Oct. 2002
President's
Message
Photo FAQs
Photo FAQs
Eric Kissa
Q: What is a transi?
A: Transi is an English word for a transparency. In the New world a transi is called a slide.
Q: Which filters do you use the most frequently with color slide film?
A:Undoubtedly, a polarizer, a graduated neutral gray Cokin filter and a multicoated UV filter to protect the lens. The purists advise against keeping a UV filter on the lens because the added two glass surfaces degrade the optical performance of the lens, at least theoretically. However, a filter is easier to clean and replace than the front element of the lens. I remove the UV filter before mounting another filter. On overcast or rainy days, I use warming filters (usually the 81B). Instead of using a warming filter with a polarizer, a warming polarizer eliminates two glass surfaces and reduces vignetting of some wide angle lenses. Other filters are less important. An enhancing filter is effective on fall foliage, but a magenta cast limits its general use. Cooling filters and conversion filters are needed infrequently. Sometimes I use a Cokin graduated blue filter, but I am tired of the tobacco filter.
Q:Has the digital darkroom eliminated the need for filters?
A:Certainly, a polarizer and a graduated neutral gray filter are still needed. Color corrections of slides can be made in a computer but the scanner and the film processor take their toll, the latter one literally. If a digital print is the output, color correcting filters on the lens are less important. A scanner is used anyhow and color corrections are made routinely in the computer.
Q:What is the difference between a bit and a pixel?
A:
Bit, the binary digit, is a
smallest component of information in a digital data file. A bit can have
values of only a "0" and "1". A pixel, a tiny square,
is the smallest piece of information seen on a screen of a monitor. In
other words, a bit is software related and a pixel is hardware related.
A byte consists of eight bits. A kilobyte has 1024 bytes, a megabyte (MB)
consists of 1024 kilobytes (KB) or 1.08576 million bytes, and a gigabyte
(GB) is equal to 1024 megabytes.
Q :I am trying to scan slides into my computer for an enlargement to 8x10 prints. I have trouble to get the correct size. My scanner is the Epson 1240 and I am using Photo Deluxe version 4.
A: Inadequate quality of the scan may be the problem. Flatbed scanners do not have the resolution needed for scanning 35mm slides or negatives. A resolution of 300 ppi is needed for a high quality print, 200 ppi is the minimum for a satisfactory quality. The 1200 ppi resolution of your Epson 1240 scanner is not adequate for prints larger than 5x7. Film scanners have a higher resolution and other features essential for making high quality scans but they are costly.
When you scan the slide, crop (trim) the image, make the necessary corrections and open the Photo Deluxe Print Size window. Set the resolution to 200 pixels/inch and the corresponding print size will be only slightly larger than 5 x 7. If you set the print size to 5 inches wide and 8 inches high, the corresponding resolution will be about 140 ppi. You should still get a 8x10 print but not as sharp as you would like it to be.
Another limitation may be the paper size. The printer may not print borderless and the 8.5x11 paper size may be too small for the 8x10 print.
Q At racetracks the early evening lighting produces very rich, warm colors. I see a definite shift to the red in my prints. Are there any filters available to cool the color?
A: The 82A filter reduces the warmth of evening lighting, the filters 82B and 82C have a stronger cooling effect. The warm color shift can be corrected by printing as well, either by the wet process or digitally.
Q I exposed inadvertently an ISO100 slide film at the ISO 400 setting. What should I do?
A: Ask for the film to be developed by a two push process.
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Send questions concerning photographic
equipment (cameras, lenses, accessories, filters), photographic techniques
(other than digital), and film, as well as information on international
photographic exhibitions, to: ekissa @aol.com.