Ken R was right!!

Mats_A · May 2, 2010

I confess. I read Ken Rockwell. And one thing I read more than once at his site is how wonderful Velvia is. It sounded a bit more hyperbole than usual for KR. So I bought a Velvia 50 for the Rolleicord and brought it to the sea at sunset. Cliche? I hardly now how to spell that.
Sunset, frozen sea, snow, rocks and puddles of molten snow. Camera on tripod and a full roll shot.
Got it back yesterday and put it up on the light table and brought the loupe up to it. Wow! Ken Rockwell, you were right! Incredible colors. Wow! I can see how this film will be used a lot this summer. Maybe not for people as I suppose they will look quite funny.

Now I really need to get myself a 6x6 projector. Any advice on what to look for and how much I should expect to pay?

r

Mats

Michel Hardy-Vallée · May 2, 2010

Look for a Bausch & Lomb Balomatic 755/756. I found one locally with trays, and the colours when projected are just stunning. The whole kit, all clean and well kept, cost me about 150$.

You could always hunt for more advanced stuff from Hasselblad or Rollei, Cabin etc, but you will have to be ready to invest more.

Also, try Ektachrome 100VS too. It's Kodak's equivalent saturated-colours slide film, and while it does not have the same look as Velvia, it has beautiful colours, rich and vibrant without being over the top. Plus, it's very good on skin colour.

Mats_A · May 2, 2010

Michel Hardy-Vallée said:
Look for a Bausch & Lomb Balomatic 755/756. I found one locally with trays, and the colours when projected are just stunning. The whole kit, all clean and well kept, cost me about 150$.

You could always hunt for more advanced stuff from Hasselblad or Rollei, Cabin etc, but you will have to be ready to invest more.

Also, try Ektachrome 100VS too. It's Kodak's equivalent saturated-colours slide film, and while it does not have the same look as Velvia, it has beautiful colours, rich and vibrant without being over the top. Plus, it's very good on skin colour.

Thanks for your tip. I will try the Ektachrome also. Do you develope your own slide-films or dou you send them out?

r

Mats

loman · May 2, 2010

The old leitz 6x6 projectors aren't very expensive. At least not in europe. (I've seen them go for 50-60 euros on ebay).

fschifano · May 2, 2010

Michel Hardy-Vallée said:
Also, try Ektachrome 100VS too. It's Kodak's equivalent saturated-colours slide film, and while it does not have the same look as Velvia, it has beautiful colours, rich and vibrant without being over the top. Plus, it's very good on skin colour.

I'll second that. Velvia 50 can be nice with the right subject, but it is way over the top for people pictures. E100VS is much better in that regard. If my primary subject is people, and I wanted to render a more natural looking flesh tone, neither of these films would be my first pick. Kodak's E100G or Fuji's Astia 100 would be much better choices. Different tools for different applications. Isn't it nice that we have the choice?

Michel Hardy-Vallée · May 3, 2010

shimoda said:
Thanks for your tip. I will try the Ektachrome also. Do you develope your own slide-films or dou you send them out?

r

Mats

I have labs in Montreal to develop them, so I send them out. The only colour process I bother doing is RA4 because nobody prints RA4 optically anymore: it's all scanned and printed with LEDs or something like that onto photo paper. E6 and C41 are very tight processes, so beyond the push/pull, you can't manipulate much with colour films (unless you're going for wacky!).

Optical RA4 looks nicer, rounder, less sharp of course, but people do not look plasticky.

andrewkirkby · May 4, 2010

Velvia is a truly fantastic film. It is a great look for pinks - sunrise/sunset colours and anything where you need some stand-out colour.

I shot some (RVP100) on my first "fashion" shoot last week.
The colours are spectacular. I can see this looking a bit yucky on Velvia 50

Don't forget Kodak films either. Kodak E100VS is a very, very good film as well...

Trond · May 4, 2010

Velvia 50 is great, but as others have mentioned, you should also try E100VS, a personal favorite.

Slixtiesix · May 5, 2010

Great picture Andrew!
Velvia is also my favourite slide film, along with Astia.
Finally managed to load this up properly... :rolleyes:

andrewkirkby · May 5, 2010

Thanks Slixtiesix, Yours is great too. I like that red colour of the autumnal trees.

Have a look here for Oleg Novikov's comparison of the Fuji and Kodak
http://olegnovikov.com/technical/velvia50vskodak100vs/velvia50vskodak100vs.shtml

Mats_A · May 5, 2010

Thank you all for your input. I can hardly wait for autumn colors to try out both Velvia and E100VS

r

Mats

benjiboy · May 5, 2010

I suggest you try Velvia 100 I find the extra stop very useful especially with medium format, and even projected in a 50"x50" screen it's stunning.

Ken R was right!!

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