Also on the Fuji website:
http://www.fujifilmusa.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/proPhotoProductVelvia.jsp

"Velvia 50 is back. The original Velvia product provides the High
Saturation and Vivid color that has become a Favorite of
Photographers. Velvia 50 will begin shipping in the summer of 2007.
ISO 50
RMS 9 Granularity
High Sharpness and Unique Image Colors Producing
Full-Bodied Images and Three Dimensional Depth.
Available in 35mm, 120/220, and 4x5 sheets"

I believe that production on Velvia 50 was stopped a year or so ago,
although it is much more recently that the mainstream outlets such
as B&H actually ran out. I stocked up on Velvia 50 in 35mm size
about a year ago since that is my preferred film for macro. I still
have a few bricks in my freezer with exp date 11/07.

But I was glad to see the announcement a few months ago that Velvia
50 is coming "back". As I understand it, there was a shortage of
some ingredient; and some combination of photographer demand and new
availability of the ingredient (or a substitute?) allowed them to
restart production. I am not 100% sure that it will be exactly
identical to the old Velvia 50. -Linda




Dr. Kevin Pernicano said:

> fuji's latest info on their usa website lists only velvia 100 and

100F on their graph of slide films. Other films are Provia 400F,
64T, Astia, Provia 100. That doesn't mean that its not being made,
but I thought the absence of velvia 50 was interesting.

>
> http://www.fujifilmusa.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/bin/Profilm_misc.pdf
>
> -kp
>
> Re: 7Dayshop - last Velvia
> Posted by: "Bob Schlesinger"
>I don't think Velvia is on the way out.
> That is old Velvia 50 they are selling at the prices you list
> below. Note that they do not indicate how old the film is nor
> how it has been stored.

> Also on the Fuji website:
> http://www.fujifilmusa.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/proPhotoProductVelvia.jsp
>
> "Velvia 50 is back. The original Velvia product provides the High
> Saturation and Vivid color that has become a Favorite of
> Photographers. Velvia 50 will begin shipping in the summer of 2007.
> ISO 50
> RMS 9 Granularity
> High Sharpness and Unique Image Colors Producing
> Full-Bodied Images and Three Dimensional Depth.
> Available in 35mm, 120/220, and 4x5 sheets"

Even if it's not exactly identical to the old Velvia 50, this is still
great news for me. I was just at the online stores (particularly
Freestyle as they like to carry some less common film types that other
stores won't have) looking around to find out what the lowest ISO was
still available for 120 slide film. The best I could find was ISO 64,
which is pretty close to ISO 50, but because of purposes that I plan
on using it for, ISO 50 is a lot better choice. Glad I didn't place
an order yet!

Any idea when exactly stores will have the Velvia 50?

--
-Timothy
http://frumiousboojum.deviantart.com

Hi!

For outdoor stereography, Velvia 50 is all but untenable. It's too
slow to provide sufficient DoF in light that's soft enough to match
its very limited latitude.

Shoot it in bright sunlight, where ISO 50 is sufficient to provide
sufficient DoF for deep subjects and you'll get blocked shadows when
exposing for the highlights - shadows with no texture or detail at
all. Expose for the shadows and you'll get blown highlights. Take
your pick. And pre-exposure (an in-camera contrast reduction
technique) simply does not work with Velvia - even modest attempts to
elevate the shadows just makes them milky.

http://home.globalcrossing.net/~zilch0/tools/Flash42.xls

Shoot it in open shade or the soft light of an overcast sky and
you'll be using very slow shutter speeds to obtain sufficient DoF -
and in a heavy overcast the need for a warming filter will demand
even slower shutter speeds.

About the only subjects I like to shoot with Velvia 50 are bright,
colorful, front-lit subjects in full sunlight (sun behind camera = no
shadows), or landscapes that are holding dead still - not a stitch of
breeze - to accommodate the use of slow shutter speeds from a tripod
- and there you have to watch out for reciprocity failure because
Velvia 50 starts to shift its colors and exposure times when
exposures hit 1 second or longer.

http://home.globalcrossing.net/~zilch0/tools/Velvia4.xls

Corrected exposure times between 4 and 19 seconds require a 5M
(magenta) CC (color compensation) filter. Between 20 and 75 seconds
a 10M CC filter is needed.

A camera bag with Velvia 50 and Provia 100F (and Provia 100F pushed 1
stop) will handle just about everything, but if you cherish open
shadows, if you want to use pre-exposure to extend the shadow detail
even further, if you need lots of DoF, or you want the ability to
shoot when the wind isn't cooperating, you'll find yourself using Provia 100F.

Mike Davis

> Shoot it in bright sunlight, where ISO 50 is sufficient to provide
> sufficient DoF for deep subjects and you'll get blocked shadows when
> exposing for the highlights - shadows with no texture or detail at
> all. Expose for the shadows and you'll get blown highlights. Take
> your pick. And pre-exposure (an in-camera contrast reduction
> technique) simply does not work with Velvia - even modest attempts to
> elevate the shadows just makes them milky.

Do you know if adjusting the development of Velvia 50 will help you
get the normal contrast that you're looking for in a high contrast
scene like that?

--
-Timothy
http://frumiousboojum.deviantart.com

Timothy,

At 10:10 AM 6/13/2007, you wrote:

>Do you know if adjusting the development of Velvia 50 will help you
>get the normal contrast that you're looking for in a high contrast
>scene like that?

I've never tried pulling Velvia 50 to a lower speed (requiring over
exposure and under-development) but that would theoretically reduce
both its contrast and its saturation, as well as producing finer grain.

Since bright sunlight is where the film's narrow latitude is of
greatest concern, pulling to ISO 25, for example, might open up the
shadows a bit without causing too much hardship in terms of slow
shutter speeds and/or insufficient DoF.

The data sheet for RVP says you can Push up to one stop, but makes no
mention of Pulling. I did just find this reference (last entry at the
bottom of the page) from a guy who accidently overexposed Velvia 50
by 1.5 stops and had it successfully pulled 1.5 stops (reduced
development time) to compensate his mistake:

http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=005zsO

Now you've got me wanting to try it. :-) (But I won't leave home
without some Provia 100F in the bag, too.)

Thanks,

Mike Davis