Have You Been shooting With Ektachrome - Because You Can't Get Ahold Of Any Velvia?

[DF]

Like it reads....
Not that I don't like Ektachrome 100 - I do, just that sometimes Velvia gives alittle something more than Velvia.

 

[ZhanTeh]

For me it's the lack of Provia.
Comparing the two - Ektachrome does tend to give stronger blue cast. I prefer Provia's more 'neutral' colour.
I suppose it is workable replacement should Fuji just stop coating transparencies.

 

[Sirius Glass]

For me it's the lack of Provia.
Comparing the two - Ektachrome does tend to give stronger blue cast. I prefer Provia's more 'neutral' colour.
I suppose it is workable replacement should Fuji just stop coating transparencies.

The blue color cast in Ektachrome was the reason I used a warming haze filter with Ektachrome, when I shot Ektachrome.

 

[mshchem]

It's all good. New Ektachrome is amazing film.

 

[Trail Images]

I've never liked Velvia 100 if that is what you're talking about.
However, I do I go WAY back on the Velvia 50 availability issues. Along with version 1 to 2 and so on. I was a BIG user both 120 & 4x5. Buying on eBay from Japan sellers for a long time in the end. And actually helped ship to a person in Australia who had no access to V-50 in 4x5 for periods of time.
I moved to E-100 a couple years ago and have not looked back. The hassle and inconsistency was not worth it. The E-100 extra sop is really nice after years of the V-50. And yes I know, I also used Kodachrome 25 a stop less than V-50 of course.

 

[armadsen]

Provia is my favorite film, and I like it a lot more than Ektachrome. Thankfully I still have quite a few rolls (35mm and 120) and a couple boxes of 4x5 of both Provia and Velvia in my freezer, so I don’t have to switch to Ektachrome just yet, but I’ve got 812 filters for when I do need to.

 

[Taylor Nankervis]

Velvia and Ektachrome plus the old stalwart Provia 100 are in good supply here in Australia at the moment (though prices have gone up again!) — a curious development after a very long, blank canvas of no word, no activity, no stock and no promises. A few die-hard E6 aficionados are laying out out the not-to-be-sneezed-at $60 for a single roll of RVP/E100 and processing (!). How long ago was it, when we collectively thought that the good times of cheap film and even cheaper processing would never end...? I'm thinking that was about 7-8 years ago!!

But I digress.
The two films have entirely different characteristics and cannot be likened as same-same if you are really critical. E100 is a good sub-in for RVP but with stronger, hard-edged colours and very pure, crisp whites and deep blacks but subdued greens that do not match RVP. As a consequence it's more fastidious to scan as it requires unique channel profiling, then, usually at the print-step, profiled with the uncommon ColormatchRGB. That is why people — at least those people professionally engaged in print production, have a generally overriding desire to use RVP50 / 100 or RDPIII.

I've never liked Velvia 100 if that is what you're talking about.

There are the likes and dislikes. It's bold and brassy, and does have its fan-bois. This film is loaded in my pinhole camera at the moment. I like the little extra punch RVP100 delivers on the inherent softness and muting of the palette that a pinhole camera imparts. RVP100 (120 format) is still available online here in Australia. Reminds me: I don't know what the full story is about lawmakers in the US getting all uppity over a miniscule amount of chemical. Maybe they should ban non-stick frypans and teflon tongs for the 'forever chemicals' that such modern niceties are drenched with...

 

[perkeleellinen]

I never completely ran out here in the UK but it has been close. With Ektachrome I use a Nikon A2 filter. I have a Moose Warm Polariser which I tried but it was too strong - or my technique was too poor (probable).

 

[ChrisGalway]

Provia is my favorite film, and I like it a lot more than Ektachrome. Thankfully I still have quite a few rolls (35mm and 120) and a couple boxes of 4x5 of both Provia and Velvia in my freezer, so I don’t have to switch to Ektachrome just yet, but I’ve got 812 filters for when I do need to.

