Provia 400F

I haven't used this one yet

 

But I've read somewhere that it doesn't have as smooth tonality as 100F, that it

has a "jumpy" grayscale

 

Is this true? Or is it as smooth as Provia 100F in terms of tonality?

 

Also is it as good as provia 100F in terms of rendering strong colors without

blocking up (in other words, is it as good for flower photography and nature)

 

Plus, is the grain and resolution any problem in 6x6 (120) with this film?

(I wouldn't like to end up with something looking like fine grain 35mm)

In my limited experience with the 35mm version of this film, it is fairly high contrast, and contrastier than 100F, so you need to use it on lower-contrast scenes to avoid blocking up colors or blowing out highlights/shadows.

400F is a much contrastier film than 100F with less lattitude to work with.

 

Provia 400F does pull to 200 with good results, and this helps lower the contrast a bit. 100F pushed to 200 has stronger saturation while 400F pulled to 200 is better for skin tones.

 

100F is the best film I've ever used for flower/macro work before moving to digital. Colors have a 'crisper' rendition than Astia without getting as wild as Velvia nor looking as fake. While Provia 100F is a cruddy film for yellows, Provia yields exellent blues and reds and oranges in macros without blocking up. In that respect I consider it the best emulsion for the task. E100G might be a better general purpose film, but it's no match for Provia 100F in this dept.

Thanks, and how does Provia 400F compare to Provia 100F in terms of not blocking up colors of flowers?

Also, Scott, you say it's contrastier. Does it have more contrast than even Velvia 50 or is it somewhere in between Velvia and Provia 100F in terms of contrast?

Flowers are best on something very saturated. Velvia seems appropriate. Or some of the Fuji C41 films. Reala or Superia come to mind as well. Benefit of C41 is greater latitude.

 

Provia has very natural color in my experience. I never had any tonal or color issues with it.

 

The 100 films are going to have smoother tonality, better colors, better grain characteristics, etc.

Fuji have released a Provia 400X here (Japan) recently and it supposedly has the grain of 100 speed films (RMS 11) and the colour saturation is boosted from the use of RVP100 technology. It is only sold as 135 at the moment but they plan to release a 120 size soon. I heard the US is geting it sometime soon as well. It sounds really promising and I just went and bought a roll today to try. It might become my "high speed Velvia" if it lives up to it's claims. Seems like it would be suited for nature photos. I'll post an opinion once I finish my roll.

Provia 400F and 100F seem to have the same 'Fuji' resistance to color blocking given the dye couplers used are pretty much identical. It's really Kodak films that have a problem with strong colors. Astia 100F is a great film, but under flat lighting strong colors and macros tend to get 'waxy' looking because it's such a low contrast film. Provia doesn't have this problem, although it's trickier to work with under sunny skies.

 

I'd rate 400F and Velvia as having the same intolerance for over-exposure, although I think 400F is a bit worse. It also might appear this way because it's a less saturated film than Provia 100 or Velvia, which makes highlights look washed out with less color.

 

That new 400F emulsion sounds promising, but I'd still proceed to shoot with 100F.

<I>Benefit of C41 is greater latitude</i><P>And significantly less color density. C-41 films are great for sunny skies, but for flower macro / scenic work Astia 100F is nearly as easy to work with, and has better density range that will be painfully obvious when you compare the scans. Under medium/low contrast lighting C-41 films are terrible for this kind of subject matter while Provia and Velvia excel.

Thanks Scott

 

It's a sort of a drought over here on pro film this week, so I took 5 rolls of 400F because I couldn't find any 100F, haven't exposed any yet.

 

I really don't want too much saturation, that's why I don't use Velvia much. Seems this one will be just fine with colors for me.

I like the combination of punchier contrast and moderate (slightly enhanced, but not too much) saturation.

 

One last question:

Can I expect trouble with grain in 6x6 (cropped to 645) at say 14x18 print size?

Purely in terms of grain and nothing else, I've found Provia 400F to be slightly better than Kodak 400UC. I know it's comparing apples to potatoes, but considering that 400UC is currently the finest-grained ISO 400 color print film, I thought it would be worth noting that Provia 400F is a bit better in the grain department. I've made really nice 8"x10" prints from 400F in 35mm, and I didn't think the grain was bothersome at all... so you shouldn't have a problem with it in 120, although ultimately it's up to you in terms of your own personal threshold of how much grain is too much grain.

Here's Provia 400F shot under flat, overcast lighting.<div></div>

Shot with flash.<div></div>