Re: Provia 400X - Twice as expensive as color neg film, costs more to develop for me, etc. If I actually projected these, they look great. But when all I do is scan, a quick tweak in photoshop can bring up the contrast if I want more. I'm a big fan of the Portra films - I think they look fantastic. However, the Kodak Gold 100 I got for $.50/roll also looks pretty darn good.
I'd also like to get into color printing in the darkroom but I don't want to dick around with Cibachromes, so it's negative film for that as well.
That being said, 400X is a great film. Nice natural colors, nice contrast, nice grain. If you like slides, this film is definitely one to try.
I just think I'm more of a negative guy than a slide guy.
Took me a long time to get to this shot, but I'm finally happy with the outcome. Its heavily compressed here, but there is a great deal more detail in a printable size. You can plainly see the individual flowers and blades of grass in a 16X20 print.
(but the "larger" link is actually smaller here?)