Why is not Astia popular?

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drjoke

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Over here, only Velvia 50, Velvia 100 and Provia 100F are stocked. Sometime I get lucky, and they stock also Provia 400X. Professional negatives are tougher to find, but I can still find 160C and 160S if I try hard enough. Sometime 400H and 800Z can be found too.

With all these films available, I can never find Astia. Even it's consumer version (Sensia 100) is no where to be found.

I am going to bite the bullet and import Astia myself, just to try it out. I find myself dodging and burning many of my shots. It is always the case with Velvia, and less so with Provia. I find myself never increasing contrast and saturation after scanning. So I guess those are attributes that I am not looking for. I am always happy with the level of contrast I get from negative, but the color and grain is not great enough.

I am hoping Astia would the the right balance between Slide films and Negative, that I have been looking for.
 
I also like to use Astia, it is neutral, soft contrast, very good to scan and has nice colors esp skin tones of "white" people
 
I use Sensia is bright tropical light, and I'm very pleased with the results (I find the contrast of Velvia to be a bit too much when used with my contrasty CV lenses).

By the way, where is "over here"?
 
Thailand, from his blog. Strange that Thailand dont have Astia. Pretty sure I have seen Sensia there though. How bout a quick trip to Singapore to stock some up?
 
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to speculate on the initial question; maybe because it's easier to sell high contrast/saturation films?

i used to shoot astia myself, now replaced by 160s.
 
photophorous said:
I have not seen a blue cast when using Sensia 100, but I have with Sensia 400. I can not distinguish between Sensia 100 and Astia 100F. I've used both for portraits and for landscapes and I like them very much.
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You are right. If the slide is correctly exposed there will be no differences. My Sensia 100 is most of the time overexposed. I use this film with my panoramic Horizon camera
 
Probably the shops are stocking digital and less film so some of the full line shops are now cutting back on product lines and stocking a narrower selection from each manufacturer. In Toronto the biggest downtown pro lab has reduced counter stock of film from a standing two door glass refrigeration unit to a bar fridge on the counter behind the cashier. I think it's getting grim for film film selection everywhere
 
photophorous said:
I have not seen a blue cast when using Sensia 100, but I have with Sensia 400. I can not distinguish between Sensia 100 and Astia 100F. I've used both for portraits and for landscapes and I like them very much.
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True! I shot a few rolls of Astia 100F & Sensia 100, and hardly saw a significant difference between these two films. Judging Sensia's code name is RA, while Astia is RAP, I will imagine that Astia is simply RA-Professional version. Their differences might just be similar like Superia Xtra 400 vs. Press 400. Both have the same chemical emulsion, except for right timing on packing and cold storage for the professional version. I will most likely save money to buy the amateur films since I can't tell the difference.
 
Monte920 said:
True! I shot a few rolls of Astia 100F & Sensia 100, and hardly saw a significant difference between these two films. Judging Sensia's code name is RA, while Astia is RAP, I will imagine that Astia is simply RA-Professional version. Their differences might just be similar like Superia Xtra 400 vs. Press 400. Both have the same chemical emulsion, except for right timing on packing and cold storage for the professional version. I will most likely save money to buy the amateur films since I can't tell the difference.
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My understanding is that is exactly the difference.
 
Since I have to import either Astia or Sensia directly from B&H, the difference in price is eclipsed by shipping cost. Hence, I can justify Astia.
 
Monte920 said:
True! I shot a few rolls of Astia 100F & Sensia 100, and hardly saw a significant difference between these two films. Judging Sensia's code name is RA, while Astia is RAP, I will imagine that Astia is simply RA-Professional version. Their
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that's true. Sensia is "amateur" version of the same emulsion, with low tolerance to storage conditions . as I remember , Astia requires +15 C cold storage, while Sensia can be stored at room temperature (22-24 C). It makes Sensia good choice for travel.
 
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minoltist7 said:
that's true. Sensia is "amateur" version of the same emulsion, with low tolerance to storage conditions . as I remember , Astia requires +15 C cold storage, while Sensia can be stored at room temperature (22-24 C). It makes Sensia good choice for travel.
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I'm not so sure the films are designed and different in such a way that they need to be stored at different temps but that for color consistency the Astia just is or should be.

I remember hearing, at least for previous versions of Astia/Sensia, that they are identical emulsions but that the Astia was aged slightly before being shipped out for sale and then cold-stored as a rule when sold. While the Sensia is sold right off the line and then, because the color consistency was not expected for an amateur film, was not always or expected to be cold-stored.

I personally have not been able to see any difference between the two emulsions but admittedly have not shot anything that might need such consistent color and making sure I shoot the same emulsion run or anything like that, such as clothing product shots and the like.
 
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