Digitization of Slide Film (35mm) – Transfer, Postproduction, Admissible Changes

Abstract

One of the most widespread photography formats before digitization, both for professional and amateur use, was the slide film (35mm, Leica format). Due to its compact size, compared to medium and large formats, this equipment was preferred by all photo reporters, photographs of the wild nature (probably the best known was the ones of the National Geographic magazine) and of course for the general people, creating family photos. Slides were the common way of presenting, when images had to be shown at wide audience. They appeared also in art – in galleries and on stage. For that reason there is enormous material shot on this medium, transferred regularly in digital format. The digitization itself is constantly changing and sometimes the same image is digitized numerous times. In this material I will follow the basic ways of digitization and the changes that occur. Important problem of the digital transfer still remains the limit of admissible postproduction, which inevitably is modifying the initial image.