Velvia 50 RVP - night photography

rayonline_nz · Apr 15, 2016

I enjoy some night photography. Some of the books I read ie - Bryan Peterson and he's shot Velvia in the which was probably only the 50 that was available at the time. Fuji's datasheet says exposures after 4 seconds requires compensation and color filters. Most people I gather didn't have these filters, so realistically while I am not aiming for color perfection what is the maximum exposure time I can use with Velvia 50?

Just last night I took a night cityscape at F5.6 to reduce my shutter speed to a modest 10 seconds. Adjusting reciprocity this became 15 seconds.

Cheers

Poisson Du Jour · Apr 15, 2016

Well, long night exposures will give you an alien look on RVP 50. It turns a quirky green over long night exposures. Lots of people like this effect in the right landscape context (e.g. graveyards, petrified forest, beachscapes...). On the other hand, Provia casts to purple over long expsures. The longest exposure I have made on RVP 50 was at dusk at 1 minute, 15 seconds with 1 stop reciprocity compensation (it looked overexposed). I pull the plug out for star trails at night with Provia 100 with a typical of exposure of 6 to 7 hours (!). Woohoo! Bring on the colour purple!

A shutter speed of 10 to 15 seconds reads tame to me. I think an exposure over 30 seconds will require reciprocity compensation but give Velvia enough rope and push it as an experiment, recording notes as you go. I would use it for star trails as mentioned above but I have never really liked the green cast as opposed to Provia's purple. YMMV.

Wayne · Apr 15, 2016

Poisson Du Jour said:
Well, long night exposures will give you an alien look on RVP 50. It turns a quirky green over long night exposures.

Poisson Du Jour · Apr 15, 2016

Eugh! Well, purple is my fav colour. Perhaps it's no accident that Provia is my go-to film for star trails...

HiHoSilver · Apr 15, 2016

My experience w/ Vel 50 is minimal, but there was a recent post on Rockwell that gave new numbers for reciprocity w/ velvia, should you have interest.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/fuji/velvia-50.htm#reciprocity

Poisson Du Jour · Apr 15, 2016

Forget about polarizers. They were for Kodachrome; with Velvia 50, only use polarizers if you're trying to cut through excessive haze. Otherwise, on a nice day, using a polarizer with Velvia 50 can turn the skies way too dark.

No, don't forget to pack your polariser! And use it based on judgement. KR's usual generalised statement overlooks one important use: cutting out spectrals which will influence exposure. True though that skies should be excluded with a polariser unless you have plans to 'tone it down' in post. The rainforest shot below was made with a polariser. The effect was to cut spectrals on the ferns and in the water, keeping the exposure short but not sacrificing the effect desired.

The second, 2-line reciprocity table can be useful, but I do not worry about anything at those times until I get close to 1 minute. Then things need attention.

Stephen Schoof · Apr 18, 2016

I routinely go up to a minute or so with Velvia 50 without extreme color shifts, usually adding about 1/2-stop after 20 seconds or so and bracketing. I have tried V50 for night exposures of moonlight and star trails and found that it does in fact pick up and exaggerate greens if there are any artificial lights around. Exposures also get to be really long, as reciprocity failure seems to get worse as exposures get longer. However, I have seen some hours-long Velvia 50 exposures made in wilderness locations by other photographers (Art Wolfe, etc), so it can be done.

These days I'd use Provia if I wanted to ensure minimal color shifts, and Velvia 100 if I wanted to soup things up a little. I'm not a fan of Velvia 100 in most situations, but it renders a nice blue night sky in moonlight and I haven't had issues with green shifts away from artificial light. Watch out for browns, which can go overly red. Provia 100 can be pushed to 200 with great results.

Here's Velvia 100 at about 2 minutes.

Palantiri7 · May 2, 2016

Lovely picture, Stephen.

StoneNYC · May 3, 2016

I've never experienced the green shift, it's always a lovely purple lavender shift. I always use a polarizer and I really only shoot sunrise/sunset images with 4x5 and 8x10 Velvia50.

It's possible the original Velvia was different. I've noticed Velvia100 has a more red shift, and again Provia100f has a purple/blue shift but again I've never shot full night images just sunsets, my exposures are 1-2 minutes long generally. I've shot B&W images that are 2 hours long, but I haven't done so with Velvia50, so I can't say that they don't turn green, but shooting with a polarizer for a few minutes I haven't noticed any green shift at all.

You'll just have to try it!

I use the Reciprocity Timer App on my iPhone for calculating long exposures. It's very very very accurate from what I've found.

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to plug this or not but I do group buys of Velvia50 in both 4x5 and 8x10 and I'm doing one now that ends this Thursday, so if you're interested in getting some, now's the time.

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

Either way the best way to learn is to do it yourself and find out. Enjoy it while it's still here

Wayne · May 3, 2016

My green shot is very old, and it might actually be on Fujichrome xx rather than Velvia.

Ghostman · May 5, 2016

Here is an example of one of my Velvia 50 long exposures

Also, here is my Velvia reciprocity chart

rayonline_nz · May 7, 2016

I'll have to try it. Fujis datasheet says 4 seconds need reciprocity and color filters.

What film do you use for twilight or black skies with skyscrapers?

Ghostman · May 8, 2016

I don't use colour filters as I chiefly do black and white. I do use Lee NDs though. My slides get scanned and if necessary I can correct digitally. I don't bother though because I'm not a colourful creature. I like the abstract colour shifts.

Poisson Du Jour · May 8, 2016

rayonline_nz said:
I'll have to try it. Fujis datasheet says 4 seconds need reciprocity and color filters.

What film do you use for twilight or black skies with skyscrapers?

This is getting yourself bogged down in detail, detail, detail, and unnecessary detail at that. I have never used, and never needed to use, any CC filters with Velvia, Provia, Kodachrome...whatever other films. The application for colour correction is for when you are seeking extremely precise colour rendering. But if you are printing, none of that is relevant as the image will only be as good as the printer quality.

An exposure of 4 seconds (or even 45 seconds) requires absolutely nothing more than to remain still and quiet and let the camera get on with the exposure.

Velvia 50 RVP - night photography

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