Velvia for street photos?

[drjoke]

Does any of you use Velvia or E100VS or other highly saturated films for street shots? I used to use only Provia 100F and 400X, but have several unused Velvia in my house that I decided to give another try.

I have attempted 2 months ago with ZM Sonnar 50mm, but the lens was too contrasty to work on the limited latitude of the film.

Now with Hexanon 50mm, which is not as contrasty, I am doing a bit better.

http://flickr.com/photos/drjoke/1902706709/

http://flickr.com/photos/drjoke/1890532511/

http://flickr.com/photos/drjoke/1890510685/

http://flickr.com/photos/drjoke/1890506537/

http://flickr.com/photos/drjoke/1891331890/

 

[rovnguy]

Why not? It doesn't have the latitude of color negative film, but then that can be part of the challenge. Go for it!!!

 

[thafred]

I love the catchy colors and contrast and use it alot for street shooting with my Rolleiflex. I also like that I can get good DOF with a 50asa film in bright sunlight 🙂
Sometimes when I get them for cheap I use velvia in 35mm too but usualy it´s too expensive for me..

here´s some shots, all on Velvia 50 (the old stock):

 

[thafred]

I forgot, E100VS is my favorite slide film by Kodak (apart from the "I´m so totaly in love why is the stuff so expensive" Kodachrome), I esp. love how easy it scans on my Minolta DS IV compared to velvia! Also the consumer version called "Elite Chrome VS" is the cheapest high saturation Slide film around so I really love to use it!

 

[yaadetgar]

Hi!

I know the film, I saw many photos and slides from it, but I never tried it. Really. Wanted to, but it just cost a lot...
Anyway, it can be ok, I guess.
When photographing, try to push to 100ASA. The reds will... mmm... Well... Try...


Yaad Etgar

 

[drjoke]

Does Velvia 50 have wider exposure latitude than Velvia 100?

Do you have difficulty scanning your Velvia with your scanner? If so what do you use?

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

I use Fuji Sensia, and have it crossed processed in C41 minilab for some funky colors.

 

[dmr]

When I first saw the title of this thread, I first thought OMG NO, but seeing the examples from Drjoke and Thafred, I like them. 🙂

I use Fuji Sensia, and have it crossed processed in C41 minilab for some funky colors.

I did this about a month ago and I kind of like the results, although it's not something I am going to do regularly. I had a roll of Sensia 200 in the camera and the battery died leaving me with only my eyes as a meter. I had it cross-processed (I just took it to Walgreens with another roll, that being C41, and played dumb and asked for a DO) in order to salvage what exposure latitude I could. Came out quite respectably.

 

[oscroft]

Hi drjoke,

Is that the Hua Lampong railway station in Bangkok? (It's a while since I've been in there, but it looks familiar).

I've tried using Velvia for street shots (around Bangkok, as it happens), but I found its saturation and contrast just too much to handle the bright lighting there, and it was too unforgiving exposure-wise and I got lots of dark black shadows. So now I use Sensia - I find it a much better match to the lighting and colour of the area.

But having said that, you've got some much better results than I got from Velvia - thanks for showing us them.

 

[yaadetgar]

Does Velvia 50 have wider exposure latitude than Velvia 100/quote]

The 'Velvia 100' is not the 'real' Velvia! It's a different kind of film!

For the other q -> 1 push of the Velvia 50 is good, It makes the colors (mosly the reds) even stronger...

(I saw these things on another photographer shots, not mine - I never used Velvia)


Yaad

 

[drjoke]

I have some more shots taken with Velvia from the same trip. Yeah, it was taken at the train station in Bangkok. It was around 3-4-5pm so the sun was not that bright out. In fact it was semi-indoor even. Even with Provia, I normally have to wait around that time to take my shots. Otherwise it would be too contrasty. I am going to try again with E100VS. Hopefully, it's more tolerant for contrasty scenes.

Somehow though, I believe the low contrast nature of Hexanon 50mm is helping out a little bit as well.

I really like the color of Velvia 100 though (even if it's not the real Velvia 50). Being a gear-head, I am noticing that my choice of films does impact my results to a greater degree than my choice of lenses and other equipments. I hope this film will remain in production for a long time. I haven't seen digital cameras that can come close to Velvia.

http://flickr.com/photos/drjoke/1920935618/

http://flickr.com/photos/drjoke/1920951516/

http://flickr.com/photos/drjoke/1920946494/

http://flickr.com/photos/drjoke/1920940670/

http://flickr.com/photos/drjoke/1920930274/

 

[photogdave]

I got a good deal on some Velvia 100F and have been using it quite a bit. I like it better than Velvia 50 for street work. When it's all gone I'll probably go back to E100 VS and Provia.

 

[jan normandale]

It might be the internet resolution issue or my screen however all the images except the Provia appear slightly under exposed. Since I don't shoot RVP as a rule I'm wondering if that is a characteristic of these films or is that 'the way you like to shoot'.

Could you tell me a bit more about how you see these points ?

For the record I do like the images

 

[trev2401]

hehe

hehe

Hi guys...


don't mean to interrupt. Anyone here heard of Fuji Fortia SP? Apparently it has colours that'll make even the old stock of vel50 look like it was elitechrome.

Just got me hands on a few rolls down in Tokyo. Will post some examples when i finish my first roll. 🙂

 

[minoltist7]

I generally wouldn't do that becouse of it's high contrast , and possibility of blown highlights or blocked shadows.
But for some light conditions, it may work good

 

[dmr]

Anyone here heard of Fuji Fortia SP? Apparently it has colours that'll make even the old stock of vel50 look like it was elitechrome.

Yes, but supposedly it's not available (yet?) in the Stateside market.

It's supposed to be more saturated than Velvia.