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TGS
(Trainutz
Slide Grading System)
TGS ©
2000, Andy Romano
Why Should
You Care About TGS Grading Slide Quality?
TGS Grading is your assurance that the
slide you buy is an "original" slide. If you are acquiring
an individual slide from us, it has been carefully inspected
and individually graded for quality by Andy
Romano. Slides are evaluated for color, sharpness, lighting,
exposure, composition and other qualities in six grades ranging
from "GEM" to "POOR." Examples can be seen
by clicking the links below. Slide prices reflect grades as well
as "vintage" of the slide. If you are acquiring a "Lot"
of slides from us, it will have a Lot grading, for example "This
Lot TGS Graded AVG to FINE" meaning the minimum quality
of a slide in that Lot will be "AVG" and will range
up to and include "FINE" specimens.
PLEASE NOTE: Because slide image quality
can change over time, especially if they are not properly stored
or cared for, the TGS Grading is in effect at the time of sale.
The TGS Grading will hold true for many, many years if the
slide is cared for properly. Vintage slides (1960's and earlier)
will generally have lower grades than post-1960's slides because
availability of higher-quality camera-lens-film combinations
among railfans was not widespread in those years.
(click each to see example)
As near to a "perfect"
specimen as can be found. A slide cannot receive this highest
grade unless it is extremely sharp (you can "count the rivets"),
it must be superbly sunlit,
show rich color in the film, no bad shadows, no part of the main
subject will be obscured.
Foreground and background must be uncluttered and composition
must be outstanding.
Paint must be clean or fresh. If it is a roster pose, rather than
an action or train shot,
the view usually (but not always) will be a "single unit
portrait."
Extremely Fine. Sharp, sunny, rich color, no bad shadows, no part
of subject
will be obscured. Uncluttered background, good composition. Better
artistic composition
than FINE but not quite a GEM. The subject may have dull paint
and other minor
imperfections but the photo is top notch in most technical respects.
To earn this rating, a slide
minimally must be a sharp, bright sunlit view
with better than average detail, though loco may have partially
shaded trucks, wire
shadows, or other minor imperfections. It will have rich and accurate
color rendition.
TGS 4 ~ AVG
The average view, may be less
than ideal light (overcast skies, etc) or not the ideal
angle of view. May have some flaws such as shaded sides, trucks,
and so forth. May
not be razor-sharp but will be sharp enough to see the detail
including lettering. The
kind of picture you take when you can't control the conditions,
and you travelled
far to get it, so... click! Average
slides are very presentable pictures.
Presentable view but usually
under- or over-exposed. May be grainy, off-brand
film or other noticeable flaws such as front-coupled unit with
something obscured.
These are the kind of slides you might buy to temporarily fill
a gap in your
collection until you can find a better specimen.
Serious flaws, seriously over-
or under-exposed, or soft focus, or marring,
or scratches, chemical marks, etc. There are rare times when we
might
list such slides but this is only because they may be very rare
and
there aren't many examples of the subject of these pictures.
NOTE: In some cases, intermediate gradings may be indicated,
such as "4+" which would in effect be AVG+ ... that
is
somewhat better than average but not quite FINE.
Ratings are for the film/image
itself and do not represent the slide mounts which
generally speaking are almost always in fine condition. If they
are NOT standard
cardboard mounts, it will be noted (such as "plastic,"
"glass-mount," etc).
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trainutz.com and RailSlide Collector
On-Line © 2004 by Andy Romano.
Images at this site may not be copied without our written consent.
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