Love Fuji Velvia 50, don't love the warmth on skin. Filters?

Holly · May 15, 2012

Hey all
What filter would you recommend for lifting a bit of that orangey warmth in the skintones that you get with Velvia 50?
I love love the fine grain, and the saturation in everything else, except certain people's faces and bodies will turn a bit
too yellowy for my liking . I'm working with portraits and want to keep using this film but wonder if any particular filter
(80? 80B? Not great with memorising these numbers!) will give me the skin tones more neutral but keep the saturation and
depth in everything else.

Holly

polyglot · May 15, 2012

Try Provia (RDPIII) or Velvia 100F. Not as insane in the saturation but then you won't get carrot-face either. I only shoot people with RVP if I want them to look drunk & redfaced!

Ektar is another option. It can have nearly as much saturation as Velvia yet is still passable on the (caucasian) skin tones.

All of the above options will give you as much resolution as RVP, the limiting factor being your lens or motion.

If you filter to blue, you will get the whole scene going blue. Maybe if you use a lightly blue-gelled flash on your subjects? I'm not sure it's going to look good though. The 80 series conversion filters are way too much blue; you want to try a Rosco sample pack with some finer gradations of blue.

thegman · May 15, 2012

If you want to keep using Velvia, but want nicer skin tones, you could probably tweak them in Photoshop or similar. If you want to keep it totally analogue, no computers, then I don't know...

Holly · May 15, 2012

polyglot said:
Try Provia (RDPIII) or Velvia 100F. Not as insane in the saturation but then you won't get carrot-face either. I only shoot people with RVP if I want them to look drunk & redfaced!

Ektar is another option. It can have nearly as much saturation as Velvia yet is still passable on the (caucasian) skin tones.

All of the above options will give you as much resolution as RVP, the limiting factor being your lens or motion.

If you filter to blue, you will get the whole scene going blue. Maybe if you use a lightly blue-gelled flash on your subjects? I'm not sure it's going to look good though. The 80 series conversion filters are way too much blue; you want to try a Rosco sample pack with some finer gradations of blue.

I will have to do tests of Provia and 100F, I've never used them. I do love Ektar, I was using it for some time in a foresty area at
sundown for its resolution and mild warmth. I'll have to bust it out in the studio too and see how it compares to RVP. Had a feeling that
filtering would be too intense, that's what I wanted to check before I went to lengths to find a filter. I don't mind a cool looking image,
but not morgue-cool iykwim.

And seeing as I have to scan and print anyway it will maybe be a matter of Pshopping the carrotface out selectively.

polyglot · May 15, 2012

Since you're doing hybrid, it would be far easier to shoot Ektar and tweak global curves for huge punch instead of trying to fix carrotface from RVP. Shooting chromes means a lot of information loss during the exposure and it can't be got back. I did some testing recently and managed to make Ektar and RVP look near-identical except that the Ektar retained highlight detail better. Same basic contrast, saturation, palette, etc, all through some curve tweaks.

removed-user-1 · May 15, 2012

Maybe an 82A filter (very light blue) would be a good choice, if you want to stay with Velvia 50. I've also understood that Velvia 100 (not 100F) has better skin tones than the 50 speed, without the cooler look of 100F. But I've only used Velvia 50 and I rarely do portraits, so this is just secondhand information.

I used to love Astia for a neutral color balance but it's gone as far as I know.

Diapositivo · May 15, 2012

Astia is still produced at least in 120 rolls. The 135 cartridges are not any more produced but, I think, still available and stockable.

The Astia name is supposed to be formed from "Accurate Skin Tones" (the last two letters added for the family feeling) and its low graininess is exceptional. If you look for natural skin tones, and not oversaturated and "flashy" colours, Astia is a very good choice, albeit expensive.

Recent events, and the possible spike in slide sales by Fuji, might even encourage Fuji to sell Astia again in 135, one can never know.

polyglot · May 15, 2012

Diapositivo said:
Astia is still produced at least in 120 rolls. The 135 cartridges are not any more produced but, I think, still available and stockable.

The Astia name is supposed to be formed from "Accurate Skin Tones" (the last two letters added for the family feeling) and its low graininess is exceptional. If you look for natural skin tones, and not oversaturated and "flashy" colours, Astia is a very good choice, albeit expensive.

Recent events, and the possible spike in slide sales by Fuji, might even encourage Fuji to sell Astia again in 135, one can never know.

Now there's a backformation I never heard of. I assumed it was based on the latin for "star".

Poisson Du Jour · May 15, 2012

My first response when reading the OP, intending to use Velvia 50 for I assume portraiture, was "ah...no...". Velvia is a landscape emulsion designed to saturate and impress, and has been for decades the gold standard for Ilfochrome printing (which is gone, of course). It remains the gold standard for imaging in the landscape/scenic context, but for people, it's a no-no. I would angle immediately for Provia 100. Blue colour conversion filters you have stated may cause Velvia to give a pasty rendition. You could also correct the colour if you are scanning though personally I avoid this fiddly stuff now and get it right with the appropriate choice of film.

Richard S. (rich815) · May 15, 2012

What will you be doing with the chromes? Turning into prints? Scanning? Projecting?

Roger Cole · May 15, 2012

Diapositivo said:
Astia is still produced at least in 120 rolls. The 135 cartridges are not any more produced but, I think, still available and stockable.

