Can Fuji Velivia be printed not as slides?

Folks

Update....I got my Velvia developed and got the prints too (at a cost of £17ish per film) from Peak Imaging. I have to say, I was quite dis-heartened at first when the prints arrived. Remember this was my first time shooting Velvia so I was expecting PUNCH - so when my prints taken of rapeseed fields in spring with blue skies (with a polarizer for added saturation) came back looking quite flat, I was rather sad.

However, I took the advice of many of you and bought myself a Lightbox to go in my new darkroom that I'm creating (I bought a £17 Hama Lightbox). I slapped my transparencies on that, and WOWZERS! I was blown away!!!! Blue skies as blue as you can imagine - yellow flowers so yellow it defied belief - green leaves greener than the original ones - and the shrpness! My faith in my abilities and that of Velvia where restored. "It's the prints" I realised, that looked less than ideal - not the photographs I'd taken and the film I'd used to do it. The images on the lightbox where as I intended and imagined. I never realised prints could differ so widely from the original film - I understand now why you were all telling me to use a projector or LightBox.

So, everyone, you have another Velvia and Lightbox fan. I also poached a slide viewer and screen from my Dad - next time I'm going to use The Darkroom for my Velvia - http://www.the-darkroom.co.uk - they quoted me sensible prices (about £4 for development and slide mounting) and I'm sure will provide a more personal approach.

Ted

Don't be disheartened - I would never expect to be blown away by 6x4's from transparencies. To be blown away they need to be larger and either printed traditionally ("Cibachrome", now called "Ilfochrome") or with a very good quality scan and digital print.

ted_smith said:

However, I took the advice of many of you and bought myself a Lightbox to go in my new darkroom that I'm creating (I bought a £17 Hama Lightbox). I slapped my transparencies on that, and WOWZERS! I was blown away!!!!

Ted

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Argh...This be why I shoot transparencies me hearty.

Comparable prints are possible but you pay for it. Ilfochromes are still being made. And I have seen some lightjet produced prints that rock too.

Hi Ted, I hate to be a word-Nazi, but you are incorrectly using (and spelling) the term Luddite. It has its roots in an English social movement by weavers opposing the use of mechanical looms. It is generally used as a derisive term to refer to someone who is against technology or behind-the-times. I have noticed several people using it lately with pride, however. Ironically, in this forum, you are surrounded by Luddites, as they eschew the modern digital technology in favor of analog processes, and they certainly are not idiots!

As far as slide-shooting goes: there's nothing quite like ripping into a packet of slides that you've been eagerly anticipating for a week or two. Putting them on the light-box or, better yet, the slide projector for the first time can be magical. Machine prints generally don't do them justice. My personal favorite is Fuji Velvia 50.

George

My personal favorite is Fuji Velvia 50

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- Velvia was my favourite too up until the other week when I got the results from a roll of Astia 100 that I had used to photograph some flowers. I was amazed by that stuff. So much so, I bought several more rolls. And no, I had not got them printed as 6x4's - I just put them on my lightbox, and also had pro scans done of them by the lab. Very happy with it.