Velvia 100 vs 100-F

It's been quite a while since I have shot any 4x5 but after spending the last few weeks scanning a large pile of old transparencies, I am really excited about getting back into it. Unfortunately, all the film I have is at least 4 years old and hasn't been in the fridge for the last 2 or so years. I've decided to trash the old film and pick up some new.

Looks like choices have been cut back tremendously. I used to only shoot Velvia 50 but it looks like now the two choices are 100 and 100F. Can anyone comment on the differences and which one appears closest to the old 50?

Also, anyone happen to know where there is some in stock? I see B&H is out.

Thanks,
Drew

I don't care for either Velvia 100 or Velvia 100F. I prefer Kodak E100VS or Velvia 50 for punchy films. For a less saturated look I like Kodak E100G. Lots of people also like Fuji Astia 100F.

It looks like Badger Graphic has most of these films in stock. Note that both Fuji Quickloads and Kodak Readyloads have been discontinued by the manufacturers.

Thanks Mark. I've never shot with Kodak (except for color neg point and shoot stuff). I was always a cut sheet shooter rather than quickloads since I was a college student at the time and had to save every penny I could. I forgot to check Badger for film, didn't know they carried it.

EDIT: I see Badger is still carrying Velvia 50 in 20 sheet packs... Is it still available or would this be remaining stock that just hasn't sold out yet? If it is still available then I don't care about 100 vs 100F!

Drew

Drew, I think film users who lean towards the Fuji line prefer the V-100F over the V-100. I've used both and found the V-100F a bit on the magenta side by that can usually be toned down a lot in PS. I use the old standard of V-50 and find it the best for my usage overall.
As Mark pointed out, Astia 100F is another strongly preferred film too.
Also as mentioned, the Quickloads and Readyloads are not being manufactured any longer, but in some cases can still be bought as left over stock.
The reason many suppliers are out of the Fuji line is once they quit making the QL's they started the process of converting to all cut loads and 20 sheets to a box. They were suppose to be there by now, but it's still hit and miss with various outlets such as B&H.

Drew, If I understand correctly, Fuji is transitioning their sheet film packaging from 10 or 50 sheet boxes to 20 sheet boxes only. I've heard that some distributors don't have the new 20 sheet boxes yet. I haven't heard any rumors about Velvia 50 being discontinued.

[Edit] Everybody's typing at the same time.

Awesome. Thanks guys. I remember they pulled the original Velvia 50 a while back and then introduced a new one a couple years later. For some reason I had in my head that when they killed Quickloads they also reduced the line by eliminating Velvia 50 and the only options were 100 or 100F. Guess I'll be ordering some 50 from Badger!

Thanks again for the help.

Drew

I'll be the contrarian--I prefer V-100 over the 'F' because of the magenta cast, which I find to be a pain. With my scanner and driver (Microtek 1800f and Silverfast), I get the best results from V-100 and Astia 100F.

While I like V-50, it's reciprocity characteristcs require exposure compensation and/or CC filters before either V-100 or Astia. I like the extra speed of V-100 and Astia.

Lately, I've been shooting Astia and V-100, depending upon the subject matter. I also have some V-50 on hand. I haven't shot Kodak transparency film in years, but they are quality products.

You mentioned tossing the old film--hold the phone a minute! :smlie: Shoot a couple of sheets from each box, have it processed, and see if it's still good. No use spending money if you don't have to, right?

--P

You mentioned tossing the old film--hold the phone a minute! :smlie: Shoot a couple of sheets from each box, have it processed, and see if it's still good. No use spending money if you don't have to, right?

Good idea Preston. I'll do that this weekend and see how things look...

Drew

Although I agree on the issue of V-100F magenta cast, the V-100 seemed too flat to me compared to the rest of Fuji transparencies of the later years. Lets face it, all of the stuff has certain anomalies you just have to find a preference and stick with it.

I guess I haven't noticed a magenta cast in my Velvia 100F, but I do notice that it has a slightly warmer balance than RVP50 and RVP100 and there is an emphasis on those warm tones over the vibrant greens you see with the other two velvias. I can't tell a difference between the old Velvia 50 and the new Velvia 50 myself, and Velvia 100 is really, really similar as well. But Velvia 100F is noticeably different from the others.

Hey Drew,

I think I'll start off with a little story about Velvia when it first came out. Do you remember how so many folks recommended rating Velvia at 40? So many people did that, yet never bothered to actually test and rate the film themselves. I always shot it at 50 and I seemed to expose images just fine.

I mentioned that because it's the same with film's ASA rating as it is with color and exposure. One man's junk is another man's treasure. So much depends on your shooting preferences, where and what conditions you shoot in, and whether or not you've actually tested the film in question.

I spent a good year shooting V100, V100F, P100F, A100F and some Velvia, taking many images in multiple different films for comparison. In the end, I concluded that each film performed beautifully in different situations and each film had considerable flaws. Not one of them stood out as better than the other for all situations. As a result, I chose V100F. Why? because it was plentiful and cheap on eBay as an outdated film. I very quickly learned how to mitigate the magenta cast with V100F in PhotoShop (V100 is worse in the reds, Provia, awful blues and Astia is boringly neutral....) but considering the power of PS, the minor color variations between films can be easily neutralized.

Now I shoot V100. Why? because when I ordered 200 sheets of V100F from an online resource, they sent me 200 sheets of V100. Now I shoot V100. :-o

All the transparency films have narrow exposure latitudes compared to color print films and b&w. I accept that. If you want big dynamic range, shoot the print film or digital.

In the end, many will tell you that V100F sucks, P100F is great except for the occasional freaky blue, V100 is too strong in the reds but does better in the greens than Velvia.... Velvia is GOD, but it's blues turn purple in the long exposures and of course lacks any dynamic range.

Pick your poison and learn how to make the best of what you have. My recommendation is to pick a film and learn it; know it's asset's and deficiencies. Then just go out and shoot.

Lon

Lon, excellent thoughts and much more detail on the anomalies I mentioned earlier. I shot V-100, 100F & Provia 100 back to back for a total of three exposures for about 6 months. Not finding what I wanted from any of the three I now shoot V-50 as soon as it had returned to the market. After review on the whole thing probably the big reason was more so based upon what I knew of the original V-50 after shooting it for 15 years then any all around issues with the others. So, it's more of what you know and are comfortable with using IMO. Again, they all have their tendencies one way or another.