Velvia 50/100

Hi,

Just wondered which film to choose for overcast/white cloud conditions for landscape photography. I was thinking that the extra stop advantage of Velvia 100 could be a deciding factor. I have read in the past that both films handle contrast and saturation slightly differently. The 100 speed can show a magenta cast on ocassions?,however i haven't read if the Velvia 50 can show any magenta or cyan casts?.

I have shot a few rolls of Velvia 100F recently for portraits in a landscape setting,however im finding the color palette not to my liking,a distinct magenta cast in the shadows and a lack of saturation,so i will give this film a miss.

I will of course shoot both films on a number of scenes and ocassions to decide. Just be really nice to know some prior information

Thank you.

If there will be a lot of contrast (e.g. light poking through clouds, but otherwise much of the scene in shadow) then I'd say none of the above. I'd recommend Astia 100F and if you need the speed, provia 400x.

That said, my favorite of the velvias is 100, and I have a few shots in overcast conditions with it that were reasonably successful. It handles contrast fairly well; (there was a url link here which no longer exists) is an example.

Overall, the velvias are really best for fairly flat light, in my experience.

I haven't used Velvia in a while, but when I did use it I found when I use 50 I shoot at 40 and I use 100 I shoot at 80.

Jeff

100 and 100F are very easy to blow out with bright highlights. 50 is also very high in contrast but still with a little bit more latitude.

Otherwise, it is easiest to say that 50 is warm and 100 and 100F are more neutral. All of them are very saturated.

With Velvia 50 yellows seem to lean in the red direction and skin tones seem a bit more red. Otherwise they seem very close in contrast, saturation, and the remaining color spectrum. I don't shoot people with Velvia 50 but I will with Velvia 100. I shoot at box speed but develop my own so I'm adjusting my development times rather than ISO to give me the look I want.