Fujichrome Sensia 100 vs. Kodak EliteChrome 100

I am an amateur. I am going on a 25-days Southern Africa overland

tour starting in Cape Town, up length of Namibia, to Chobe Natl Park,

Victoria Falls and ending in Joburg. I'm anticipating landscape (more

desert like) and wildlife photography.

 

Am I better off with the Kodak EliteChrome 100 vs. the Sensia 100 for

the kind of scenery I'll be seeing? It's cold and snowy currently

where I am, so unable to compare the to films with comparable subject

matter.

 

Thanks,

Helene Wong

My idiot brother who sometimes makes his living as a photographer swears by Provia, also known as RDP-III. He gives me a hard time about using Ektachrome. I shoot EliteChrome 100, also known as EB, in my 35 mm cameras, and EPP in my 2x3s. Peter is not often wrong, unfortunately I am otherwise.

 

RDP-III is the finest-grained ISO 100 E-6 film and B&H charges less for it than for Sensia. If I were you, I'd go for it. Yes, it costs more than EB.

There are a lot of existing threads on film choices for Afraican safaris. Please take a look at those first but I can assure you that you will not get a definitive answer from any web forum. This is very much going to be your personal decision.

 

IMO either one of those two films will be fine for wildlife. I have used a lot of Sensia in Africa and I am generally happy with it. For landscape, I use Fujichrome Velvia. By the way, somehow a number of people have been recommending ISO 400 film for African safaris. A few rolls of ISO 400 for the occasional evening shoots is fine, but generally, ISO 100 is sufficient. YMMV.

If you're serious about wildlife photos, you may want to consider

a couple of rolls of something faster than 100. Assuming you'll

be using med to long telephotos to "reach" the animals, 100

speed film could seriously limit the shutter speeds you'll have

available for moving wildlife - especially since most animals are

most visible at dawn and dusk. Some 200 or even 400 for those

situations would be advised.

 

Jim Franck

I am a huge Fuji fan. Velvia gives beautiful colour saturation at ISO 50 especially underexposed a full stop. And their Provia 100 and 400 are superb. For slides, these three are all I ever shoot. Take some of each and don't forget B&W film as well (try to borrow an extra camera body). Fuji film is not cheap but for such a trip, go with the best. Have a marvelous adventure!

Rick Gray

I live in South Africa, and have found sensia to be fine for my needs, but I haven't

actually tried elite chrome, so I can't really comment on which film is better. Film

choice is also a very subjective matter. I would definitely toss in a couple rolls of

Velvia into your bag for landscapes - also works very nicely for wildlife if you have a

fast enough lens.

 

Lighting is quite harsh during the day; a polarising and/or warming filter can help to

remedy this, but your best bet is to wait for evening light for landscapes here.

 

HTH

 

James.

Having been to <B>Eastern</B> Africa twice, I am very tired of people suggesting ISO 400 film for wildlife work in East Africa, as the equator goes right through the middle of Kenya and the sun is very intense there. ISO 100 is more than sufficient although you may need a few rolls of ISO 400 for the evenings. But the majority of your wildlife film for East Africa should be ISO 100 and perhaps push it to 200 when necessary. You can certainly disagree with me. If you have been to Africa but prefer ISO 400 there, please explain your reasons. However, if you don't have personal experience in East Africa, suggesting ISO 400 film is simply poor and misleading advice. Just a couple of months ago, someone took this advice and is now stuck with a lot of unused ISO 400 film in the refrigerator after an African safari.

<P>

Southern Africa is farther away from the equator; I have never been there. Since you live in South Africa, James, does the same rule apply and is ISO 100 film sufficient for the most part in your area?

<P>

I think Elite Chrome is more saturated than Sensia 100. For a location where the sun is intense, I would use the less saturated Sensia for wildlife work. But again, it still boils down to your personal preference.

Shun - in answer to the question you pose, 100 speed film is more than adequate with reasonably fast lenses during the day (pretty much any lens in fact!). As you suggest, faster film is however very useful in the evenings, very early mornings and possibly on night drives.

 

During the day I can get reasonable exposure times (1/60 or faster) on my f6.4 lens (500mm) with Velvia, which is ISO 50 (as most people know) - so during the day, there's plenty of light about for 100 speed film.

 

It's a different story from about 2-3 hours after sunrise and before sunset - which are better times to photograph (that nice, warm glow), but slower lenses may struggle to give you a decent shutter speed to avoid motion blur at these times with ISO 100 and 50 films - here a couple (and I mean a couple) of rolls of faster (400) might be a good idea. Even faster films might allow you to capture shots by "torchlight" from the big 500,000-1,000,000 candle power torches they use at night - I haven't experimented with this though, so I'm not too sure quite how fast your film would need to be for that. I generally put the camera away once it's dark.

 

I pushed a roll of sensia 100 to 400 for those "nice light" conditions (late evening and early morning) and the results were pretty good, so you can also give that a try, particularly if you're stuck without a faster film and need one. Just make sure to label that roll of film!!!

 

Film choice is rather subjective, and a lot of people like the more saturated films, to add a bit more "life" to the dusty, dry conditions - but then again, it's not realistic, but are you documenting things or doing "art"? It's a personal preference in the end!

 

When in Namibia, take precautions against sand entering your lens/camera (plastic bags with rubber bands around the lens with a hole in the end to let the lens look through), get up really early and hike up those dunes. A tripod is an absolute must. Cable releases are a good plan too. Velvia is probably a good choice there.

 

HTH

Thanks to all of you who've taken the time to respond!!

 

And yes, still confusing, but as many have pointed out - "a very

personal decision", aka you're on your own :*) I find the more I learn, the more I find out how much more there is to learn. Humble forever!

 

Another point that I'd like clarified: I was under the impression

(of someone who's just this year started understanding exposure, etc) that one should stick to one "brand" of film for one trip altho one may bring a combo of speed film. That is, use of combo of Fuji films OR Kodak films. Is that true?

 

Thanks again and cheers,

Helene

 

PS. I look forwards to putting my 2 cents in on what film to take

when I am back.

Helene, it is not a problem mixing different brands of film. For several years the Ektachrome E200 was the best choice for ISO 200, so I was mainly using Sensia 100 with a few rolls of E200. In my two trips to East Africa, I shot well over 100 rolls of slides, a few of those were ISO 200 but never ISO 400. Nowadays, I simply push Provia 100F to ISO 200 when necessary. It is a lot more flexable that way and I don't get stuck with ISO 200 film that I cannot use.

 

Thanks to James for his information. However, unlike him, I usually don't use Velvia for wildlife work. The colors are too unnatural to me and IMO its high contrast is not suitable in Africa, and I wouldn't couple it with a polarizer either. Velvia is, however, my primary landscape film. For landscape work, I use the polarizer a lot, perhaps too much as a matter of fact.

 

A final point, if you do post a post-trip report, please continue right here in this thread and do not start a new thread.

As Shun says, there's no problem mixing brands at all - feel free to take a mix of whatever you want if you want to do that. Try a couple of rolls of both films - but if you know and love a particular film in Canadian conditions, stick to it as you'll probably know its little idiosynracies.

 

Part of the reason that people suggest testing films before you go is that not all films respond quite the same way to light as others- i.e. some 100 ISO films aren't *quite* 100 ISO - but this is a subjective thing - whatever looks best to your eyes is right. So it's important to know what exposure "corrections" you may need to make with that camera/lens combo.

 

To be honest, the main reason I use Sensia is because it's the most widely available slide film here, is fairly cheap, and I'm used to it now.

 

I don't generally use Velvia for wildlife work either (usually Sensia in fact) a) because I can't afford it (I can eat lunch for a week for the cost of a roll of Velvia) and b) because my long lens is too slow to do so in the sort of light you could really benefit from a bit of Velvia's punchy colours. In fact I've only used Velvia on wildlife once, and I have yet to get that roll developed.

 

Like Shun, I also use Velvia extensively for landscapes (if I have a roll of it). And it's brilliant for that.

 

Sensia is a pretty good all round film for me though.

 

I'm about to get 5 rolls of an Agfa slide film to play with (a friend of mine works for the importer so I got a discount) =) If I like it I'll probably switch over. Can't fault cheaper film if it's up to the same quality...!

 

That will keep me in film for a few months at the rate I'm shooting at the moment =(

 

Enjoy your trip!

 

HTH.

 

Incidentally, elephants are not middletoned subjects, they're a bit darker =)

James & Shun,

 

So, I'm ok for a combo of brands and speed (100, 1-2 200, and maybe even 1 400).

 

But obviously, I have never experiemented with the Velvia, Provia, etc altho I do prefer the "natural" look.

 

I'm cool with experimenting on this 5-weeks trip assuming I remember when to use what :*) But would I be any worse than if I was using say all Sensia 100 or EliteChrome 100? In other words, can I "mess up" using the "higher end" films given I am new at this? Or, if I can take a decent shot with the consumer film, can I do any worse with the other "better" films?

 

Also, pls clarify for me: I thought usually Fuji type films are better at "greens", you know LOTR type scenery. I don't anticipate Namibia to be "green", so Sensia still ok as a general film? I've heard people say that Kodak is better for tan colours; desert == tan, therefore Kodak?

 

Again, I appreciate the responses thus far from everybody.

 

Have a good one! D-4 before I'm off.

