Fuji Velvia 100F

bishy · Mar 26, 2011

Hi,

Please may i ask your views on this film. On searching through the forum,seems this film has divided opinion throughout the years.

Looking for a vivid film,for portraits in outdoor landscape settings. I understand Velvia 50 and 100, may not be the right choice for this. I have read about the sunburnt face look. My thinking is Velvia 100F could be more suitable,to gain the extra saturation and contrast,over a more neutral balanced film.

Cheers.

A Sabai · Mar 26, 2011

I've just started using Velvia 100F and I am liking it for landscapes, but have not tried it for outdoor portraits. I've used Velvia 50 for outdoor portraits and haven't like the look. If I were going to do portraits in the landscape I would use something like Provia 100F

Klainmeister · Mar 26, 2011

Slightly underexposed Provia is great for outdoor landscape and portraits. It is more neutral, but you can pull quite a bit of color out of the foliage without making people look rosy. If you're scanning, Provia is slightly better than Velvia anyhow.

Just my $.02

bishy · Mar 26, 2011

I have really tried to like Provia 100F,but the cyan cast/look in general, has put me off from shooting Provia.

Another option i thought,if Velvia 100F proves not to be suitable for this purpose,could be Kodak Elitechrome 100?.

cs_foto · Mar 26, 2011

Just give it a go and see if you like the results or not

I've used velvia 50 and velvia 100 for outdoor portraits and it gives you quite a special look, so it is not about it being suitable or not, is it about you liking the results....

the character of the film will give you a high contrast, so keep an eye on those highlights....

If you want smooth, pale, low contrast, dreamlike images, VELVIA is NOT the best option!

bishy · Mar 26, 2011

cs_foto said:
Just give it a go and see if you like the results or not

I've used velvia 50 and velvia 100 for outdoor portraits and it gives you quite a special look, so it is not about it being suitable or not, is it about you liking the results....

the character of the film will give you a high contrast, so keep an eye on those highlights....

If you want smooth, pale, low contrast, dreamlike images, VELVIA is NOT the best option!

I am not after smooth,pale,low contrast,dreamlike images. Just saturated portraits shots, in landscape settings.

Thank you for the info everyone.

2F/2F · Mar 26, 2011

Velvia 100F is less saturated and cooler in color balance than Velvia 100...which actually means it looks pretty neutral, since Velvia 50 and 100 are a tad warm. It is somewhere in between Provia and Velvia 100 in terms of saturation, and has a color balance similar to Provia (i.e. very neutral, while Velvia 50 and 100 are a bit warm).

Either one could be suitable for your shots, depending on what you want. I would try a roll of each on the same subject and see what you see!

But 100F is definitely the least "poppy" Velvia there is, so of the three, it has the characteristics best suited to your run-of-the-mill portrait. It's drawback for your run-of-the-mill portrait, however, is its more neutral color balance, while a slightly warm look is often desired. So, if you want the lower saturation and contrast of the 100F vs. the other two Velvias, but want it to have more warmth, try shooting the 100F with a mild warming filter.

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Mar 26, 2011

It depends on your lens also , the correctness of your camera meter , scanner , software and the paper.
I am really does not know too much things about bw or color zone system but it would not be loss of time.
Provia is excellent with software retouches , I think my Fuji experience is not very good.
If you look after 80s National Geographic look , go for Ektachrome 100 vs. I wouldnt spend on Fuji when there is Kodak.

Umut

roboflick · Mar 26, 2011

I like kodak elite chrome 100 great colors for people and landscape. Not over saturated and natural skin tones, and still relatively cheap.

Nik

cs_foto · Mar 26, 2011

bishy said:
I am not after smooth,pale,low contrast,dreamlike images. Just saturated portraits shots, in landscape settings.

Thank you for the info everyone.

Then Velvia is a good one to try!

Look in here, in the home page you will see a portrait done using Velvia 50

Dead Link Removed

The scan looks slightly less saturated and is not as rich as the original transparency.. but what can we do....

Slixtiesix · Mar 27, 2011

If you´re looking for a vivid film to use for portraits in outdoor landscape settings, I can highly recommend Provia 400X. It has a wider latitude than Velvia and delivers vivid colours without a cast. Plus it´s Iso 400, which can be useful for portraiture.

Best, Benjamin

benjiboy · Mar 27, 2011

The best Fuji slide film for portraiture and fashion photography is Fuji Pro.Astia 100F, it was specifically devised for reproducing natural skin tones.

Diapositivo · Mar 27, 2011

I second Astia for portraits in a landscape settings (if "Monna Lisa" portrait style is what you mean). Its name is supposed to stand for "accurate skin tones". I use it for all my "city landscape" work and the colours are natural and quite saturated just like in nature. Wonderful material. I can still find the 135/36 format that in some countries appears not to be distributed any more.

Different films like Velvia might give you more "spectacular" (although not "real") greens and reds, but a somehow unpleasant skin rendering. Astia will give you a pleasant skin rendering AND pleasant and saturated landscape rendering. Considering that a portrait in a landscape setting is in any case a portrait, I would not sacrifice skin tones on the altar of garish greens.

Fabrizio

bishy · Mar 27, 2011

Thank you very much for the advice everyone.

I have shot two rolls of film today, Elitechrome 100 and Velvia 100F. I understand that Astia 100F would be a good choice for portraits,however Astia has not been available in the UK for a couple of years now,which is a shame. The closest replacement to Astia i can purchase is Sensia 100,which i found lacking the vivid look i desired,in the landscape setting.

I will reshoot Provia 100F with a 81A warming filter,also i will test a roll of 400X next time out.

Thanks all.

perkeleellinen · Mar 28, 2011

You can buy Astia from Maco in Germany:

http://www.macodirect.de/fujifilm-fuji-astia-100f-c-416_417_418_497.html

frobozz · Mar 28, 2011

Last I heard, Astia was officially discontinued it, so if Maco has it, grab it while you can. I had just settled on Astia as the replacement for my much beloved E100GX (which was itself the replacement for my much beloved E100SW!), then they killed it. I have a bunch, but I don't know what I'll do when that runs out. (Well, OK, my freezer full of E100GX means that day is a long time from now, but still...)

Duncan

perkeleellinen · Mar 28, 2011

The official word is that 35mm is dead but 120 remains. However, much is dependent upon what's imported nationally.

Fuji Velvia 100F

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