Kodak E100VS

[ken_dunn]

I heard that Kodak introduced a new film, E100V(the V is for vivid),

at the photo show this year. It is supposed to win over Velvia users.

Has anyone got a chance to use it yet and how good is it for nature

shooting. Thanks, Kenny

[bobatkins]

I think it's 100VS (very saturated?). I saw a side by side

comparison with Velvia and one of the current ISO 100 Kodak

slide films (don't remember which one), both shot at EI 100 and pushed

a stop

to 200. Looked a hell of a lot like a Velvia clone to me, and stood up

well to a push. Clearly different from their "normal" film.

 

<p>

 

Of course it was Kodak who gave the demo and took the slides,

so I'm sure they were very careful about how they shot it and

what they shot. I assume it will be great for those who like

the highly saturated look and want the extra speed.

 

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Kodak said it would be available "early next year", whatever

that means. I hear there may be an "amateur" version on the way

too (but that wasn't directly from Kodak).

[terry_carter1]

The winter issue of OUTDOOR & NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY previewed "Kodak

Elite Chrome Extra Color" which is an ISO 100 slide film, and probably

the "amateur" version that Bob alludes to in his response. There was

no mention of a release date.

[erik_h._pronske]

The film is E100VS and stands for "vivid saturation". I live in

Austin, TX and Kodak takes a van around the state, perhaps other parts

of the country too, to show off their products. They were here 2

weeks ago and they had demo photos of the E100VS and compared it to

E100S and Velvia. This film is probably going to be great. It had

very saturated colors and I thought it was a bit warmer than Velvia

and more saturated than E100S. They had a picture of a dress on a

display and the color with E100VS was a dark red and with Velvia was

more maroon. The Kodak man couldn't tell me what the actual color of

the dress was. He said the film would be available at the beginning

of 1999.

[pete_parker]

Kodak has two films with a similar or same emulsion. The one

you've been talking about is the Professional version, Kodak

V.S.(vividly saturated). The second film is the consumer version Elite

Chrome Extra Color 100. Both films utilize "T-Grain" technology and

are a true 100 ISO film.

For those of you that are interested in seeing some images taken

with this film, check out the gallery at Kodaks web site. The photos

were taken by Frans Lanting while on a project in Australia.

www.kodak.com

[bliorg]

I placed an order at B&H a few days ago for some Sensia, and inquired

about the Kodak Elite Chrome Extra Color. They claimed to have it, so

I ordered a few rolls. Should be here today. If it actually IS the

new film, I'll confirm that here...

[edward_c._nemergut]

This question (or something just like it) came up in the regular Q&A about one or two months ago. A good friend of mine somehow has managed to get himself a Kodak Beta-Tester and had the following observations:

<P>

<UL>

<LI>The film is as saturated as Velvia but he made note that he prefers Velvia's Blue. It may have slightly less contrast than Velvia.

<LI> It is more grainy than Velvia.

<LI> Although he likes the film very much, he is not sure what kind of niche it will fill: In his opinion, a one stop advantage over Vevlia in landscapes will is not important as he almost always uses a tripod. In addition, he feels that it is probably too harsh for most animals (like Velvia, in his opinion) and therfore doubts if it will "unseat" E100SW or Astia (his preferred animal films).

</UL>

[bliorg]

Well, my B&H order arrived today. Not sure what to make of the

packaging; it appears to be standard Elite 100, but there's a bright

red "NEW" banner across the box. It's EB135, in case anyone knows

the code for the new stuff (or old; a search of Kodak's web site

revealed NOTHING).

 

<p>

 

For what it's worth...

[donald_haarmann]

George Lepp www.lepppnoto.com seems to like E100VS.

[dr lp]

Scott,

 

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You may want to look here:

 

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http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/products/films/e100vs/e100

vsIndex.shtml

 

<p>

 

L.P.

[bliorg]

Sorry for the confusion - about half way through this thread, we also

started talking about the consumer version of E100VS - Elite Chrome

100 Extra Color. This is the film reviewed in Outdoor Photographer

this month. Anyway, I've since found the code (EBX135), and, though

the film I received states "NEW" all over, it appears to be plain ol'

Elite Chrome 100. I'm used to Sensia now; I'll be looking forward to

trying the new stuff soon as it becomes *widely* available...

[m._huber]

I received a roll of the New Elite Chrome in the mail from Kokak. It is better than the old elite. I tried it on a yellow crop-dusting plane. The yellow plane, the blue sky, and the green fields all came out very good. The 100 speed was just right. Not much of a test, but with good results.

