I have a Nikon 990 need slides. How are you getting slides produced
from digital camers? Do you copy to CD or send/take the camera’s
card? Are there locations that specialize in jewelry slides from
digital cameras? If your original digital photo is very good, is the
resulting slide good enough for juried shows? Is anyone beginning to
see shows that accept digital images for jury? tx,
Regis
Hi Regis, To get slides from a digital file, you need to take them to
a place that has a device called a “film recorder”. A film recorder is
basically box with a high resolution video screen at one end, with a
35mm camera pointed at it from the other. The camera shutter is opened
and the screen “records” one scan line at a time onto the film. The
process is simple, the vendor will print your slides directly onto the
film from the computer, either from Photoshop or some version of
dedicated software. Then they run it through the regular E-6 slide
processor and mount your slides and that’s it. The price is usually
about $2-$7 each , depending on turnaround time and location. Try
looking for “professional” photo labs in your area that advertise
things like “digital imaging” or “slide imaging” or “presentation
slides” . The market for this service has dropped considerably, as
people are using laptops and digital projectors for presentations more
now than ever.
In regards to resolution, the pixel size of a standard 35mm slide
recorder is 4096 x 2732, which equates to about 32 megs uncompressed,
if I remember correctly. (that’s big!) This is known as “4K” or “4
thousand lines” or resolution. That is still not quite “film
resolution” (About 8K) but it’s good enough to make an 8.5x11 print in
a magazine or send to a juried competition. At that point the
resolution won’t be an issue. But, your problem is that this
translates to 11.19 megapixels in a digital camera! Only the high end
(thousands of $$$) digitals match that. However, if your shots are as
good as you say, and you are showing the piece up close, I personally
would imagine the quality to be fine, but if you examine the image
with a loupe magnifier, you will be able to see the pixels. Do a test
and see what you think.
If you are really stuck for a place to make you slides, I have a
film recorder here, you’d just have to send me the files in email or
on CD via snail mail. It’s not my business, though, so if you could
find someone close by to you it would be cheaper and quicker, and more
convenient.
Good luck!
-Drew
www.fiodh.com