Problems with 35mm Slides Today

In the past, 35mm slides were one of the most popular forms of film. Professionals liked this film because it captured a positive image on the film. However, slide film is becoming more and more difficult to work with, as digital technology is taking over the photography industry.

Why Slide Film Was Desired

Slide film was popular because it was a positive image. This meant that little image quality was lost because the developer had to go from a negative image to a positive image, adding his own ideas about how the color should look. With a slide image, you must be a skilled photographer to make the final product look right. You cannot "cheat" with developing techniques. Slide film was also used as a teaching tool, because students could easily see what their techniques were doing to the resulting image.

Slides are also easier to store than prints as well. They take up less room, and you do not have to deal with the problem of images and negatives. You just store the slide itself. For serious photographers, this means far less storage space.

Modern Problems with Slides

While 35mm slide film has many advantages over traditional film to professional photographers, they are problematic today. Digital photography is overtaking the photography world, and slide carousels are becoming obsolete. Kodak, once one of the leading suppliers of slide gear, has actually stopped making slide carousels. Today, photographers are using PowerPoint presentations to show digital images rather than slide projectors.

While slides are easier to store than 35mm negatives and prints, they still have to be stored and can be damaged. Digital files are much more difficult to damage, and much easier to store. You cannot get a fingerprint on a digital file as you can with a 35mm slide. Likewise, the digital file cannot be scratched, dented, poked, torn, or spilled on.

Photographers who are serious about shooting slide film can still purchase a light box to show their images. Projectors and carousels can still be found, but they cost a lot. However, most people expect images to be digital in the world of photography today.

For those who are set on shooting 35mm slides or have a box of slides they do not want to become obsolete, what options do they have? Even if a photographer is happy with slide film at this point, having those images scanned and made into a high quality digital image is a great option.

The clarity, color saturation, and true imaging that makes slide film so attractive to the photographer will be preserved, if the equipment used is professional scanning equipment. In addition, the final digital image is far safer to archive than the slides, as the image cannot be damaged unless the CD or DVD is damaged. Also, these digital files can easily be uploaded into PowerPoint or any other presentation software, eliminating the need for the hard-to-find slide carousel.

In the end, hiring a slide scanning company to scan your slides and turn them into a digital format gives you the best of both worlds, if you love shooting slide film. You can keep your original slides, and still benefit from the convenience of having your images digitized.