[jim_chow]

The grain is enough to get to me to keep shooting velvia. I recently

tried the E200 (sample rolls of 120, shot it w/ my Rollei 6008i w/

zeiss 80 and Fuji 617 w/ 105/8 Fujinon at f22)..the grain is HUGE

compared to that of Astia. Even the grain of E100S is larger than

that of Astia, but this is only crucial if I'm making enlargements

that are over 8x10, as I'm shooting medium format.

[ShunCheung]

It isn't really fair to compare the grains among ISO 50, 100, and 200

films. If you want the finest grain, stick with Velvia (or perhaps

Kodachrome 25??). E200 is an excellent ISO 200 film because of its

color and grain, but its grain is nowhere nearly as fine as that of

Velvia; I think that is a given. Usually I prefer ISO 100 film because

of the extra stop I get to freeze the motion and/or increase the depth

of field, and I think E100VS should be evaluated and compared that

way.

[ShunCheung]

Just went to B&H last Sunday (February 7, 1999). I was quite surprised that they still didn't have any E100VS yet.

[bliorg]

FWIW: Dan Smith is selling some 100VS on the photo.net Classifieds (http://www.photo.net/gc/view-one.tcl?classified_ad_id=205342). Also, I've received email from Kodak stating that the EBX135 Elite Chrome Extra Color 100 will be on the market March 15...

[dan_sapper]

I just shot my first 5 rolls of Kodak Professional E100VS film during my vacation on the gulf coast of Florida.

 

I am very impressed! (5085 emulsion 141)

 

I have examined the 35mm images briefly through 7x loupe on a light table. Here are my observations this far:

 

+ Extremely Sharp, sharper than any other 100 speed I've seen

 

+ Extremely Colorful vivid saturation as the name indicates; very vibrant greens, azure blue water, very brilliant red and magenta-to-purple flowers, gorgeous skies, gorgeous orange sunsets over the water, clear strong yellows, and the skin tones were reasonbly good in daylight and with flash!

 

+ Speed is 100; used DX code and mostly let my Minolta program do the rest, hand held, with good exposure results outdoors in direct sun, overcast, and with fill flash when light was too low or lens too slow. Color remained vivid in all circumstances.

 

+ 100 Speed was very beneficial for my shots of butterflies, birds, and to stop the action for water-ski show at Cypress Gardens. The butterflies are sharp, still, and as saturated in color as I remember (probably more saturated, but the images convey the beauty I remember).

 

+ Contrast is high, but reasonable for the look of the film. A few shots around water or on the beach had the shadows too dark, but that's to be expected from the program camera without intervention or filtration.

 

+ Landscapes pop off the light box! Even in distance shots I could see the colorful flowers on trees, greens glow, and skies are intense but believable blue with only a UV(0) filter.

 

+ Whites are clean white in flowers, on clothing, on sailboats, and clouds.

 

+ Didn't notice any color bias or cast anywhere!

 

+ This will be my choice of film for flower shots, close-ups, insects, and animals. It is a beautiful film for landscape effects. The few shots with people are acceptable for caucasian flesh (with one suprisingly accurate looking shot of my mother using fill flash). Will still use E100S and E100SW for more accuracy in color reproduction when needed.

 

Now that the film is available, what are others' experiences with E100VS?

[dan_smith]

Having seen a couple dozen rolls now I would stick with Velvia(Personal opinion only here) and Kodak E100SW. Velvia has less grain & smoother tonality in the slides I have looked at. When used with a tiffen enhancing filter on tan/brown sandstone on the Hopi reservation last weekend, the colors went berserk-looked like Kodachrome basin in Bryce Canyon, and this was in mid morning light. A very strong response, more than expected. With clouds & rain here in NoUtah it had good contrast & helped the cloud rendition & the snow capped Wellsville mountains to stand out a bit more &the whites were clean. Same clean whites in the feathers of Tundra Swans, both in distant shots & rain-wet feathers of a fox killed one in macro shots.

But, Velvia looks better to me as the grain is better & I am biased(and I admit it) towards Fuji for personal reasons.

The film looks nice but is not really better than what is already on the market & the 100 is nice but not any better than Velvia pushed a stop. Some will love it & it IS nice looking, just as some like Ektachromes rather than Astia or Provia. There is a place for it & if you like the Kodak film look you might really go for it. But my dime in the betting pool says the Yellow Godfather will tinker a bit & take out a bit of the yellow bias.

[ShunCheung]

Where do people get their E100VS. I was at B&H earlier today (March 7, 1999) and they still didn't have any in stock yet.