Sensia 400-Thoughts/Suggestions?

I bought a camera the other day, and got a nice surprise in that there were two rolls of Sensia 400 buried in the bottom of the bag.

 

I don't have an age on them, and Fuji E6 cartridges haven't changed in the time I've been shooting it. With that said, both rolls are in cans with translucent tops, and when I first started shooting Fuji E6 around 2006 I remember it always having a black lid(I forget when it changed, but I know that everything I've bought in the last few years has been translucent).

 

In any case, has anyone used this film? I've never used Sensia in any form, but I understand it to be like Elite Chrome in that it's the "consumer" version of pro films. I still have a ton of Elite Chrome and still like it-it's a bit grainier than E100G/E100GX(one most "sterile" and digital-looking films I've ever used) and with saturation somewhere between E100G and E100VS or SW. Would it be fair to assume that Sensia falls somewhere around Provia-i.e. more saturated than Astia but less than Velvia?

 

Also, how is the grain of it? Aside from a bit of Provia 400F in MF, I've not shot 400 speed E6 film. I think I still have some ASA 200 Elite Chrome, but I remember it being pretty grainy. Am I likely to see over the top grain on this?

 

This will most likely get standard E6 processing.

I used a roll of Sensia 200 on a trip last year to Kaua'i. It was refrigerated much of its life, so even though it was develop by 2005, it came out just fine.

 

I don't remember what the can looked like.

 

Unrefrigerated, chances aren't quite as good, if it is ten or so years old.

 

Most likely the two rolls were stored together, so the results from one will indicate what to expect from the other.

Thanks-that's kind of what I figured. It's hard to say how old exactly these are. They're obviously fairly "modern" but were in the bottom of a Nikon EL2 bag.

 

I'm working out of a box of Velvia that expired in 1997 and it looks great, but I'm pretty sure the only time it's spent significant time out of cold storage is the few days it took to ship to me. The seller told me that when he bought the film(from a switched-to-digital pro) he took coolers with him and took the film straight from the freezers to the coolers and then to his own freezers.

 

I'll see what happens...

Some articles indicate that Sensia was discontinued about 2010.

 

You have to balance processing costs against the chance that it isn't good, while considering that if it is, you have one more roll.

 

I would probably take the chance with about 6 rolls, knowing that I would be able to use the rest after the first one came out fine.

 

 

Two isn't quite enough for me.

Are you certain they haven't been exposed already Ben?

 

I used to tear a small length of the leader off my exposed rolls, to prevent accidental re-use. And of course those new-fangled electric cameras would rewind the leader fully into the cassette. An EL2 isn't going to do that, so it's possible your rolls of Sensia have already got someone else's pictures on them.

 

Check the leader out for signs of reverse folding in the take-up spool, or for any slight scratches from being inserted in the take-up slot.

Joe, I'm reasonably positive they're unexposed. The leaders are pulled to what I'd call "factory length" and they don't have the "kink" I associate with being slotted into a take-up spool and then reverse wound.

I liked Sensia 400 back in the film days. Low saturation, but OK contrast and with good grain. Good for people and events.

I had two rolls of old Tri-X. As the leader wasn't out at "factory length", I assumed that they had been exposed, and develop one.

 

No pictures and low fog, so I didn't develop the other one. Some day I will use the other one.

 

These are in non-crimped cassettes, which I might also find a good use for.

 

I agree, check for a kink, but I suspect that you are right.

400F was stunning when pulled a stop, especially in MF. The problem with Sensia 400 and a lot of the other Provia based films is they didn't work right run through E-6 lines spec'd with Kodak Q-strips, and most E-6 labs spec's with Kodak for Q/C purposes. Kodak E-6 films like shorter color developer times....Fuji E-6 films, especially Provia 100/400 prefer much more extended times. Net was result was reduced saturation and 'cool' shifted tones of Provia and 'green' looking Sensia. Properly processed Provia 100 and Sensia 400 / Provia 400 were warm, lively, and had punchy yet detailed colors. The Sensia in question here will liekly age to the wamrm/ magenta side, which won't hurt it.

In the days of Kodak mailers, there was the ESP-1 mailer to get push processing on Ektachrome.

 

Otherwise, many labs now will do push for an extra charge.

 

I once had two rolls of Ektachrome P800/1600 (or a similar name) film, designed to be pushed to 800 or 1600.

 

Since E6 gives the same development time, independent of what would have been optimal for a specific speed, some films are better when pushed.

 

I used one roll on a cave tour, doing available light as much as I could.