Hi, I mainly use Velvia for nature and landscape shots. But the low speed often bothers me, so I would like to switch to something faster. Since I really like the color of the Velvia, it seems to be hard to find a faster equivalent. What about the Kodak E100VS or even Provia/Sensia? Iīve never used K64, K200. How good are they? Thanks rene

-- Rene Fix (renefix@gmx.net), June 19, 2001

Answers

Try Ektachrome Elite 100S or 100SW. Saturated colours and fine grain make it an ideal for landscapes.

-- David Killick (Dalex@inet.net.nz), June 19, 2001.

Try Ektachrome 100S or 100SW. Saturated colours and fine grain make it an ideal for landscapes.

-- David Killick (Dalex@inet.net.nz), June 19, 2001.

Having done side by side tests of all major colour transparency films for my prolab & Kodak NZ (except the Kodachromes - neither clients nor I like to wait for a week while they processed in Australia), E100VS would be the next best film, specially if greens are important. However, if you shoot the same scene on both RVP & E100VS, you will see that nothing matches the depth of Velvia in highlights, midtones or shadows. Beware of pink asphalt though, specially if you shoot through Nikon glass.

-- sait (akkirman@clear.net.nz), June 19, 2001.

Try pushing Velvia one stop. In other words, rate it at ISO 100. Art Morris, a well known bird photog, almost always uses Velvia this way.

-- Bob (robljones@home.com), June 19, 2001.

Rene

K64 is an excellent film and with much greater apparent sharpness than any of the E100 products, but it also has, perhaps, more visible grain. There is no contest though in sharpness. I personally think that Astia/Sensia 100 has better sharpness than the E100s too. But Kodachrome is pretty neutral without the hyped up Velvia palette, also it is no faster really than Velvia since I shoot it at 50. I think it depends a bit on where you are - in Europe I think Kodachrome works very well for landscapes. But there is certainly an argument that Velvia is more impressive in the US for landscapes "out West". Have you tried Provia 100F? This seems to be a favorite for people who want a faster film than Velvia but with similar characteristics. I have not tried it so I don't know. If the sharpness issue is not your concern then E100VS is meant to resemble Velvia. K200 is an excellent very sharp 200 film, but if you are used to Velvia you may find the grain disturbing. It does not have Velvia's palette either...

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), June 19, 2001.

Rene:

Try Provia (RDPIII). It is actually finer-grained than Velvia (RVP), reputed by Fuji to be a tad sharper than RVP (although I cannot see it) and I think you will find it very close, although not quite as saturated as RVP (IMO, a good thing). RDPIII lacks the slight redish cast that RVP has (also a good thing, IMO), which is what pumps up RVP's greens -- If you like that look, try a tiffen 812 filter or 5cc red with the RDPIII, which will give it almost the same "feel" as RVP. Skintones are MUCH better with RDPIII. Astia and Sensia are very similar, have outstanding skin tone reproduction (better than RDPIII), and are much lower in contrast than RVP/RDPIII, so make excellent choices when shooting people. As a second chioce comes E100S which also has excellent skin tones, but not quite the color "pop" of the Fuji's. IMO, E100VS is too saturated for my tastes, and the color seems to "block up" easily.

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), June 19, 2001.

Well, I didnīt try Provia 100F but used Sensia II 100 for a while, which is just not as colorful as the Velvia. Of course I could use Provia when the speed is needed and otherwise stick to the Velvia. But another point with the RVP is that it is very easy to under-, overexpose. It just always takes some time to set the mesurements right, which I donīt really mind, but the Sensia is much easier to use. On the other hands it is great to get that (sometimes) surreal touch without using filters, usually it can be controlled quite good. Also I am concerned about durability. Will my slides be the same in 20 years. Iīve heard from a couple of people that the Ektachrome fades after years. That is also why I hesitate to use E100VS. What about pushing the RVP. Iīve got to try that. Well thank you for the answers so far. Cheers from rainy Germany rene

-- Rene Fix (renefix@gmx.net), June 19, 2001.

