Fuji Velvia 50 vs. Velvia 100

[Chris_6172]

How many of you guys have used both ISO 50 and ISO 100 (not 100-F) Fuji Velvia films? I was wondering how they compared to each as far as grain and color are concerned.

Thanks

[Joe Forks]

Type "Velvia 100" up there in that search box on the top right of the page. You'll find some good info that's been hashed over before. I came to the conclusion that it's worth a try, though I have to try it, I will soon.

Forky

[Eduardo Aigner]

The iso50 is MUCH more saturated and has finer grain. I should say "was" and "had", iso 50 is gone.

[Hiro]

I used them both (4x5) and did simple, non-scientific, and not-really-critical comparisons (same scene on a light box with 4x loupe). I couldn't tell the difference. According to the film data sheets, the 100 is supposed to be finer grain than the 50 (RMS 8 vs. 9). From my perspective, the faster speed and the claimed better resistance to color fade over time (is there a technical term?) of the 100 are attractive attributes. I have a couple of boxes of the 50 in the freezer and they are still available, but I'm thinking to switch to the 100 altogether. Before that, I'd also like to know others' opinions.

Even a greater issue, I think, is the speed. There was a thread or two about it in this forum. I use Velvia 50 as ISO40, and Velvia 100 shot at ISO80 were definitely overexposed. Now I use the 100 as rated. If shot as rated, the 50 may show more saturation as it would be (relatively) underexposed. I'd like to know others' opinions on this as well.

[Chris_6172]

So far I have shot only Velvia 50 and exposed at ISO 50 except for exposures longer than a few seconds (for those I used exposure times from a table). The exposures I got always looked pretty good (unless I made a mistake).

B&H still has Velvia 50 in stock both as regular sheets and quickload.

[chris_4622]

I shot the 100 on my trip to Egypt and I was quite pleased, I had only used the 50 before that trip; exposing them at 100 and 50 respectively. Helix in Chicago has the 50 in stock at the price B&H used to charge, around $85.00 for a box of 50 4x5.

[Wayne Crider]

Read this under Tri-ed and Emulsional. Page to the bottom of the left hand column where the title is. It's a pretty good review with pictures.

http://www.baxterbradford.com/pages/frameset05.html

[Tony Karnezis]

Like Hiro said, one more thing to consider besides grain and color is film speed. In addition to being about a stop faster under normal conditions, 100 also has significantly better reciprocity characteristics, making it much faster than 50 when exposure times are longer than a few seconds.

[Bill McMannis]

I shot Velvia 50 quite a bit; about 1000 sheets of 4x5 and hundreds of rolls of 135. I always rated it at 40 ASA. I was not happy at all when Fuji announced the demise of Velvia 50, but that was simply my dislike of change.

I have shot a couple hundred sheets of Velvia 100 (and only a few rolls of 135). I rate it at 100 when metering. I must say I am very happy with the results. As mentioned above, the reciprocity characterists are better. As much of my work is interior, low light work, this is important.

While the contrast of Velvia 100 is still higher than most films, it is a touch more realistic than its predecessor. In the rare instance I need more contrast out of a scan with Velvia 100, I can punch it up in PS.

I do not think I will miss Velvia 50 nearly as much as I feared that I would.

Bill

[Emre Yildirim]

I've shot both 50 and 100. I must say that I like 100 better in terms of grain and contrast. The old 50 is too contrasty for my taste. With 100, I always get good contrast and color (I see no difference between 100 and 50's color, with the exception of magentas which 100 renders better in my opinion), and when contrast is not enough, I just increase it in photoshop.

[Rob_6411]

That's funny you guys should mention that RVP 100 has less contrast, because there are quite a few threads on the new Velvia on Photo.net, and many seem to feel that RVP 100 has higher contrast than RVP 50. Lots of threads there in the Film & Processing forum for those who are interested.

[Hugh Sakols]

I found that Velvia 100 blows out the reds when making images late in the day. More so then I have ever experienced using Velvia 50. I am so frustrated that I decided to just use Velvia 100F. Maybe I should try Kodak films?