The Astia name is supposed to be formed from "Accurate Skin Tones" (the last two letters added for the family feeling) and its low graininess is exceptional. If you look for natural skin tones, and not oversaturated and "flashy" colours, Astia is a very good choice, albeit expensive.

Recent events, and the possible spike in slide sales by Fuji, might even encourage Fuji to sell Astia again in 135, one can never know.

No it isn't. I wish it were, but it has been discontinued in ALL sizes.

It is still readily available from existing stock in 120 and sheets, though.

Diapositivo · May 16, 2012

Roger Cole said:
No it isn't. I wish it were, but it has been discontinued in ALL sizes.

It is still readily available from existing stock in 120 and sheets, though.

Do you know this from internet speculation or from a Fujifilm press statement?

http://www.fujifilm.com/products/professional_films/color_reversalfilms/astia_100f/

states "Some formats and packaging may not be available in your area. Please consult with your local Fujifilm distributor for details".

perkeleellinen · May 16, 2012

There was a Fuji Announcement on Astia:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists).

The translated link: http://translate.google.com/transla...lm.jp/information/articlead_0129.html&act=url Astia is rendered 'Asutia'.

Diapositivo · May 16, 2012

Very sad.
In any case, that's an announcement of September 5, 2011 stating that the last batch of Astia (120 and sheet film) is scheduled for end of March 2012 (if I understand correctly the machine translation).

If they coated in March 2012, not every hope is lost. That batch might last for a certain time, and the possible rise in demand due to discontinuation of the Kodak E-6 line might warrant some new coating. In September of last year IIRC Kodak had not yet announced the discontinuation of E-6 material.

Roger Cole · May 16, 2012

As Steve posted I know this from Fuji releases not "Internet Speculation."

There as a big thread that involved links and translated links and so on over on LFPF. I tried to find it when posting, in fact spent more time than I should have, but I can't seem to find anything using the search there since the upgrade, or the search here ever. Older vBulletin systems seem to work better for me for searching.

I'm not sure why this one seemed to have escaped so many people (probably because you can still get the 120 and 4x5) but there it is. I went to E100G after this announcement, only to have it discontinued as well. At least, I went to it for 35mm slides for projection (I did stock up on E100G.) I really don't have much use for transparencies in larger formats myself so I'm not that bothered by it, nor that relieved by Astia being available in 120 and 4x5 for a bit longer.

Holly · May 17, 2012

rich815 said:
What will you be doing with the chromes? Turning into prints? Scanning? Projecting?

I'll be scanning and printing digitally most likely. (I should look at DPUG shouldn't I?) They're for large scale prints ultimately though.

Holly · May 17, 2012

I don't suppose there's some great person out there who's done tests of all these films we're mentioning and posted the
results for comparison in an uber chart of films, is there? If anyone knows of any links like this let me know.

I would angle immediately for Provia 100.

Poisson du jour, why do I want to do this, what does it offer? It's looking like a few votes for Provia 100/F.
And do you guys mean definitely Provia 100 and aren't abbreviating the 100F? Are they the same thing?
Oh and yeah, I'm shooting for portraiture but very abstract, so actual real, natural colours are almost
not applicable. I'll want some realism to the skin but it isn't like classic portraiture by a long shot.

polyglot · May 17, 2012

People are suggesting Provia (and there is only one Provia 100F, the other Provia is 400X) because it has fairly accurate, neutral colour but high contrast. If you like the contrast of Velvia then Provia gets you 80% of the way there without nasty skin-tones. It doesn't have the crazy saturation though. Since you're doing hybrid then a negative film will be a far better option because it records more dynamic range. Start with Ektar if you like the serious colour/contrast, but you should expose it about as carefully as you would a chrome and absolutely do not underexpose.

If you want to see film comparisons, do tag searches on flickr, e.g. (from my stream; I do fairly straight scans) Velvia RVP50, Velvia RVP100F, Provia RDP, Ektar, Reala.

Holly · May 23, 2012

Still waiting for film to arrive so I can test for myself all these skintone differences...but thanks for all the suggestions
everyone. Maybe Provia will be my new Velvia? Time will tell.
Ta for the flickr links PG, there are some seriously blue skies on the Velvia page!

polyglot · May 23, 2012

polarisers are to blame for the metallic blue sky.

Poisson Du Jour · May 23, 2012

polyglot said:
polarisers are to blame for the metallic blue sky.

As a known rule of thumb, one does NOT use a polariser with Velvia 50 (or RVP 100, 100F) where there is blue sky: a) RVP does not need it; b) saturation level in the viewfinder is very difficult to predict relative to the transparency and c) unnatural is understating it. Sure, there are people who will do all of that then grumble about the pasty heavy look of Velvia on the lightbox. My use of a polariser is restricted to rainforest scenes. Any other time a UV, SKY1B or no filter is the call.

polyglot · May 24, 2012

Poisson Du Jour said:
As a known rule of thumb, one does NOT use a polariser with Velvia 50 (or RVP 100, 100F) where there is blue sky: a) RVP does not need it; b) saturation level in the viewfinder is very difficult to predict relative to the transparency and c) unnatural is understating it. Sure, there are people who will do all of that then grumble about the pasty heavy look of Velvia on the lightbox. My use of a polariser is restricted to rainforest scenes. Any other time a UV, SKY1B or no filter is the call.

You can keep your thumbs to yourself and I'll keep using my polariser.

Love Fuji Velvia 50, don't love the warmth on skin. Filters?

removed-user-1

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency