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Thread: Is velvia discontinued?

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Feb 2016
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    Is velvia discontinued?

    Hi all,
    I was calling some local (Cleveland,Ohio) labs to check on processing prices. One lab told me that velvia was no longer an option because the chemistry was to be discontinued. Did I hear him right? If Velvia is gone then what color films negative or positive will be reliably available? Thanks,

    Bill

  2. #2
    Lachlan 717
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
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    2,591

    Re: Is velvia discontinued?

    What chemistry?

    For the film manufacture or for processing?

    I think s/he is full of the sticky brown smelly stuff either way. I just bought some Velvia and Tetenal is flying strong.
    Lachlan.

    You miss 100% of the shots you never take. -- Wayne Gretzky

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Feb 2016
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    Re: Is velvia discontinued?

    He said processing chemistry.

  4. #4

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    grand rapids
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    Re: Is velvia discontinued?

    Quote Originally Posted by Bleirer View Post
    He said processing chemistry.
    he's wrong. More than one company makes E6.

  5. #5
    Drew Wiley
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    Sep 2008
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    Re: Is velvia discontinued?

    Maybe THEY as a particular business have chosen to discontinue E6 due to reduced demand. The machines need a certain volume of usage to warrant keeping the
    chemistry fresh, particularly where sheet film capacity is involved. Or maybe they just don't want to bother sending work out to bigger labs. But it's premature to speak of the outright demise of E6. It's easy to get even 8x10 sheets processed here in the SF Bay area, literally walking distance from my office. But the choice
    of chrome films is certainly diminished. Certain Velvia products have been discontinued, not all of them; and Provia is still available in sheets. Kodak has discontinued its line of chrome films entirely.

  6. #6

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    Apr 2012
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    Boston, MA, USA
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    Re: Is velvia discontinued?

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    The machines need a certain volume of usage to warrant keeping the
    chemistry fresh...
    Should say - SOME machines...

  7. #7
    dave_whatever's Avatar
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    Nov 2009
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    Sheffield, UK.
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    Re: Is velvia discontinued?

    Been a few months since we had a "someone I spoke to said Velvia was discontinued" story, I suppose we were overdue one.

  8. #8
    Drew Wiley
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    Sep 2008
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    Re: Is velvia discontinued?

    I held a funeral for chrome film once E100G and Astia 100F were discontinued. Still have a few boxes of 8x10 in the freezer of both. But not much use since Cibachrome is gone too. Velvia was never versatile for actual printmaking.

  9. #9

    Join Date
    Feb 2016
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    Re: Is velvia discontinued?

    What does the group recommend then, if Velvia isn't?

  10. #10
    Drew Wiley
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    Sep 2008
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    Re: Is velvia discontinued?

    The party is over. You can switch to color negative film and hope it stays around awhile. But that is harder to evaluate on a light box, and might be trickier to scan if that is what you have in mind. Or you can shift to the remaining general-purpose chrome sheet film, Provia. Velvia has legitimate applications. I liked it for boosting very low contrast situations. But saturation snap that looks catchy on a lightbox doesn't necessarily translate into good reproduction qualities. The margin
    for error in full contrast lighting conditions are razor thin, even sacrificing shadows completely. Of course there are now the added arguments that anybody can
    smear as much honey, jam, and corn syrup atop a sugar cube as they wish with Photoshop saturation controls. Guess if your taste is bad enough.

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