The Sub Club

SUBMINI SLIDES

Some people never think of using submini negatives for slide shows. And when they do think about it, they think it's impossible. How can a tiny negative give a good enough image when projected to such a large size? In fact, submini slides can be used with great results.

First, you need slide film. You have several options here. If you are using a half-frame camera, 35mm slide film is available in a wide variety of speeds. Kodachrome can't be beat for quality. For 16mm, there are several movie films that are perfect for bright light and low-light situations. They are available in daylight and tungsten types, just like 35mm slide film, and they do not have the REMJET backing (which need special processing) like color negative movie films. For 9.5mm films, Minox still offers a slide film and processing.

Next, you need film processing. This, of course, depends on the film, but is still easy to find or to do at home. You might find that the processing will not offer mounting of you submini slides. This is not a big problem. Just get the film processed.

Next, you'll need slide mounts, if mounting was not available with processing. Several companies sell a wide variety of slide image sizes in standard 35mm 2x2 inch mounts. For example, Gepe makes 2x2 inch slide mounts with 18x24mm, 24x24mm, 14x21mm, 13x17mm, 12x17mm, 10x14mm, and 8x11mm cut-outs. And if you have a more unusual format, get the next largest size and use slide-masking tape to cover up the left-over space. All you need is a pair of scissors.

Finally, you'll need a submini slide projector. If you place submini slides in a projector designed for full frame 35mm slides the projected image will be very small. This is because most 35mm projectors have lenses in the 100-125mm range. You have several options to solve this problem:

Move the slide projector further back in the room and refocus the image. The smaller the submini slide format, the further back you'll need to move the slide projector.
Switch the slide projector lens for a shorter focal length lens. Usually a lens about twice the focal length of the diagonal of the film format will give a good image. For half-frame slides, a 50-60mm lens is great, while for Minox a 28-30mm works fine.
Temporarity attach a close-up lens to the normal slide projector lens. This has the effect of shortening the focal length of the projector lens. Details are in the CREATIVE CORNER section of the SUBCLUB.
Replace the normal slide projector lens with an inexpensive enlarging lens. Details are in the CREATIVE CORNER section of the SUBCLUB.

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