Ektachrome -- The beauty of slide film.

carpenter bee on anemone
Originally uploaded by argusmaniac.

I don't shoot slide film like I used to. I remember coming back from a week-long trip to New Mexico in 2003 and sending off something like 30+ rolls of slide film for processing. Most of my color work is digital now, unless I am shooting medium format or playing around with vintage cameras. However, every once in a while I like to shoot some slide film, if nothing more than to keep me honest. Now, I might shoot less than a dozen rolls of 35mm slide film a year, but I still shoot a LOT of B&W.

I put a cassette of Ektachrome 200 ED in my Nikon 8008 - back in August, and finally got it processed last week. The color palette of slide film is so different from digital. The ED200 isn't as fine-grained as the 100, or even Kodachrome 64. But -- it has a depth and pleasing appearance that digital just does not have - yet.

I have a roll of really old Kodachrome 25 in my Nikkormat. I shot some not so long ago, and the color looked great for 25 year old film!

With scanners being so cheap today -- transparency film is a blast - especially with medium format cameras. It really is much easier than the old days when one had to get an internegative made from a slide if you wanted prints. Now - just scan and you are good to go.