KM-25
Well-known
Fuji Provia 400X, increase DMAX?
I just got back my first test roll of Fuji Provia 400X today from the lab. I shot it on two cameras, a Nikon F100 with an 85mm 1.8G for the 1st half and then re-loaded it into a Leica M6TTL with a 35mm 1.4 Aspheric/FLE for the 2nd half. I always compare any slide film to Kodachrome since I shot a lot of it and love the dense blacks even with the faster KL-200 version.
So after I looked through the whole roll, I was quite pleased with sharpness vs grain and certainly the color which was a nice mix of saturated when shot that way and good all round in mixed light.
But the very first thing I noticed in the first slide is how hollow the DMAX is, meaning it almost looks fogged compared to the deep rich black you find in Fuji's 50 & 100 speeds chromes and any version of Kodachrome.
Is a lighter DMAX a characteristic of this particular film and if not, could this be due to age ( still within date ) or processing?
I love everything I see so far, but for the project I have coming up that I want to use the film on ( Cuba ), I was hoping for better DMAX than I got this time around.
I just got back my first test roll of Fuji Provia 400X today from the lab. I shot it on two cameras, a Nikon F100 with an 85mm 1.8G for the 1st half and then re-loaded it into a Leica M6TTL with a 35mm 1.4 Aspheric/FLE for the 2nd half. I always compare any slide film to Kodachrome since I shot a lot of it and love the dense blacks even with the faster KL-200 version.
So after I looked through the whole roll, I was quite pleased with sharpness vs grain and certainly the color which was a nice mix of saturated when shot that way and good all round in mixed light.
But the very first thing I noticed in the first slide is how hollow the DMAX is, meaning it almost looks fogged compared to the deep rich black you find in Fuji's 50 & 100 speeds chromes and any version of Kodachrome.
Is a lighter DMAX a characteristic of this particular film and if not, could this be due to age ( still within date ) or processing?
I love everything I see so far, but for the project I have coming up that I want to use the film on ( Cuba ), I was hoping for better DMAX than I got this time around.
Robert Lai
Well-known
The one thing that I love about Provia 400X is that it is very similar to the 100F, except with a little more grain. I don't find it to be thin in the dark areas. Why not repeat the test with 400X in one camera, and 100F in the other, then have them both developed at the same time? They should come out very similar to each other.
KM-25
Well-known
I could but will that solve the problem of lower DMAX in the 400x? There is always the option of slightly tugging on the black channel in post but I want a better slide on the light table if I can get it.