Anyone have info on Fuji's E6 future or position?

Jedidiah Smith · Mar 24, 2012

I'm considering shooting slides again. I know, lots of cons from everyone, even me at time - but when I look back over all the photography I've done, my favorite shots are on slide film.
So, instead of kicking against it because of all the "logic" not to, I got to thinking about this. Why not just shoot it up until I no longer have the option to do so, if that day ever comes? Certainly won't hurt anything, and bet I'll look back on this in years to come and see some really good shots that came out of it.

Since I have read about Kodak dropping their E6 production, I wonder if anyone knows about Fuji's E6 intentions. I get the feeling from reading Galen Rowell's books, that Velvia became more popular than EktaChrome and even KodaChrome in the end, so Fuji may have quite some years of demand left. I have always loved Kodak, but that is fine with me, I can shoot Fuji if that's who's left producing.

Has Fujifilm announced anything at all recently regarding their E6 line? Even as an "assurance or rebuttal" to Kodak closing theirs?
Does anyone have a reasonable guess as to which Velvia version will hold up the longest in this new market? I mean, they have 3 versions, and I can't see them all being produced forever. One of the 3 or at least 2 of the 3 (one 50 and one 100 ISO version) have got to be more popular than the others, and will likely survive at least the first round of cuts.

Thanks for any info for me, I haven't really shot much in about 3 years, since we moved down from Alaska, but I'm getting the itch, and I have a feeling it's going to be scratched soon.
Good Light to all, and I appreciate your time,
Jed

Poisson Du Jour · Mar 24, 2012

Yes, why not continue shooting until you are no longer able to?
I suggest you use what film you can for as long as you can and not worry about Fuji's position as an ongoing producer of film. Fuji will make decisions based on business and economics, not populist opinion. Continued stable production depends on a continued market for film e.g. people actually using it in film cameras, not stockpiling it and looking the distant future through rose-tinted glasses. Who knows what will happen 5, 10, 15, 20 years from now? I don't really see E6 lasting 20 years, but that's not a thought that pleases me. We just do not know.

Galen Rowell was a huge fan of Velvia his mountain of work speaks volumes for his mastery of landscape, light and palette, but then there are millions around the globe who are also sticking to Velvia in whatever version there is. Film needs people actively using it to keep up demand and production. If it stagnates, there will be trouble.

benjiboy · Mar 24, 2012

Nobody knows Jededidiah, film manufacturers profess their undying commitment to film one day, and in the next breath announce it's discontinued.

Jedidiah Smith · Mar 24, 2012

OK, thank you. That kind of mirrors my thoughts, I guess, so I will just use what they still make, and for my purposes, that will be Fuji Velvia.

That done, does anyone have a good link to a comparison article on the 3 Velvias, or some personal experience for me to go off to decide which to go with for an order?
Yes, I could buy a roll of each and try them together - perhaps a worthwhile $60 experiment that I may do, but if anyone has some field advice on the 3 from your experience, I'll gladly take it!
Thanks,
Jed

Poisson Du Jour · Mar 24, 2012

Personal experience (and it will vary widely here on APUG):
Velvia 50: Very, very contrasty; rate at EI40 in 35mm; as-is for MF and LF, diffuse light. Polarise in diffuse light.
Velvia 100: Contrast as for 50, uber-saturated; very pure whites and stark reds; rate at EI80 in 35mm, as is for MF, LF.
Velvia 100F: flashy, avant garde palette with a peculiar yellow layer than can render some pale greens an oddball mustard; visibly different palette to RVP 50 (whose strength is across all primaries). It is a beautiful film for early morning (sunrise) and evening/dusk (sunset). All three Velvias respond best in diffuse light with preserved highlights and visible shadow. Bright light will deliver the very worst with ugly swathes of featureless black shadow and blown highlights.

Velvia 50 remains the gold standard for professional imaging and reproduces exceptionally well. RVP 100F can be tricky to scan because of its colour.
I do suggest you buy a roll of each and experiment with your favourite subject matter. It's not a brutally expensive thing to do rather than buy 50 boxes and find half-way through it's just not the right stuff.

