Velvia 100F: other photographers' experience

[Poisson Du Jour]

On the weekend of 4-5th October I photographed a favourite shoreline in a predicted 'show' of sunset and afterglow. I remember clearly a few moments when the light gave the sand a markedly pink tinge. When I saw what Velvia 100F had done, I did a doubletake: the pink is quite intense indeed, almost silly (certainly much brassier than Velvia 50). Close inspection reveals the sand, illuminated next morning by low sun, which I remember to be a goldish-brown, also has a pinkish (or magenta) tone; certainly not the right colour.

I have read in other forums (i.e. photo.net) that 100F is known sometimes for a magenta cast. My own jury is out on the matter; critical inspection shows whites in images do not show a cast, nor do blue skies with white clouds (I was using a Skylight 1B, which, yes, does have a faint pink colour). There is also no cast on rainforest shot with a polariser (I'll bet you can see the problem already...), but very pure white and bland greens (there is a rule about this film's preferences: never photograph a dry rainforest if to your eyes it looks just that: dry).

It's possible that Velvia 100F is more extravagent in its rendering of the red spectrum. Certainly after a sunset shoot against granite illuminated in sunset light, that is my assessment if it is shot at 100, rather than 'lifted' at small jot at EI80.

The question: has anybody found a definite tendency for Velvia 100F to cast magenta (during normal exposures, not extended)?

 

[benjiboy]

Yes I have ,I read various test reports and I switched to Velvia 100 RVP as opposed to RVP F and found it better, these are not the same film.

 

[nsouto]

Had a bad experience with 100F as well.
Any slight under-exposure and it goes magenta in the weirdest way.

Much prefer Astia or simple Velvia 50, almost no 100F used now.

 

[Marco B]

You might have a look at this link:

http://www.olegnovikov.com/technical/velvia50vs100/velvia50vs100.shtml

Marco

 

[RH Designs]

The question: has anybody found a definite tendency for Velvia 100F to cast magenta (during normal exposures, not extended)?

Yes. I was really unimpressed by it, some of the colour rendering was really weird. I much prefer RVP100 or RVP50.

Attached a raw scan, and one after "auto color" in Photoshop.

 

[Rob Vinnedge]

I have had very good luck with Velvia 100F in the studio using strobe. It does indeed offer some of the saturation associated with Velvias but with a little more fidelity to the subject matter, particularly in neutral areas. I do occasionally experience a slight over all magenta cast but not consistently within a particular emulsion number, which leads me to believe that processing, or even the delay before processing, might have something to do with the color shift. In any case, the shift is easy to manage, either through filtration or Photoshop.

 

[Frank Bunnik]

I used it on a trekking in Nepal to Everest Base Camp and the Gokyo lakes and I had no problems with this film. No magenta cast just crisp colours and sharpness. You can see some of my photos from that trekking in the set "for the love of mountains" at www.flickr.com/photos/asialover
I made a photo near my home once at sunrise and that one had a magenta cast though. That photo is the one on the right on the top row in my "Dutch landscapes" set at the same site.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

You might have a look at this link:

http://www.olegnovikov.com/technical/velvia50vs100/velvia50vs100.shtml
Marco

The replies are most interesting.

Oleg is pretty much on the money with his assessment and observations.
I especially like his comment, "RVP100 is avant-garde, easygoing and flashy."

Some of his remarks fly in the face of conventional wizdom: Velvia 50 is more of a ISO 40 film; certainly I have used it more at 40 than 50, when it tends toward blocking much more easily in marginal light. I agree with Oleg that 100F is more forgiving with shadows (I rate it at EI80 then) than RVP 50 (which would go to EI40).

Personally 100F has given me beautifully accentuated greens (wet rainforest photography with hazy sun, New Zealand), clean, crisp whites (shorelines and snowscapes) but strange browns/reds such as the bridge shot over reflected water in this thread (the evident magenta tinge is identical to what I am seeing). Maybe the magenta cast is from a) SKYLIGHT HMC 1B filter, even though a faint pink; b) poor E6 processing or c) shift due to exposure to heat somewhere or d) as mentioned previously, a hypersensitivity in the red palette. Interestingly, no magenta cast is visible on any shots made under polarisation.

I need to get a scanner!

 

[HerrBremerhaven]

I got that same magenta cast on night shots I did with Velvia 100F. After that test, it seemed that this film is better for daytime usage, though honestly I prefer Fuji Astia 100F under daylight conditions. When I have to do night shots, or sunrise/sunset shots, then I stick to Kodak E100VS, which really is the best film I have found for that.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography