When to use Provia 100F and when to use Velvia 100???

[cimino55]

Hello,

 

I am heading to Africa and the Middle East in 3 weeks, and I

wanted to know when it is appropriate to use the following film:

 

Fuji Provia 100F

 

Fuji Velvia 100

 

 

I shoot Contax 645. I know Velvia 100 is a fairly new emulsion. I

will be taking both of them, and some old Velvia 50. I shoot

landscapes, street scenes, lots of beach, water, waterfalls, etc.,

always on a tripod. Is one film better than another for long-exposure

night shots (1 hour or more)? I will not be using either film for

portraits. Thanks for the advice!

 

Regards,

 

Adam

[discpad]

1 hour shutter time?! You better be stacking your ND filters and pull processing in the first dev down to about 6 seconds, instead of 6:00 minutes!

 

Oops! Reciprocity comes into play. :(

 

My advice: Don't experiment on your trip of a lifetime.

 

Dan Schwartz, http://www.FoxNewsCritic.com

[James G. Dainis]

With black and white negative film, if the exposure calls for 1 sec, I give it 2 sec, if it calls for 2 sec, I give it 10 sec, if it calls for 10 sec, I give it one minute. With the latitude of negative film, I can be off from 30 sec to one minute or more and still get a printable negative. Slide film generally has to be right on. One hour? I assume you are not going to be doing some deep sky astrophotography (where that would be applicable) but just setting up in the dark to capture some critters. If they move, you are not going to have anything. Even so, that is a very long exposure. Can Africa night really be that dark? And if you do manage to capture a scenic in pitch darkness, the effect would be the same as if you had taken the shot at dusk. <BR>Precisely what are you trying to do?

[Colin O]

Star trails I guess?<br>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/learn/astro/star-streak">

www.photo.net/learn/astro/star-streak</a>

[cimino55]

Thanks for responding. I'm not so interested in night photography. I just wanted to know when it is a good time to use Fuji Velvia 100, and when to use Provia 100F. Are there certain situations that make one film excel over the other?

[discpad]

Are you going to be projecting your 6x45 chromes; or are you going to scan for printing?

 

If scanning for printing, Astia or E100G are your best bets, since they are **low** contrast and saturation; and the colors will not block up. And, you add saturation and contrast back using Photoshop.

 

The only time I use Velvia is when I make slides from my image recorder for projecting, where it indeed is quite nice... BUT, I also make 2 or 3 copies of the file with different saturation, and inspect for the best.

[Colin O]

My understanding is that the main difference between the two is the colour saturation. Fujifilm says that Velvia 100 has "ultra-high saturation, intensely vivid colours [and] high contrast", and is "perfect for landscapes, nature and commercial photography". They say that Provia 100F produces a "smooth, rich and detailed rendition of tones and colours", has "excellent push/pull processing capabilities" and provides "extended exposure freedom and tolerance".<br><br>

Personally, I prefer Provia. I find the ultra-saturated films like Velvia just a little bit too saturated. I also find it easier to accurately scan Provia, but that's probably just my particular scanner/setup.<br><br>

If you're familiar with E6 film, then hopefully you'll be able to make a judgement as to what film to use when. If you're not familiar with E6 film, then I would take a few rolls of each, experiment, but bring film you're familiar with so you know what to expect at least most of the time.

[r.t. dowling]

You could use Velvia 100F, which I find to be a good compromise between Provia 100F and Velvia 100.

[david_henderson]

There are subjective aspects to this - its entirely possible that you will just like one of these emulsions better than the other or at least like each one better in different circumstances. This is why people advise against using a new film on an important shoot/trip and to get to know how it behaves in a range of situations first.

 

I'll run through a little of what I think about the characteristics of each film and you can make your own mind up. What seems good to me may be bad for you and vice versa.

 

I would ignore any differences in sharpness between the two. They are both extremely sharp.

 

Provia is a good, well-saturated film in full sun. It tends to take on a blue cast in shadow, to the extent that you may need to add a warming filter. Provia is good at portraying delicate colours fairly truthfully. It is also good (well, better than Velvia anyway) at keeping a degree of realism in low light situations at the beginning/end of the day. Provia is slightly less contrasty than Vevia and you'll get maybe a half stop extra dynamic range- good in contrasty situations. In sun, Provia is pretty colour-neutral.

 

Velvia 100 is brighter, though not a lot so in full high sun. Velvia is much better at finding a bit of colour in dull overcast conditions. It is a little more difficult to expose correctly as a function of a slightly narrower dynamic range. Velvia is not so good at handling delicate colour, which it tends to render more stridently. It exaggerates the colour from low light which makes for strogly coloured though not very controllable sunsets/riseswith all sorts of strange colour biases. Velvia can make you wonder whether you remember things right. Velvia can polarise very strongly and is prone to over-darkened skies which you need to recognise ttl/act on.

 

By comparison to Velvia 50, Velvia 100 renders reds very strongly indeed and greens have a bluish look. I have't used it in desert sand/red rock areas yet but my expectations would be "too red" It is not as good at Velvia 50 in handling strong yellows. Velvia 50 is also better at handling cyans and portrays greens very differently - with a more olive cast that can overpower in certain lights.

 

If I wans't familiar with these films then I'd probably think it easiest to major on Provia, with a couple of warm-up filters for cool shadows and a polariser.

[roman_p]

Yes, I agree with David that Velvia 100 has somewhat bluish greens. In dull overcast day I would prefer Velvia 100F for landscapes, woods or running water. However basically I found Velvia 100 is good replacement for Velvia 50. But I will miss Velvia 50 with whole my heart. Provia 100F is good for general purpose like street scenes or people on events and gives you pure arctic whites. For sunny day landscape and nature photography seems to me both Velvia 100 and 50 will work good. 1 hour shutter speed ? sorry, do not have experience.

[ivan_dzo]

If you are going to a brightly lit area then I wouldn't be considering two "contrasty" slide films. I'd choose either proviaF or Velvia100 as your high contrast and take AstiaF as your low contrast. There are just going to be so much time of the day when provia/velvia won't get you a usable shot. Street scenes are going to be a whole lot better with lower contrast film.

[gareth_harper]

If you take one film, take Provia 100.

However if you like the look of Velvia take that for your landscapes etc.

For people shots and streetscenes revert to Provia. Velvia isn't very kind to skin tones. Some people prefer sensia to provia for people shots.

I'm quite happy using just provia 100 and 400 as my slide film.

[dave_bazzel1]

I use Provia F for everything with a push one processing and rate it at 250.

Now as for your question: I agree with a previous post that you not experiment on the trip. That is not the time. Use Provia since it has a very nice level of saturation enhancement but still is not going to give you contrast problems. I think that the Velvia you will find to be too contrasty except for only very specialized circumstances. www.davebazzel.com