Very dense velvia 50

twelvetone12 · Oct 25, 2018

Or: how do you guys expose velvia?
I found that exposing it at 50iso gives dense and dark negatives. I prefer to over expose it a bit, ei40 gives nice results I like.
Does anybody else have a similar experience with tiis film? I generally avoid overexposing slides, and I normally under expose provia a bit to obtain the results I like.

jim10219 · Oct 25, 2018

I expose it at ISO 50. It does have very dark shadows, but I find those still project well, and with a multi-exposure scanning technique, I can still get a lot of detail out of them. I don't worry about blowing the highlights. I will often blow the highlights on purpose. A lot of people are afraid to do that, but I find if you just blow them out on only the brightest patches of clouds, reflections off chrome, or other small areas in a composition, the image still looks good. The trick I've found with slide film, and especially Velvia, is to meter carefully and understand how your meter works. I prefer to spot meter with Velvia, as incandescent and matrix metering don't allow me the control that's needed for such a finicky film.

benjiboy · Oct 25, 2018

I believe it's generally accepted amongst enthusiast that Velvia 50 is better rated at ISO 40, the first roll I shot I like you rated at the box speed and it was all underexposed.

Poisson Du Jour · Oct 25, 2018

Exposing at 50 in diffuse/soft/overcast light is fine, and this is the illumination that RVP50 is designed for, not point light.
For contrasty conditions EI40 might be better (does not require push/pull for slight variations), but as it is 35mm there will always be challenges
Medium to large format is commonly 50, unless there are circumstances genuinely warranting slight movement of the index.

Trail Images · Oct 25, 2018

Poisson Du Jour said:
Medium to large format is commonly 50

Agreed:
I shoot MF & LF at the 50 rating. Metering with Sekonic 758. Measure high & low and then average the reading. Final adjustments in post processing as needed with PS.
For me it's all about the small exposure latitude of V-50. I've used it for many years and just know watching the light during sunrise and sunset what will work and what will not work.

Alan Edward Klein · Oct 25, 2018

I meter at ASA 50 then bracket +1 and -1 with my MF 120. Here's scans of Velvia 50 with a Epson V600. Of course i pick the best of the three shots.
https://www.flickr.com/search/?sort...1&tags=velvia&user_id=55760757@N05&view_all=1

mshchem · Oct 25, 2018

Poisson Du Jour said:
Exposing at 50 in diffuse/soft/overcast light is fine, and this is the illumination that RVP50 is designed for, not point light.
For contrasty conditions EI40 might be better (does not require push/pull for slight variations), but as it is 35mm there will always be challenges
Medium to large format is commonly 50, unless there are circumstances genuinely warranting slight movement of the index.

+1 I always bracket, usually 2/3 of a stop. And use a Minolta incident light meter . When I shoot 35mm slides I set my F5 to auto bracket +/- 0.7 ev. Camera only allows for 3 exposures I would prefer 5. There's no substitute for bracketing with slides. If you are scanning you have more leeway ,I still like to project.

1kgcoffee · Oct 25, 2018

I overexpose slightly depending on the scene. The darker parts of the image tend to hold some really nice colours and I will at times meter for the highlights if the content can be kept in a decent range. I'm not even sure how accurate my shutter is, slide film is a tricky beast but so rewarding when you nail it.

Poisson Du Jour · Oct 25, 2018

Yes, bracketing is very wise in 35mm, especially if light is changing or going from soft to bright, or bright to soft. Those sort of conditions can be testing for anybody!
Before moving to medium format I did bracket RVP50 substantially at the rate of around every third or fourth shot of a scene if I absolutely must come back with a printable image (which incidentally requires different metrics to those routinely applied for slides destined for projection only). There is no bracketing now with MF because each shot is multispot metered and the end result is reasonably known through experience -- slightly over-exposed with the meter (not re-rated) to account for print-step brightness lost (depending on the media used).

Velvia to hand, I am returning to this scene (below) next week. It is guaranteed to be hot (40 degrees, as last year) and snake-ridden.
This time I am seeking out a richly-layered blue-pink-blue evening sky and perfectly symmetrical reflection of the tree in the water. It didn't work that way last December, with a breeze through the day persisting into the evening and, dammit, annoying the shits out of me as the shutter was released!

Evening at the Taoist Tree,
Lake Bonney Western shore
Barmera Riverland, South Australia
December 2017
RVP50, Pentax 67 w/ 90mm UV(0), multispot metered 1sec f13
( Cropped from 6x7 to 20x20).

twelvetone12 · Oct 26, 2018

It is actually your beautiful image that inspired me to try velvia And you're right, under the right conditions the results are beautiful: I did a roll on a very dull and overcast day and the results were really surprising. In direct sunlight, not so much

BMbikerider · Oct 26, 2018

I actually didn't like Velvia when I did use it but when I did I found that the the 1st developer time is absolutely critical. Do you process these films yourself? If so, temperature and time may be inaccurate with the 1st developer when processing this film. So you may be developing at too low a temperature or too short a time. (or even a little of each).

twelvetone12 · Oct 26, 2018

Nope, I used a lab for them, just for the reason of making sure the development stage was controlled.

Trail Images · Oct 26, 2018

I also use a lab for my processing. North Coast Photographic Services in Carlsbad, CA.

Here was an image I posted at Photrio that is a 4x5.
Dawn Along The Owens River

trendland · Oct 26, 2018

Overexposure with E6 Film is such special case for its own. With C41 I would say Y E S (all films + 1 stop is fine).
Underexposure E6 (- 1/3 stop) is the logical conclusion of overexposuring with c41.
But the case is different : The exposure coming from light meter isn't correct if E6 films are too dense.
Velvia 50 is designed in that dense way (obviously most photographers demand special THAT characteristics from Velvia50.
If we remember that the tolerance of modern c41 Films can be to 4 stops ( - 1,5 stop max. - + 3,5 stops) we should not forget that there is also a tolerance on E6 films. ( 1/3 stop exposure window ).

Concerning the last mentioned one will find the 100% perfect exposure to E6 only in some cases via
messurement (also with superb messurement methods it is the same).
So messurement is a base on exposure D E C I S I O N one should never forget. Your camera (also with modernest messuring electronic) have not to tell you THE PHOTOGRAPHER how to expose.
Because you have to tell your camera THE RIGHT EXPOSURE and an extern light may help you to find arguments against your camera electronic.
At last the correct exposure is not a technical question at all. So if you like Velvia50 with ISO 40 you are right.
But special with E6 Films it is often nessesarry to expose a series in 1/3 stop steps to find out what you feel comfortable as your result.

with regards

Poisson Du Jour · Oct 27, 2018

twelvetone12 said:
It is actually your beautiful image that inspired me to try velvia And you're right, under the right conditions the results are beautiful: I did a roll on a very dull and overcast day and the results were really surprising. In direct sunlight, not so much

Thank you. I think anybody could make the same image: irrespective of camera and format, timing is everything, and I came alarmingly close to missng the ideal light due to completely forgetting the interstate time difference!

Crowds do go nuts over that simple composition of a long-dead tree, diddly squat in the shin-deep water of Lake Bonney. Now the time has come to to return to the Lake and make something ... tote amazeballs! Touch wood the sun, moon, planets and stars all align and the lethal snakes ignore me. Hope I'm not asking too much...

benjiboy · Nov 11, 2018

I rate Velvia 50 at I.S.O 40 and it's still plenty dense.

Very dense velvia 50

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