Which slide film for all-round travel photography?

[asimrazakhan]

i love velvia 50. i've been shooting it as my prime travel film for the past few years. lately i've been thinking of

trying out a new film that isn't as saturated and contrasty as velvia. here are reasons i've never thought the

following films could replace velvia 50:

 

sensia 100 was too dull.

 

provia 400x was too grainy.

 

provia 100f had a cyan cast.

 

velvia 100 wasn't good with earthy colors and often gave a magenta tint.

 

currently i'm testing out astia. i'll get the results tomorrow.

 

is there any other slide film that i'm overlooking that would be close to velvia 50 but not as contrasty, and perhaps

slightly less saturated? i want something that will give me good earthy colors, while slightly saturating bright

colors. but i also want something that will give more details in the shadows by being a bit less contrasty. i once tried

out agfa RX100 (i think thats what it was called). i quite liked it. it seemed quite close to velvia but with slightly

more realistic colors. i don't think its made anymore.

 

is there any E6 kodak film i should be trying out? i'm going on a shooting rampage tomorrow, so i'll test any film that

you recommend.

 

thanks!

[Farkle-Mpls]

I shot Provia 100F on a trip to Thailand last month and was very pleased with it. I used to shoot the older Velvia but the

Caucasian skin tones were terrible. The 100F had almost the BLING of Velvia but managed people-shots very well.

 

Most (90%) of these shots are scanned slides from Provia 100F:

 

http://web.me.com/follstad/Thailand_2008/Riding_elephants%21.html

[stephen_schoof1]

FWIW, Velvia 100-F would probably give you the colors you want, but it is actually a little more contrasty than 50.

[User_502260]

For 400 speed slide film you have only Fuji to go to now. I have been shooting mostly EBX and EB. EB has a neutral color balance and excellent grain and sharpness. EBX has slightly more intense color and this may not be perfect for portraits. I don't use Velvia very much. For my purposes its grain is not that much better than that of EB and its colors aren't good for every subject. If I have to make a very large print I would shoot with EVS in 6X7 format rather than Velvia in 35mm. A lot of excellent nature photography has been done with Velvia. By excellent I mean that the color, grain and sharpness are all good. Whether the colors shown by the Velvia match those of the original scene is another matter. I liked KM a lot more than Velvia.

[asimrazakhan]

thanks for the responses so far.

i should point out that my results from the films i've listed... sensia, provia, velvia 100...

are results when compared to velvia 50.

 

for example. i don't think that sensia is too dull. but compared to velvia 50 it is dull.

provia 400x was too grainy compared to velvia 50... as it should be since its 400iso.

and provia 100f was nice but i had several shots that were a bit too cyan, making them gloomy

and melancholic... especially when compared to velvia 50.

 

i have a feeling that when i get the results of astia, and the kodaks that were suggested, i will find a film

that works well alongside velvia 50.

 

velvia 50 is great but it doesn't do justice to a scene when there are a lot of dark shadows. i'm basically

looking for a film that can give me more detail in shadows during a bright sunny day. if the colors are

slightly saturated, this is a bonus.

 

i have a feeling that astia, provia 100f, kodak g or gx will be the right film that works in partnership with velvia 50.

 

tomorrow i'll go out and shoot kodak g, gx, and vs. and i'll finish my roll of astia.

[charles_stobbs3]

Now that Kodachrome 25 is gone I use Elite Chrome 100. I have read that it scans better than K25 which seems to be my experience (limited) too.<div></div>

[asimrazakhan]

jeff,

i'll try Kodak EB100 as well.

so now i'm going to compare EB100, 100VS, 100G, and 100GX.

 

i know that VS quite the same as velvia 50. how do the other films compare?

 

and what is KM? I know that KR is kodachrome 64... but thats a K-14 processing film. doesn't that require me to mail out the film to kodak?

[stephen_schoof1]

KM was Kodachrome 25 (discontinued). Kodachrome 64 is still hanging on and must be processed by Dwayne's in Kansas.

[tim_huggins]

VS will fix all the problems you listed. G has much softer colors.

[patrick_mont]

When I travel I usally take some ektachrome 200 or 100G or 100VS, but usally 200. I also usually take some Kodachrome 64(Kodachrome is not E-6 it is K-14). I always have good results with these films. They are definatly worth a try.

[penny_greenberg]

I absolutely love using Elite Chrome 100 and used it when I went traveling in Asia. The colours are perfect and so is the contrast! I have no complaints about this film.

[nicholas_rapak]

When I am looking for an "all-around" slide film for general use, I usually go to Elite Chrome 100 or Provia 100F (I had different results from you on this). These E-6 films offer good color rendition over a wide range of scenes and tones. If I can wait the week, I sometimes shoot Kodachrome 64. Yes, this is a K-14 film, and requires send out to Dwayne's (via any one of numerous methods). I just feel that the colors, although not exactly accurate or neutral, are unique and, again, suited to almost any situation.

[michael_dimarzio]

It is always worthwhile to have a few rolls of E20 in your bag, I've pushed it in 120 with decent results.

 

What happened to EPL? I never used it, I bought a roll by accident and it sits in the freezer but I don't see it listed at B$H Photo anymore.