First roll of Velvia (in a Yashica Electro)

[chenick]

I've just got back my first ever roll of slide film! (Velvia 50)

Conclusions:

-I like it a lot, it looks great! (especially as a slide, not so great on the PC)
-The Yashica Electro 35 GTN's meter seems very accurate, all shots were well exposed.
-It's a pain to get developed - my usual 'minilab' had to send it away, took several weeks (apparently asking for a CD confused them)
-It looks quite hard to scan well, especially the dark areas (I had several scans that were way too noisy), but this was using a minilab scanner. Surprisingly the resulting scans were not that high contrast (quick PS fix)
-50 ISO is pretty slow!

-Nick

 

[raid]

Nick: I like the first posted image the most. Try reducing the Blue in PS to see whether it improves the overall image or not. Velvia 50 is still my favorite slide film.

Raid

 

[Skinny McGee]

Very nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[chenick]

Thanks Raid, I did a quick edit and think reducing the blue improves it a lot.

Cheers

Nick

 

[anandi]

Nice, if I had a scanner, I would shoot more slides. 🙁

 

[woodphoto]

Nice, if I had a scanner, I would shoot more slides. 🙁

ditto....I'll probably get a good scanner with my tax refund next year.

 

[raid]

Thanks Raid, I did a quick edit and think reducing the blue improves it a lot.

Cheers

Nick

Nick: I like the image better after you removed some of the blue. The image is more dreamy like with the excess blue, and it is more accurate in its color balance with reduced blue. Both can be viewed as nice.

Raid

 

[adep]

Looks like the metering is right on. I like the atmosphere you've captured in these.

 

[mervynyan]

ditto....I'll probably get a good scanner with my tax refund next year.

Get a projector first, on ebay, then you can perhaps select few very good slides to process them further.

 

[chenick]

Thanks guys,

Nice, if I had a scanner, I would shoot more slides. 🙁

yeah, me too. this was my first and probably last roll of slide film until I get my hands on a scanner.
The Fuji machine in the minilab did an OK job on these low-res scans (1.5 mpixel), but others were very noisy (from well-exposed, but more contrasty slides)

Looks like the metering is right on. I like the atmosphere you've captured in these.

Yep, kudos to the Yashica - 36 out of 37 shots were were exposed perfectly. The one dud was strongly backlit combined with user error (not remembering to take this into account)

-Nick

 

[raid]

I have decided to go back to slide film due to the high levels of control over the look of the image when compared to using a negative film. My first step was to place ads for Velvia 50 film.

Raid

 

[lynn]

These are all three beautiful, and the first - before AND after - is simply sublime. I lots of Velvia 120 in my fridge, but am hesitant to use it until I can scan it myself.

 

[Nick R.]

Great shots, Nick!
I'd say before you get a scanner buy yourself a light table and a good loupe. Looking at a slide through a quality loop is as addictive as crack. It is simply the best photographic image you'll ever see. Wait on the scanner. Wait on the projector. Get the loupe!

 

[MadMan2k]

If they're using a Fuji machine like the one in the Sams club lab I use, they should be able to scan at 3600 pixels wide. Maybe ask them if that'd be possible.

Color casts, dust, and dynamic range are another thing, though...

 

[raid]

If they're using a Fuji machine like the one in the Sams club lab I use, they should be able to scan at 3600 pixels wide. Maybe ask them if that'd be possible.

Color casts, dust, and dynamic range are another thing, though...

Is this the premium scanning for $9.99?

Raid

 

[bsdunek]

Big Screen

Big Screen

Great shots, Nick!
I'd say before you get a scanner buy yourself a light table and a good loupe. Looking at a slide through a quality loop is as addictive as crack. It is simply the best photographic image you'll ever see. Wait on the scanner. Wait on the projector. Get the loupe!

The loupe is good, and of course you need the scanner if you want prints or put it on the web, but I like the BIG screen best. I use a 70 inch. Nothing like throwing a good slide up for all to see. Then there's the atmosphere - the darkend room, sound of the projector, conversation, adult beverage - just adds up to an enjoyable evening! 😎

 

[kaiyen]

Really shows you how Velvia shines when you use it in a low contrast situation. That kind of punch you just can't get with other slide stock, in my opinon. However, it does have a tendency to go blue in shadows.

nicely done.
allan

 

[lZr]

Gorgeous shots - all of them. The brighthesnn in the forest was not enough to see the gorgeous blues from Velvia 50. I use Epson 4990 for all my scans and I think using film scanner is a must if you want big enlargements. Try, if possible Velvia 120 medium format (also scan with 4990). But in time I learned that the dynamic range of Reala and most of the negative films is much more wide than slides. Scanning 16 bit / color is amazing future

 

[Pherdinand]

Lynn-
don't be hesitant of using it. Developed it can stay long enough and wait for that scanner/scanning. But the images you can shoot today won't wait until you get your scanner.

 

[Pherdinand]

By the way, i also like these images, though velvia is not my favourite slide, it's way too cold and contrasty for me. I prefer kodak's e100sw. However, in 120 format, they look even better if that's possible.
I also had some badly underexposed frames that I was still able to scan to some extent, which was a big surprise.

Here are two 6x6 velvia slides of mine. (Shot with a pre-war rolleiflex.) The colour saturation was turned down a bit in PS.