Slides; worth reverting to 35mm over digital?

Dear Group,
I'm a student in sculpture. Mostly friends pose for me, but
favors would run short after the first 20 hrs of posing :-) A
sculpture takes a lot of time... Models are prohibitively expensive.
Thus, photography is a natural answer. Thus far when I do a portrait
head of a friend, I take 24 photos all the way around, set up my laptop
with its 14" screen, and that works. But larger? This screen is too
small for a 1/2-scale figure.
I have a digital camera. I just browsed digital projectors, for
which I'd be looking at around $650.
I investigated old kodak slide projectors. They sell for
$50-$100, almost disposable-- I could just upgrade to digital in a
couple years when I'm wealthier; and the bulbs are reasonably
affordable (if it burns out on a digital projector, it is not; the bulb
is half the price of the projector, like ink to printers or blades to
razors).
Digital film to slides costs $2.50/slide, and I'm told the
quality is lacking. This setup is impossible; Just 10 sculptures, and
I have my digital projector!!
Regular film to slide is much cheaper. So are regular cameras.
But then instead of one digital projector, now I'm getting a used slide
projector, replacement bulbs, a camera, and learning to use it from
scratch (never used a traditional film camera before). Is it worth it?
I'd spend I suppose $200 instead of $600, but ultimately will likely
upgrade anyway. Will the quality of film be greater than XGA digital
resolution, projected onto an ~80" screen?
Oh, about projectors, a quick question: the carousel goes around,
from 1-80. I have 24 photos, no need for 80, that's so close as to be
redundant. However, I want to go from 1 to 24 and then circle right
back to 1 again. Does the carousel lock in one position, such that
this is impossible, or can I just quickly release the carousel, rotate
it back to one, and start clicking through again?
thanks for the advice!
-Bernard Arnest

Bernard Arnest

Re: slides; worth reverting to 35mm over digital?

74g2000cwt.googlegroups.com:
Not quite safe to assume. Color printers are making thousands of
"colors" (hues, if you will) out of four, or maybe six color inks, so what
they do is cluster different colors together (in those tiny dots) to
achieve what looks like a particular hue. So, technically, you can't change
dpi to ppi when talking printing.
However, you may also be close enough for what you're doing.
Color register may be a problem. Getting accurate color from a
printer is difficult in the best of times, far more so when counting on the
inks to act as a color gel or filter. It won't hurt to try a couple - you
may have to create a set of standard alterations to the original to make a
decent transparency.
You may also see some distortion from an overhead projector.
Definitely, if you cannot adjust the lens head to be perfectly parallel to
the projection surface. Slide projectors are slightly less prone to this,
but still something to be aware of.
Slides, taken properly, will probably surprise you with their
sharpness and clarity. Use a decent film for people like Fuji Astia/Sensia
(virtually the same thing) and remember that your contrast will be
increased slightly, so aim for lowered contrast from your lighting
situation.
Then, there's also the option of a much larger external monitor for
the laptop.
Check your school's surplus options - you can sometimes find items
for a song. Ours (UNC-CH) has slide projectors for $10-15, monitors for
$25-35, and plenty of other fun things disgustingly cheap.
- Al.
--
To reply, insert dash in address to match domain below
Online photo gallery at www.wading-in.net

Al Denelsbeck

Re: slides; worth reverting to 35mm over digital?

Hi,
Hmm.... tell me if this is sound logic.
My photo is 2952 X 1944 pixels. Going digital, projectors in
my price range are limited to ~1200 X 800. That sucks; no matter how
big I blow it up on the wall. My color printer will do 600 X 600 dpi.
So in an 8 X 10 transparency, assuming 1 "dot" = 1 pixel? If so, then
there are far more than enough dots to capture the full detail of the
digital photo, which 1200X800 will not? Then, will a cheap overhead
projector reflect almost the full detail of the 600X600dpi
transparency? If so, then I think I have my answer; dirt cheap,
without investing in a new film camera as well as a slide projector and
paying for each development.
Let me know,
thanks!
-Bernard Arnest

Bernard Arnest

Re: slides; worth reverting to 35mm over digital?

"Bernard Arnest" <barnest@mit.edu> wrote
mit.edu? sculpture? Oh, you must mean decorative civil engineering.
I have seen projectors for $5 in yard sales, looked OK, but
caveat emptor. You don't necessarily need a Carousel -- though
they are the standard, other types did exist. Autofocus _is_ a
nice thing to have on a projector unless you mount your slides
in glass.
A used autofocus plastic body SLR w/ lens can be had for
$100, I don't know much about the low end of Nikon,
Minolta, Pentax and Canon, others can comment.
If you don't mind a 'classic' manual camera $20 will get you a
Mamiya 1000 DTL or equivelant. Ask a photographer at your
end to help you pick one from ebay. If it needs a PX625
Mercury battery [no longer made] come back here for advice
[most of it conflicting] on a work-around -- it is no
big deal. Again, caveat emptor: if the listing says "I
don't have time to test it," "the original owner said it
worked," "the last time it was used," "beautiful, rare,
fine addition to, proud to own ... ," "I don't know
anything about cameras", don't buy.
A projection screen is a nice thing to have, common
garage sale item.
If the market has hit bottom (???) you can probably
sell the stuff for what you bought it for.
Push down the button on the side by the 'gate' and the tray
can be spun. It needs to be spun back to '0' to be removed.

Nicholas O. Lindan

Re: slides; worth reverting to 35mm over digital?

Bernard Arnest writes:
Yes.
The advantage of film is better bang for the buck; the disadvantage is
greater overhead in order to get nice photos, and the continuing cost
of film and development (although you have to shoot a lot of film to
reach the initial cost of a digital system).
--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

Mxsmanic

Re: slides; worth reverting to 35mm over digital?

...
For sculpture work, I would think an ideal tool would be a stereo
camera.....consider finding an old Stereo Realist.....Take a half dozen or
so shots of your model with one of these, and you should never have to look
at him/her again.......