Correct exposure is key.
This is the reason I chose the rock solid AE Contax T2 for the 35mm roll. For 120 the choice was easy. I only have one AE medium format film camera, the wonderful Pentax 645N.
If I were a logical man (I am into photography so there is no hope of that) this would be all the medium format camera I would need. Rock solid AE. Rock solid AF. Takes regular old AA batteries. Built like a tank. Fantastic control layout that out Fuji’s Fuji (Fuji folks do not come at me if you have never looked over a 645N. Have owned quite a few Fuji digital cameras, loved them, and I stand by this statement.).
The result? 16 for 16. Every single shot in focus. Every single shot perfectly exposed. Composition? Repetitive, because I am used to shooting safety shots. But that was not necessary. The camera was a dream to work with. Next time out I will be more adventurous.
The shots. Not going to belabor the point with a bunch of hyperbole. Suffice it to say that if you are not in a rush to get your negatives back, are nice with the light meter or have a camera with solid AE, are shooting in a colorful environment and want to capture those colors with as much detail as you can I highly recommend using 120 slide film… Well, Provia 100F anyway. I imagine there are others that impress, but I can specifically vouch for Fuji here.
As is usual here is a link to all 16 shots and below is a sample.
Happy shooting.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 