Update on available slide film - Velvia 100 & Kodak E200

[tony_cunningham]

Here I am again on discontinued items unfortunately. I knew that

Velvia (ISO 50) was going to be discontinued in the summer, but it

seems that some people (Robert White again) have already run out. In

the Netherlands where I live no suppliers have heard of Velvia 100

(not 100F) and the old Velvia (ISO 50) is still available. I have

tried 30 Velvia 100F films and it does not suit my taste at all.

 

So I have to decide whether to fill my freezer with Velvia (ISO 50)

while I still can or to take a risk and order Velvia 100 from the US

or the UK. I may not have time to carry out a proper test. Steve

reviewed this film quite positively a year or so ago. How do you all

feel about it now?

 

My standard film for a while now with the P67 system has been Kodak's

E200. It really is ISO 200 and provides very neutral images. Many

Eurpoean customers prefer these to the more saturated Fuji look. It is

clearly more grainy than the Fuji films, but with 6x7 this is rarely

an issue and some people also seem to like the slight texture.

 

Nowadays I often take the same scene with both Velvia 50 and E200 and

decide later which best suits the end use. Another advantage of the

E200 is that it makes hand holding of all but the bigger tele lenses a

realistic option - I do occasionally use it with the 400 mm hand held.

The extra speed makes tripod use of the big lenses easier sometimes as

well. It can be pushed to ISO 400, but I have not tried this.

 

Up until 6 months ago I just walked into my local lab and purchased

E200 as required, but they have stopped stocking it due to lack of

demand. I have now ordered it by mail order and after nearly two

months it has still not arrived. Anyone else having this problem? I

notice the price of this film has also been increased considerably,

not that that is a big issue if it is unobtainable!

 

Tony

[sumo_kun]

If you *really* like RVP then you should probably get a stock of it before it completely runs out. I went to RVP100 when it first came out in Japan and I've been using it ever since. I liked RVP but RVP100 was just so much better in so many ways. Some people complain that it feels cooler than RVP but I like the colour pallete of RVP100. Not to mention that it's faster, finer grained, reciprocity is better... I think ordering from the US or UK would be a good idea. You should really try some. It's a LOT different to 100F. A lot of people have compared 100F to the likes of Provia. I don't think it is *quite* a part of the Velvia family in my opinion. But anyway, the best thing to do is to try the new film! If you like it then keep with it! If not... then you'll have to start buying freezer fulls of RVP I suppose! But you will need to move on one day because it will run out.