Velvia is too difficult

[drjoke]

With its limited dynamic range, it's probably even narrower than DSLR, right?

But, the color is so nice. I tried E100VS, which some people say is similar, but it is not. The colors are very different. It seems to me that the only good balance seems to be Provia 400X.

 

[lZr]

Sure, Velvia wants accurate exposure. Your shots are beautiful, sharp. I think better to work on the magenta tone and remove it at all. You will see different picture. I have plenty of Velvia, Astia, Provia and Sensia stuff in my Gallery, but I like this one
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=48971&ppuser=2130

This one is Sensia 100

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=48431&ppuser=2130

 

[RF-Addict]

lZr is right - when you scanned your Velvia you introduced a magenta cast and your pictures look under-exposed as well.

 

[Alex Krasotkin]

I prefer Provia 100F

 

[IK13]

Velvia is beautiful...where it belongs.
For me pictures of people is not something I would use Velvia for.
Nature, landscapes etc. - is IMHO where velvia shines.

 

[oscroft]

Yes, Velvia needs accurate exposure, and it can be tricky in contrasty lighting. But those shots don't look far out - maybe a little underexposure.

If the slides are actually that colour, then someone has seriously screwed up the processing. And if not, then as others say, your scanning has turned them magenta and you need to work on them to remove the cast.

As a further thought, the apparent underexposure might be due to scanning too - Velvia is capable of holding a greater contrast range than a lot of scanners are capable of reproducing.

I love Velvia, but for scanning and for use in bright contrasty conditions I prefer Sensia.

 

[minoltist7]

Velvia is not supposed for people, with it's purplish or reddish cast.
It can be removed - but it's actually film for lanscape and nature photography
it's also difficult for scanning becouse of dense shadows
this was taken on velvia and 6x6 camera - no exposure errors, no blocked shadoss (or at least they are in place)

 

[pevelg]

I LOVE VELVIA... Such beautiful colors. Is use Velvia 100 (not F) and it is great, but like others have stated, not very good people shots. Also, scanning never gets me the original colors as seen on my projector. I always have to tweak the histogram and contrast settings.

I am starting to experiment with Kodachrome as I am trying to find a film that I could use for almost all occasions and have good beautiful results.

The Provia 400x shot looks great btw. Maybe I'll try this as well so I can shoot in lower light situations. Hows the grain?

 

[oscroft]

Velvia is not supposed for people, with it's purplish or reddish cast

It may be a bit more sensitive to reds than to other colours, but it shouldn't have anything like the cast shown in those scans.

 

[charjohncarter]

I know nothing about color changing, but here is decrease red with a little lightening using PSE3:

 

[raid]

I used to use Velvia 50 for many years for landscape photography, and I just love the results.

 

[crawdiddy]

I used Velvia for many years, and I always thought it had a slight yellow or green bias. To me, Kodachrome 25 & 64 have a slight reddish bias, and Ektachrome is blue.

Of course, I'm also color-blind.

 

[myoptic3]

I took the liberty to pop your photo into Photoshop. The Auto Levels helped a lot by itself, then I brought out a little more detail w/ levels, and did an Auto Color. There's a lot of detail in your shot. Spent about 2 minutes on it. To me, the scan is just the starting point for your image.

 

[myoptic3]

Here's one more. Of course, what the shot actually looked like to begin w/ is anybody's guess, and you may want the tones different, but it's just a starting point.

 

[wjlapier]

Velvia was told to me to be only for landscape, but I gave it try at a indian powwow and I like the results. First, a couple from Glacier national Park:

And a couple from the powwow:

 

[corazon]

so if velvia isn't the main choice for people portraits, what is (in terms of bright contrasty colour)?

 

[sjw617]

Years ago I tried Velvia for landscapes but never really liked it. I prefer Provia F - either 100 or 400.
Fuji Astia is an excellent portrait film - nice skin tones.

Steve

 

[pevelg]

But Astia is not that great for landscapes in my opinion... As I have people and landscape shots intermingled on one roll, I want to be satisfied in with the results of both. Velvia's excellent landscapes overrides the negative factor of reddish people. But, I am always willing to try something new, thus the Kodachrome... A pity that it is only ISO 64!!! Not bad for most of my work, but I can't always carry a tripod so it becomes difficult in low lighting situations. I still need to send off my first Kodachrome roll....

Wow, $12 bucks for Provia 400x!!! To much for me.

Love the powwow pics.... just great!

I almost want to go back to negative pics as I can get them developed so quickly, but I have yet to find a negative film as nice as Velvia. Reala and Kodak Ultra Color 100 are nice, but just as expensive.

I went on a blind rampage and purchased 14 total rolls of Kodachrome..... My first/only photography book praised it so much, I figured I would be happy. Can't wait until I get my first roll back (bracketed shots) so I know how to meter it.

myoptic3: Though the edits you posted have slightly better color, they still lack the classic Velvia look. I use auto-levels and also the linear contrast increase for my scans, which generally gets the pictures pretty close to original. I tried doing that with this scan, but the small file size made it difficult to work with.

EDIT: I'll post my version shortly

 

[pevelg]

take 1 and 3 - Unedited
take 2 and 4 - PS script
take 5 - my version

 

[pevelg]

hmm, limit 3 pics per post