Fuji
Velvia 50:
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Fuji
Velvia 50 (classic) Slide Film Review:
If you have never
shot a roll of Fuji Velvia 50, I urge you to try it at least
once. When I first got into photography I quickly noticed
that so many of the great pictures that I saw in magazines
and on the web were produced with Velvia film. There is good
reason for it!
The first time you
try it, you will be hooked by the amazingly saturated colors
that you get. I continue to be simply blown away by how Velvia
50 can take a wonderful, warm lighting situation and actually
capture it in a more vivid manner than reality. Some will
scoff that this is not "natural" and it is not accurate.
That is a true assessment, but who really wants an accurate
portrayal of the world we live in? I want over the top, beautiful
colors in my pictures!
Some of the disadvantages
to Velvia 50 have already been hit on. The way it accentuates
reds is a severe disadvantage when shooting white skin. Just
forget about getting good pictures of people with Velvia 50
- know that they will come out looking very sunburned. This
is very bad most of the time, but not always. I can see how
sport photographers may want to use Velvia as there are so
many colors in uniforms and equipment that would benefit from
the film - the beauty achieved elsewhere in the image may
be enough to offset the inaccurate rendering of skin. It's
really up to the artist.
Another disadvantage
to Velvia is it's extremely narrow range of contrast. This
is to say that the film does not reflect many stops of light.
If you are slightly off of your metering or are trying to
capture a scene that has too great a difference between it's
darkest and brightest points, some part of the image will
suffer. In my experience, it is better to err on the side
of underexposing the film as this results in brighter colors.
This is with my test so please perform your own experimentation
to find the best manner of exposure for your subjects.
Fuji Velvia 50 is
my favorite film of all. I have gotten some of my best images
using it and will continue to use it until I can't find it
anymore!
*UPDATE* Fuji has
now introduced that they will start making Fuji
Velvia 50 again!
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