The E100 series, being E6-process film, has exactly the same archival properties as Velvia, also an E6. Only the Kodachromes have greater long-term stability, but *only* in dark storage. If you project your slides frequently, the E6's will actually last longer. I personally never liked K64 (muted colors, reds are almost brown) or K200 (sharp, but very noticeable grain). I did shoot quite a bit of Kodachrome II, less of the contrastier and less saturated K25 (1974+). For landscapes I have shot relatively few transparencies, since I shoot mostly with Hasselblad and prefer the broader tonal range of a negative film. When I shoot landscapes in 35mm I used K25, now I will probably switch to Provia or Elite-chrome 100 (my general- purpose travel film, the color balance is midway between E100S and SW).

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), June 19, 2001.

I don't know much about landscape photography, but I would second jay's rec for Elitechrome as a general purpose slide film. Cheap and very nice, I use it a lot.

-- rob (rob@robertappleby.com), June 19, 2001.

Elitechrome 100 surely is exactly the same film as E100S (E100S has the professional storage requirement)? Also I don't find K64 lacks red since I find most E6 films overemphasize this, but it certainly is not as blue as E6 films. When shooting water and or sky, particularly with a polarizer, K64 is much less able to punch up the blue than E6 films in general.

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), June 19, 2001.

Jack, I followed you on every point except this:

"RDPIII lacks the slight redish cast that RVP has (also a good thing, IMO), which is what pumps up RVP's greens"

A slight reddish cast pumps up the greens? How? Why wouldn't red turn greens more toward yellow-green (like Kodachrome can do)?

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), June 19, 2001.

I'd recommend Fuji Sensia 100 to pair with Velvia. It's an amateur film, and Fuji's amateur films run a tad yellower than the pro equivalents, so it comes closer to Velvia's color balance than RDP III, which is quite blue. I've shot them side by side and occasionally had to open the slide mounts with some pictures to look at the ID letters on the edge of the film in order to tell them apart. If it weren't for the sharpness difference I'd use Sensia for everything.

RE: "Pink asphalt" - Velvia is expecially sensitive to UV light, of which we get a lot up here at 5,280 feet. In eight years of trying everything to clean up my color and get rid of the blue and pink, only Leica lenses have done the job. Viva "Absorban"!

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), June 19, 2001.

Bob:

A slight amount of red (5cc worth) will strengthen greens precicely because it makes them more yellow -- but just a hint more yellow -- basically enough to make normal foliage appear like fresher (brighter) spring growth. This is why the Tiffen 812 has been so successful with the outdoor landscape crowd. The 812 is basically an 81A with 5cc red added, which essentially makes it a warm tone 81 a/b. So in addition to slightly warming a scene, it also slightly pumps the greens.

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), June 20, 2001.

Jack:

I do use the Tiffen 812 at times, but never really explored its effect on foliage. I've used it on gray days to warm the color. One time I compared Kodachrome, Ektachrome EPP100, and Fuji Provia 100 for shots of lakes and springs in the Ozarks. The Ektachrome did the best job of separating the reflections of green foliage in the blue spring water. The greens were strong in comparison to the yellow- green of Kodachrome. So that's what made me question whether adding yellow could strengthen greens.

Regards,

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), June 20, 2001.

Bob:

Were you using the latest version of provia - RDPIII? It has improved color balance over its predecessor. The 812 with RDPIII will give you almost identical color balance to Velvia, but will remain slightly less saturated. Interestingly, RDPIII pushes one stop very well too.

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), June 21, 2001.

Jack: No, it was the earlier version of Fuji 100. I generally prefer Fuji for its color and image quality, especially Velvia--and more recently RDP III. But for that one special use, to bring out the deep blue in Missouri's springs, while still retaining deep greens, EPP 100 did the trick. I always make sure I have some when returning to that area! I'll definitely be trying the 812/RDPIII combo now that you mentioned it.

Regards,

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), June 21, 2001.

I think the closest competitor for Velvia is Kodak E100VS. But the color palette is slightly different, and the greens may look different if you are used to Velvia's colors. I have tried Provia 100F, which is a great all around slide film, but the colors are not as saturated as with Velvia. Pushing Velvia one stop as Arthur Morris does for his bird photography may work for you, but be prepared for increased contrast in your slides!

-- Muhammad Chishty (applemac97@aol.com), June 21, 2001.