Jedidiah Smith · Mar 24, 2012

Thank you for the commentary on your experience with the films! I also did a little Google search and found a couple comparisons. I think either the straight 100 (non F) or the 50 will be my choice, so I will get one of each of those first and see if I can really tell a difference or if one stands out to me.
Thank you for your time and help.

Lamar · Mar 24, 2012

I've used Velvia 50 and 100 but not 100F. Velvia 100 is slightly less saturated and is just tad less red than Velvia 50. To me Velvia 50's blues seem darker, yellows have a bit of red in them, and overall the saturation is a little higher. Generaly speaking I don't mind taking people shots on Velvia 100 but I try to aviod it on Velvia 50 because I know skin tones will be too red. Below is a link to a gallery with some of my revesal film shots if you want to look. There are some Velvia shots in there but I was heavy into Ektachrome.

. http://www.lamarlamb.com/On-Film/Reversal-Film-Slides/13120126_zKCdcD#!i=1315288406&k=jqcd5ZB

perkeleellinen · Mar 24, 2012

I used to do something special with the 50. I'd rate at around 80 or so and shoot in hard light. This had the effect of producing really deep, saturated colours next to deep, sometimes pure black shadows. This approach probably wouldn't work for landscape shots but for close ups and tight scenes where the light is cast nicely over a interesting and colourful subject it would often produce startling results.

benjiboy · Mar 24, 2012

My favourite general purpose Fuji Slide film is Fuji Provea, I do use Velvia sometimes but find it far too high colour in saturation for some subjects, Provia is still colourful and very sharp but it doesn't tend to produce such Mickey Mouse primary colours and make human skin look too red.

Jedidiah Smith · Mar 24, 2012

Thank you all. And Lamar, your gallery was great to look at for the subtle variables in the film, especially helpful since you were trying to match the original slide, and not making each shot "perfect" in PS instead.

I did like the Velvia 100 rendition the best overall. Provia seems like a nice film, but without good use of NDs or polarizer, it reminds me of a very neutral (like Canon) digital capture. Which is exactly what some people are after. Just when I see a shot on Provia, I kind of wish I could see it on Velvia too, so I guess that's how I know it's for me.
Edit: And maybe it's from looking at too much Galen Rowell type work that I have come to "expect" a certain look, I don't know.
Thanks all for the help!

tnabbott · Mar 24, 2012

Jedidiah Smith said:
OK, thank you. That kind of mirrors my thoughts, I guess, so I will just use what they still make, and for my purposes, that will be Fuji Velvia.

That done, does anyone have a good link to a comparison article on the 3 Velvias, or some personal experience for me to go off to decide which to go with for an order?
Yes, I could buy a roll of each and try them together - perhaps a worthwhile $60 experiment that I may do, but if anyone has some field advice on the 3 from your experience, I'll gladly take it!
Thanks,
Jed

Note, Fuji produces film in Japan that it discontinued here, such as 220 Astia and Velvia. I just picked some up and asked the vendor (Japan Exposures) whether these were old stock or are still produced. I was told they are still produced. If that is so, I am hopeful Fuji won't cease production anytime soon. Also, Fuji came out fairly recently with a new film camera - a 6x7/6x7 collapsible lens rangefinder - in 2010 I think. You can still buy them new. Not a guarantee or reliable predictor, but Fuji did much better than Kodak in terms of diversifying. Finally, Fuji makes its own E-6 chemicals, which are still sold in 5L home kits everywhere but N. America.

nworth · Mar 24, 2012

Velvia has a very narrow latitude, and it can give quite bizarre colors if exposure is not right on. There will be a learning curve. During that time, bracket and pay attention to the results.

ME Super · Mar 24, 2012

I can tell you this: I just did my part to support Fuji's E-6 materials. I ordered several rolls of Provia 100F yesterday. Looking forward to shooting it as soon as I finish the roll of Velvia 100 that's in the camera right now.

Jedidiah Smith · Mar 24, 2012

Awesome on the E6 purchase! We'll give it the best run we can while they make it, right? And thanks for the advice on bracketing when I start. I've shot the old stuff before, back in Alaska, but that was several years ago now, and I am sure I'm quite rusty. Plus the light is different down here, way more intense and contrasty.