Helene

Helene, the best advice I can give you now is to stick with the films you are familiar with. During a major trip is not the time to experiment with new film; the risk is simply too high. I don't know about the others, but it took me a while to learn the characteristics of different film. It is unlikely that you'll remember when to use what while you are in Africa and there is no guarantee that you'll like the respective results.

 

By the way, what type of lenses are you going to have? Make sure you bring some backup camera and lenses just in case things break down, and cameras do tend to break down in the dusty Africa. The aperture diaphragm in my 500mm/f4 was stuck at f4 towards the end of my first trip there and a lot of my slides were over-exposed. I only found out when I reviewed my slides at home. Moreover, make sure you bring enough film. Again, I can't speak for someone else but I shot 60, 70 rolls per 2-week trip. These are probably more important issues.

Helene

 

Personally I pick Sensia over Elite chrome. Elite chrome 100 (of any type) is more saturated than Sensia 100 and to my eyes not as sharp and plagued by unexpected color shifts in the shadows, but both really will be fine, but they will look different. I am not much of a fan of Provia 100 - it is fine grain, but that is about it as far as I am concerned. It is low contrast so might work rather well though in the blazing sun. Of course if you add a polarizer then you are adding extra contrast to the shadows so I would not try and mitigate high contrast effects by using a polarizer as someone suggested above.

EliteChrome is, IMHO, slightly more saturated and also warmer than Sensia 100. Sensia 100 is less constrasty which can be a big help if you are shooting in brigh sunlight. Either will do a good job. We are really down to splitting hairs at this point in the discussion.

Helene - in your case it may be easier to pick just one film.

 

Many people don't notice the difference between "consumer" (i.e. Sensia) and "pro" films (e.g. Provia, Velvia) anyway, so from that angle you should be fine picking just one film and sticking to it for your whole trip. I've found Sensia to be a pretty good all round film. Of course, as with all slide film you have to get the exposure right, or the slide will look terrible; this is one advantage of print film, in that they can correct to some degree your exposure mess ups when they make the print.

 

Still, I have rarely gotten exposures that are way out provided I spend a couple of seconds thinking about what the light is doing!

 

If you want natural colours, Sensia is pretty good - steer clear of Velvia; but you might like to try a roll one morning/evening in Namibia on the dunes - the results might blow you away.

 

It's worth having a couple of rolls of slightly faster film (perhaps 400) in case you need to do something in low(er) light, and you can't make do with a long exposure. Of course, you can always push a roll (I found sensia was fairly happy pushed to 400 - grain didn't seem much worse that on 400 rated sensia either! (only ever shot one roll of each of those BTW, so it might be a "fluke")).

 

As Shun says (and many others have said in similar threads in the past), it's often worth sticking to one film - especially if you know it well from shooting at home. So if you usually shoot with Sensia at home, stick to it, and if you usually shoot with elite chrome, stick to that.

 

More important is taking enough film. I usually find 1-2 rolls a day is about right for me if I'm touring around, but sometimes you will go through film a lot faster. I'd shoot more film, but that tends to do nasty things to my budget! Other people will shoot 10 or more rolls a day, particularly pro photographers.

 

If this is going to be a once off trip for you, blow your budget a bit on film, and maybe bracket a bit if you are unsure of the exposure.

 

HTH

 

P.s. don't forget a pen to make notes and label films - for example, if you're going to push a film, make absolutely sure you write it on the film canister (i.e. "1 stop push" or "2 stop push" and tell the lab to push that film appropriately). And if you swap films mid roll, write the number of exposures you have taken on that roll. Forgot to do that recently (no pen at the time, arghh) so I had to guess where I had left off, added a couple of frames just in case, and ended up wasting half a roll. Of course, with more than one body, you don't have this problem. (I sometimes end up swapping between velvia and sensia a couple of times a day - velvia for landscapes that I'm really taking seriously, and sensia for everything else). Oh, and wind can make waterfalls move...

I've just come back from 2 weeks in South Africa and depending on the times of day you plan to shoot, I would definitely recommend taking some 400 speed film with you. I ended up pushing to 800, 1000 and 1600 as the light deteriorated so, if I were to do it again, I'd take some rolls even faster film than 400.

 

I shot both Sensia and Provia and while Sensia is more cost-effective, I was far more pleased with the Provia (which also deals with pushing better). But, if cost is a factor (as it usually is) Sensia is more than adequate.

Thanks again for all your inputs and taking the time to share

of your experience.

 

Shun, I will be bringing my Nikon F80, AF Zoom Nikkor 28-105mm

f/3.5-4.5D IF and AF Zoom Nikkor ED 70-300 f/4-5.6D.

 

James, I'll confirm whether your observation that elephants aren't

middle-toned is correct, and whether wind will indeed move falls,

even Victoria Falls.

 

All, I will be getting Sensia and 1-2 of 200 and 400.

