What is slide film and E-6 processing?

Slide film has many other names, including “positive“, “transparency“, “reversal“ and “E-6” film. Unlike the more common color negative film, slide film produces a positive image straight onto the film. The light and dark areas appear as they do in reality. When mounted on card stock, these images are the slides that you’d put in a slide projector, or the slides that your grandparents have in boxes in the attic.

Slide film tends to have a low ISO and produces results with fine grain and vivid colors. For this reason it was a very popular choice back in the day for photographers working with print magazines such as National Geographic. However when it comes to exposure latitude slide film is not so flexible so it’s important to nail the exposure.

E-6 processing is the standard development practice for slide film. The term E-6 comes from the fact that the development process for slide film requires six baths, including developer, stop, and fixer.

Slide film is much less popular than color negative film, and as a result not all labs offer E-6 processing. However there is still enough demand that with a quick internet search you’ll be able to find somewhere to get your slide film developed without too much trouble.

Many Lomographers also enjoy developing slide film with C-41 chemicals as it produces fascinating effects with vastly altered colors. This unorthodox method of development is known as cross-processing.