ME Super · Mar 25, 2012

I know I might catch some flack for saying this from the crowd that uses the totally manual cameras, but I'm gonna say it anyway... Matrix meters in modern film SLRs are actually quite good and are a lot harder to fool with tricky lighting situations than the older center-weighted meters or manual cameras. Bracketing isn't as important with the matrix meters as it was back in the center-weighted metering days.

My son should be getting his new-to-him SLR Wednesday. I asked him if he wanted prints to share with friends or slides to project so we would have the right film when it came in... He did not hesitate in his answer...He wants slides. We can always get a print from a slide. It's harder to get a slide from a print or negative.

Steve Smith · Mar 25, 2012

Poisson Du Jour said:
Velvia 50: Very, very contrasty; rate at EI40 in 35mm; as-is for MF and LF, diffuse light. Polarise in diffuse light.
Velvia 100: Contrast as for 50, uber-saturated; very pure whites and stark reds; rate at EI80 in 35mm, as is for MF, LF.

Any idea why only the 35mm version of these would be slightly less sensitive to light?

Steve.

derwent · Mar 25, 2012

Velvia 50 is my favourite film for landscapes and particularly if there is a good floral display.
I avoid shooting people on it though as they always seem to have some bad fake tan gone wrong...
Provia is very neutral and great for portraits and anything where the highly saturated Velvia look is not wanted.

brianmquinn · Mar 25, 2012

Their slide Film mailers have an exp. date of 12/31/2013 on them.
Dead Link Removed

I use the mailers all the time. Less then a week turn around.

Here is the Fujifilm GF670 Camera

Dead Link Removed

ME Super · Mar 25, 2012

Those mailers have Dwayne's address on them. It's not surprising the turn-around is so fast.

LJSLATER · Mar 25, 2012

I've been shooting 35mm Velvia for several years. I rate Velvia 50 at ASA 50 and Velvia 100 at ASA 125, I don't know why. I can't comment on the 100F version. I have no problem with center-weighted meters; I only use a very limited aperture range, so I've gotten pretty good at just "eyeballing" the scene and knowing sort of what the exposure should be, even before I meter.

Also, this may sound weird, but I've used both Velvia 50 and 100 extensively for urban night shooting. It does suprisingly well! I love the strange colors that come from mixed artificial lighting. In my experience, you can get away without worrying about reciprocity if you stay under a minute or two. I don't use a meter for night shooting, so I try to bracket, but most of the time I'm too lazy.

I use E6 for probably 90% of what I do, but I'm not hopeful for the future. If and when E6 dies for good, I'll proably switch to C41

Jedidiah Smith · Mar 25, 2012

Ah, thanks for all the tips as I get back into this. I will try some "ISO bracketing" then - see what I like best, anywhere from 80 to 125 and try to look at the subtle differences in shadow and highlight details.
As far as the future - well, I guess all we can do is those of us who like color positives just have to keep shooting it until we no longer can, if that ever does happen...

Poisson Du Jour · Mar 25, 2012

As far as the future - well, I guess all we can do is those of us who like color positives just have to keep shooting it until we no longer can, if that ever does happen...

That's right!

benjiboy · Mar 26, 2012

Fuji Pro slide film is in no way inferior to Kodak I.M.O. they are amazing, and aren't just to be regarded as a stop gap replacement for Kodak ones, I just got four rolls of 120 Velvia 100 back from the lab a couple of days ago and after I had mounted them when I projected them on a 50" square screen for a few of my friends they had them gasping.

nightbringer · Mar 26, 2012

I love Fuji's E6 offerings ... I've been shooting them almost exclusively whenever I choose to shoot slide.
And the fact that it is relatively cheap to process here ($10AUD to process, I scan myself) has encouraged me to shoot more, mainly in 6x7 where they become mini photos. I love Astia in particular for people - they just render skin tones so beautifully.

I need to do some studio shooting with it to see how it goes.

ektachrome · Mar 26, 2012

hope fuji keep going
i love velvia 50!
however
i have stockpiled lots of e100 g and vs.
When any film is discontinued, i buy at least 6 rolls of it and freeze.
at the moment i have 6 rolls kodachrome 64, same for 200 and 25.
Same for edupe, plus x, e200, 320t, 160t, 64, 64t

Anyone have info on Fuji's E6 future or position?

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