Fuji velvia 50 tips

[avishek_aiyar]

<p>Hello, <br>

I will be traveling to N. Georgia this weekend to shoot some Fall foliage. <br>

I will be shooting predominantly with my Pentax 645 A 45mm f2.8 and 80-160 f4.5 lens for 120 Velvia and My Speed Graphic with the 135mm Optar for 4x5 Velvia. <br>

I have a Gossen Luna Pro F light meter with me that also has the vari attachment for those "pseudo" spot readings.<br>

I also have a Bogen 3021Bpro tripod with a ball head. Cable release is also available. <br>

I was reading elsewhere that i need to be very careful with exposure on Velvia slides. <br>

I was hoping you could give me some metering/exposure tips specifically applied to the Velvia to maximize my chances of producing images that the Velvia is reknowned for?<br>

Thanks.<br>

Avi</p>

 

[Two23]

<p>Many people set the ISO to 40, back in the day. If you have an incident light meter, that would help you too.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

[stemked]

<p>Avishek,<br>

I don't think you need to be any more careful than any other slide film. But like Kent noted, I too would set the ISO to 40. And I generally bracketed my shots, but that was 35mm which is less expensive than your film. You will likely be shooting longer exposures than you normally do (landscape, stopped down plus ISO 50) and of course you'll want soft light.</p>

 

[jan_h._voigt]

<p>I read somewhere that the original Velvia was only ISO 40 in normal E6 chemistry but ISO 50 in Fuji chemistry. Never read this about the new Velvia 50.</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>You do need to be very careful with exposure when using Velvia (50 or 100/100F) . They are contrasty films with amongst the lowest dynamic range out there. It depends on what you're used to of course, but if that is colour neg film you'll be finding out soon just how much control you need to have to make Velvia work. Don't get me wrong, I like the results well enough, and used mostly Velvia for landscapes for a dozen years or more, but there's a learning curve and it doesn't suit every scene. </p>

 

<ul>

<li>personally I wouldn't use a difficult film for the first time on a trip and would work on it for a while at home till I could use it well</li>

<li>I'd use spotmetering to establish the brightness range of my scenes. More than 4.5-5 stops will give you a problem</li>

<li>Linked to the above I'd be carrying grads and a polariser to exert some control over scene brightness.</li>

<li>If its sunny look for landscapes that include foliage. If its overcast get amongst the trees for more detail. You'll find that photographs under the canopy with sunlight getting through are very difficult and are likely not to work well with many films, but Velvia is the most difficult.</li>

<li>Slow films and trees are often uncomfortable bedfellows. Its easy to get to a situation even in light winds where you can get trunks and big branches sharp but twigs and leaves move in the exposure. This is especially true if you need to polarise to lose glare from leaves. Speeds of 1/15 secong are common and will not keep trembling leaves sharp.</li>

</ul>

[AlanKlein]

<p>I always shot at ASA 50 although I usually bracket a stop over and under. I use a center average light meter. If incident metering works for your scene that would be a good approach also. I find reflective light readings off of foliage especially greens gets you real close on exposures. I always use a tripod with mirror up when I release the shutter. ASA 50 is very slow and if you stop down for DOF, you'll be shooting at 1/8 sec. or less pretty often. So take your tripod. Think DOF when setting your aperture. Landscapes look best most of the time when everything is in focus. If you bracket, keep the aperture setting the same for all bracketed shots. Only change the shutter speed so the DOF also stays the same on all bracketed shots.</p>

<p>David has some good suggestions especially shooting a few rolls before you leave if you have the time. Grads and polarizers are helpful too. Take some neutral films like Portra (negative) in case you want to shoot people. Velvia tends to make people's faces redder. Good luck on your trip and have lots of fun. Don't stress out about it. Alan</p>

<p>PS: Here are my 120 Velvia 50's.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanklein2000/tags/velvia/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanklein2000/tags/velvia/</a></p>

[avishek_aiyar]

<p>Folks...thank you SO much. You are right. I was fretting a bit, because not only am I shooting Velvia 50, I am shooting 4x5 Velvia 50. Talk about learning to walk before starting to leap.<br />I just purchased a Tiffen 81A filter that I plan to hold in front of my 135mm Optar lens. <br />Tripod is a given with my Speed Graphic. Cable release is also a given. <br />Metering....I don't know if I will have access to the subject, so I would be using the reflected mode. I do have a spot attachment for my Gossen and can go as low as 7 degrees. Metering is the part that I am most afraid of, since I am new to LF photography. I will try incident whenever I can. <br />i also plan to shoot 120 film and that would be easy since I use a Pentax 645N that will meter the shot for me. <br />Thanks again.<br />Avi<br>

Alan: lovely photos! <br>

<br />`</p>

[steve_rasmussen]

<p>Velvia 50 and 100f emphasize the blue/green end of the spectrum. Velvia 100 favors the red/orange end. Try the V100 for fall colors if possible.</p>

[hoshisato]

<p>Cheers for that information! </p>

[greg_campbell1]

<p>..</p>

[greg_campbell1]

<p>..</p>

 

[greg_campbell1]

<p>..</p>

 

[greg_campbell1]

<p>I'd verify that the Gossen spot mode is accurate and then use it as much as possible. Place important highlights at + 1.5 or +2 stops and let the shadows fall where they will. (Meter the shadows and low-mid tones so you know what to expect.) Slide film holds shadow detail down to about -4, but digging that out of a transparency takes a good scanner. -3 is a more practical limit, at which point any tones will be pretty dang dark.</p>

<p>If you're unsure about this whole place/fall thing, head for the local library and look up a copy of Adam's book, 'The Negative' which concisely explains the concepts and application thereof. (Or PM me and I'll send you a .pdf)</p>

<p>You should probably test your metering on 35mm roll before blazing away with those $pendy 4x5 sheets! Rate the film at its nominal speed and try placing something like textured clouds at +1.5 to +3, at 1/2 stop increments, to determine the point at which your meter+film combo saturates the highlights.</p>

<p>Have fun!</p>

[dcstep]

<p>Spit it out Greg.</p>

[donbright]

<p>I stay with ISO 50 with Velvia, and just bracket 1/3rd stops, under/over. A spot meter readings then average is a good starting point.</p>

[thomas_turk]

<p>I found advice re velvia of Ken Rockwell very reliable.</p>