Fuji Astia film results

First, this one is in response to a number of queries about Fuji Astia, their newest slide offering. I've only shot 300 ft of it so far, but have head to head comparisons on the same subjects, same light with both Velvia & Provia. Black Crowned Night Herons, seagull eating a cliff swallow, marbled godwits, avocets & skunks. With Velvia. The Astia is lower in contrast & still has very good color saturation but is able to hold detail in deeper black feathers & fur as well as in bright white feathers in full sunlight. With Provia. It has cleaner whites, no magenta/brownish cast and a bit lower contrast. I have switched from Provia & Sensia to Astia. I won't switch from Velvia, but am shooting Astia as my 100 film. Push 1 stop to 200. ONLY 1 ROLL, so not a comprehensive test. But it looks good in heavy cloud & rain conditions. On all the birds & mammals so far, the detail available in feathers & fur look very nice, allowing shooting a bit later in the morning. But for rainbows, I would stick with Velvia due to its 'disneychrome' reactions to a subject that can usually use the help. I have been able to go back to the same Black Crowned Night Heron on his favorite rock perch at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, same time & nearly the same light within 2 days. Astia is very accurate from direct comparisons with slide to live bird & looks good. Velvia definately makes the pre-sunrise glow look better, but unless the two are side by side, either works well. On herons & Western Grebes, the yellow eyes & red eyes sure benefit from Velvia, but the feather detail seems more delicate with Astia. All in all, I will use a lot if it in the future.

Dan, thanks for the information on Astia. I am wondering if you have had any prints made from your Astia slides and which printing method you used. One assumes that a less contrasty film will produce a 'better' print with more details. Please let us know what you have found.