New Fuji Velvia and other 100 slide films

[nzdavid]

Has anyone tried the new Fuji Velvia 100? Not 100F, but the replacement for Velvia 50.

I wonder how this will compare? Fuji will now have at least five 100 ISO films: Provia 100F,

Sensia 100, Astia 100F, Velvia 100 and Velvia 100F.

 

Out of these, which are your favourites and what are the key differences?

 

Here's a quote from the BHP site on the new Velvia:

 

"Velvia 100 employs new technologies to deliver finer grain and twice the speed while

offering the color saturation and palette that have made Velvia 50 the film of choice for

leading landscape and nature photographers.

 

"Fujichrome Velvia 50 was the first high color saturation, high contrast transparency E-6

compatible film when it was introduced in 1990, and it has been a favorite among

photographers ever since," said Steve Herstatt, Marketing Director, Professional Film,

Imaging Group, Fujifilm USA.

 

"In Velvia 100, using its vast emulsion experience and knowledge, Fujifilm has applied

updated technology to develop an improved product that is truly a worthy successor to the

original. Velvia 100 not only will appeal to photographers demanding the color saturation

standard that Velvia 50 created, but will also provide state of the art technology that fits in

perfectly with the complete Fujichrome Professional line."

[stuart_richardson]

You might ask the people who live in Japan -- it has been out there for two years. My brief

impression was that it was an absurdly sharp film...probably the sharpest color film I have

ever used, but for some reason I didn't really like it. It seemed to be too contrasty to use in

bright, sunny days. Without being able to say why, I think I like the older version better.

That said, since it is now in the US, I will compare it head to head and see if it was just the

conditions I was shooting in were that were not conducive to the film. Here are a few

samples, though it is of course difficult to tell the difference on the web due to the

limitations of scanners and monitors at correctly displaying the exact subtleties of the

film: <P><img src="http://www.stuartrichardson.com/foggy-sun.jpg"><P>This one is a

crop from a larger image<P><img src="http://www.stuartrichardson.com/buddhist-

pilgrim.jpg">

[EricM]

Stuart, David is asking about the new 100 Velvia, not the 100 Velvia that was released two years ago. There's two version available now, by the sounds of it. Nice sky-scape btw.

[doug herr]

Of these films Provia 100F is my favorite. I find Astia and Sensia

give me murky blue shadows w/o any real blacks, the Velvia

series give colors that are way over the top while sacrificing

gradation and shadow/highlight detail. Try E100G.

[arthuryeo]

The new one is called Velvia RVP-100, which will replace Velvia RVP-50.

 

I have 4 rolls in the fridge and will use them this weekend.

 

From what I heard, its color saturation is between the RVP-50 and 100-F, RVP-50 being the most saturated.

[stuart_richardson]

Thanks Eric, I know that he is talking about Velvia 100, not Velvia 100F. They have been test

marketing it in Japan for the last two years. The pictures above were taken on Velvia 100

Professional, not Velvia 100F. I bought the rolls at Yodobashi Camera in Sapporo, Japan in

August 2003. There were examples demonstrating the difference between the three Velvias

(though the clerks did not seem to know much).

[gerald1]

Try this link.

 

http://www.kenrockwell.com/fuji/velvia100.htm

 

Gerald

[nzdavid]

Interesting. More accurate colours sounds good, I always found the old Velvia too extreme

in some cases. Nice pix, Stuart, and dramatic light, thanks for sharing! I am also trying

Astia for scanning - I have heard it has good shadow and highlight detail for publication.

I like Provia 100F, too, it's a good sharp general purpose film. Lots of people say it's too

blue, though. Seems there's still plenty of choice for sharp slide film - what's the sharpest

of all now, I wonder?

[philippartridge]

<p>Too bad B&H are out of stock of 100 Velvia in 120/220 for a month or so. A lot of us need to know whether to buy a stock of RVP50, and how much to buy. I would be very surprised if Fuji have made many changes to the palette so it should be subtly different, with some very significant improvements in other areas.</p>

<p> Arthur, I believe it is very different to the poorly received Velvia 100F. Stuart, thanks for the images, nice 3D effect; I never use RVP except in low contrast conditions (in which it excels) or near dawn or dusk. In between is Astia time; Astia is poor in low light, so it's horses for courses.

[frank granovski]

(1) Kodachrome is good enough for me so it should be good enough for you. (2) Heck, someone even wrote a song about Kodachrome and there has never been a song about Velvia. I rest my case.