 

I look forwards to delighting in what Mother Nature offers in that

area of the world and maybe if I am lucky, capturing some of these

delights on film. But foremost (and maybe an unpopular view with

y'all hard core :*) to enjoy and then to take a picture if I am so

inspired.

 

Smiles,

Helene

Helene, are you bringing only 1 camera body and 2 lenses for a 25-day trip to Africa? If it is possible, I strongly recommend that you bring another body and a least one more general-purpose lens as backups, even though there may be a lot of overlap in focal lengths. It is dusty there and equipment has a much higher probability to fail. <A HREF="http://www.photo.net/nature/kenya.html">My article</A> on Kenya photo safari may give you additional information.

Shun,

 

Thanks for the advice. Ideally yes, I would bring another camera

body and some other lenses. But that's all the gear I've got (and

can afford for now) and the one friend I have who maybe could have

lent me stuff has Canon gear. Maybe I need to make new friends? I

have read your article in the past and again recently. Thanks for

the reference. I found it very useful.

 

I'll just have to cross my fingers and hope for the best. But that's

the best I can do for now; another lifetime maybe I'll be more

experienced and have more gear.

 

Thanks again,

Helene

Helene-

 

For what my opinion is worth, I would never go on that extended

a trip without a back-up camera; borrow one from a friend, rent

one from a camera shop, buy one from Ebay, or (?). Purely

mechanical is safest, like an FM2 (I'm not a Nikon owner, so

that's the only one I can think of).

 

I think your film choices are OK- just have enough.

 

Have a great trip.

 

Dave Evans

Helene, I have used both films mentioned in the regions that you are going to. First, you are in for a treat and am envious.

First, film is a personal choice. I use slide film exclusively, of the two, I use Sensia 100 uprateing to ASA 200 when required. The grain in Sensia 100 is pretty fine, uprateing increases the grain slightly but is not as prominant as ASA 200 film. The advantage is having one type of film. If you do this make sure that the films are marked to differentiate the uprated from standard. The use of ASA400 film generally depends on the lens you are taking, particularly if the minimum apature is f4 or greater.

 

The areas you are visiting will have strong lighting, there may be dull periods at this time of the year, in Chobe and Vic Falls, as it now the rainy season. Large herds of elephant can be found in Chobe. If passing through Sauvati to Chobe, Sauvati is an area that has a high concentration of predators, ie, lions, cheetah and african wild dogs. The lions here have learnt to hunt elephant!

 

Enjoy your trip.

 

Hari

I've used Elitechrome Extracolor on a recent 3-month trip through Africa and have been quite happy with the results. It is very saturated and punchy, and its emphasis on reds/yellows makes the overall photo warmish (which I like).

 

One particular lion photo, for example, was taken at mid-day but everyone who sees the print from the slide assumes it was a golden light shot.

 

But I echo the earlier comment - in harsh light and high contrast, it is less than spectacular. My photos of a black rhino in Matusadonha were very unsatisfactory. However, I am not sure whether another brand of film would have helped.

 

HTH.

Hello all,

 

I hope it's better late than never.

 

So, I came back from my trip. Late Jan this year.

 

I ended up taking with me:

 

20 rolls of 100 Fuji Sensia film

2 rolls of 200 Fuji Pro film (forgot what it's called)

2 rolls of 400 Fuji Provia film

 

Was kinda limited budget-wise.

 

Equipment-wise:

1 camera body Nikkon F80

zoom AF Nikkor 28-105mm

zoom AF Nikkor 70-300mm

UV filter

circular polariser

tripod (which I ended up not using except for a group shot)

 

Very happy with my shots. Was concerned about sand; if you're

careful, no prob. Thought of going for a cleaning once back, but

told camera looks good. Also heat was another concern and tried

to store film in Ziploc bags (double bagged)in cooler but melted

ice would seep in and I'd have to dry them each time. Eventually,

gave up. Turned out fine awayways.

 

Found shower cap trick over lens at Vic Falls handy.

 

Someone on the trek loaned me his teleconverter. Found it

very useful and made for some nicer shots.

 

Very happy to have gone the slides route altho scanning a

bit of a issue esp if you don't have a good friend with a

good slide scanner (the Nikkon etc).

 

After taking pics in Southern Africa, hard to get excited

taking pics locally.

 

I'll try to see whether I can upload some of my pics on

photo.net.

 

Thanks for everyone's comment and support.

 

It was a great experiential trip. I just went with the flow

when I took pics. I tried all kinds of composition.

 

 

Helene<div></div>

Forgot to mention something else that I read and found useful:

 

I bought some labels and numbered them. When I would unload

a roll of film, I would then stick the numbered label on the

film and another label with same number on the canister.

 

Helped me remember the order in which I shot my rolls when

I was back home.

 

Cheers,

Helene