Velvia 100

[Eric Leppanen]

FYI, here is what Fujifilm just emailed me regarding Velvia 100 in sheet film:

"Velvia 100 will be stocked in 4x5 as long as there is a demand for it. 8x10 sheets will be available as a special order only. Fujichrome Velvia 100 is the successor to Velvia 50 and will be available June 2005."

[Jeffrey Sipress]

That's odd. I've been using Velvia 100 for a few months now, and it's only February...

[Edward (Halifax,NS)]

Are you sure you haven't been using Velvia 100F?

[Jeffrey Sipress]

Uh oh, now I feel like an idiot for not knowing that there are TWO Velvia 100's. What is that all about? What's the difference?

I have been using the 100F by the way. What's the F mean?

[Glenn Kroeger]

Jeffrey:

Velvia 100 has a different color palette, more saturated and more akin to the very dramatic (or over the top for some) palatte of the soon to be late lamented Velvia 50. Velvia 100 and 100F have both been available in Japan for some time, but until now, only Velvia 100F was available in the US and Europe.

[Edwin B.]

I just got my first Velvia 100 transparencies back from the lab and based on first impressions I must say I love this film. I was hoping it would fall somewhere in between RVP50 and RVP100F and that does appear to be the case. I've done a side by side comparison with RVP100F but not yet RVP50. The subject was a vibrant orange and red sunset over the ocean so I can't say anything about how it does at the blue or green end of things. It was the type of subject matter that drives me nuts with RVP50 because the high saturation typically results in the colors (particularly red and yellow) blocking up. That problem was eradicated with RVP100F which has dramatically better color gradation at the expense of saturation and acutance. IMHO RVP50 produces stunning images on a lightbox but RVP100F provides much more flexibility for a digital workflow. RVP100 appears to be the best of both worlds; more saturated than RVP100F but more realistic than RVP50. Although I haven't yet done a direct comparison, I am relatively confident in saying that RVP100 is obviously not as saturated as RVP50 but I think that the folks at Fuji have made a good compromise and I doubt I'll be looking back.

Another thing to consider is that all of the 100F films scan far better than RVP50, at least at high resolution on drum scanners. I have yet to scan RVP100 but if it's on par with the other newer emulsions I know I'll never look back because in comparison RVP50 would simply have too many limitations.

My impression about the release of RVP100F was that overall it wasn't well received by most. The change was rather dramatic and turned a lot of people off before they had a chance to appreciate its best qualities. I think RVP100 will be different. I will predict that a lot of people will immediately recognize this film as an advancement. A lot more people will need to get used to it but eventually won't really miss RVP50 that much. Then there will be the people with packed freezers who will lament the passing of a golden age of landscape photography for decades to come. I for one am excited about the future of film (at least the near future).