Ditto, I much prefer the look of Provia and have several boxes of 120 in the freezer. Let's hope Fujifilm keep producing it, even in the present some quantities. But I also got some 812 filters in case I ever have to use Ektachrome!

 

[rhmimac]

I shot my last roll Velvia 50 135 in 2024. It was expired and gave muddy tones. Not available in the local shops for now. If I want to shoot Ektachrome now it will be for around 1€-2€/shot. I'm very reluctant to pay that amount of money for color although I realy like to shoot film E6 instead of digital. I'm thinking to start shooting film simulations in a Fujifilm T or GF camera as they seem to get praises coming from the same original manufacturer.

 

[ChrisGalway]

I shot my last roll Velvia 50 135 in 2024. It was expired and gave muddy tones. Not available in the local shops for now. If I want to shoot Ektachrome now it will be for around 1€-2€/shot. I'm very reluctant to pay that amount of money for color although I realy like to shoot film E6 instead of digital. I'm thinking to start shooting film simulations in a Fujifilm T or GF camera as they seem to get praises coming from the same original manufacturer.

It's probably heresy to say this on an analogue forum, but I LOVE Fujifilms film simulations ... I use the X-T50, 5+ years old now but it takes beautiful photos which can be enlarged up to A3+ easily ... with great colour rendering on a Canon Pixma Pro 200 printer.

Now just to establish my analogue credentials, I do have several boxes of Provia 100f 120 size in my freezer for use in medium format stereo cameras. You view MF stereo transparencies in an optical viewer, and no digital display (yet) matches the quality of well exposed and processed Provia transparencies for stereo work. So my analogue work in all for stereo, but my other colour work is all digital. (And my B&W is film .... what else would one use?)

 

[DF]

All the more reason Kodak needs to get back to the '90's: give us a choice between the current Ektachrome 100 and a 'warm' version - call it Ektachrome 100W - like back when they offered GX or X, and alittle before that for awhile it was Ekatchrome SW and if you could do without the added 'warmth' stick with 'S' (for 'saturated').
This is a film possibility that could rival Mother Velvia, because lets face it film shooters: It doesn't look like Fuji could care less anymore - if they did, the shelves would be stocked with Velvia.

 

[DF]

I never completely ran out here in the UK but it has been close. With Ektachrome I use a Nikon A2 filter. I have a Moose Warm Polariser which I tried but it was too strong - or my technique was too poor (probable).

"I have a Moose Warm Polariser which I tried but it was too strong" -
Interesting - I've often wondered about those Moose Peterson 'warm' polarizers as compared to using regular polarizers. Do they really make that much of a difference? How would they perform with Ektachrome 100?

 

[DF]

I've never liked Velvia 100 if that is what you're talking about.
However, I do I go WAY back on the Velvia 50 availability issues. Along with version 1 to 2 and so on. I was a BIG user both 120 & 4x5. Buying on eBay from Japan sellers for a long time in the end. And actually helped ship to a person in Australia who had no access to V-50 in 4x5 for periods of time.
I moved to E-100 a couple years ago and have not looked back. The hassle and inconsistency was not worth it. The E-100 extra sop is really nice after years of the V-50. And yes I know, I also used Kodachrome 25 a stop less than V-50 of course.

"I also used Kodachrome 25...."
K25 Huh? Wow - those were the days. I also shot quite abit of Chicago citiscapes back in the 80's with K25 - and looking back regret it and wish I had instead used K64, me thinking they were the same film but one slower and that meant alittle sharper/better, but oh how wrong was I!

 

[ZhanTeh]

Velvia and Ektachrome plus the old stalwart Provia 100 are in good supply here in Australia at the moment (though prices have gone up again!)

Can I ask where you are getting your Provia? Am hoping to stock up on some 120 and 4x5s.

 

[mshchem]

All the more reason Kodak needs to get back to the '90's: give us a choice between the current Ektachrome 100 and a 'warm' version - call it Ektachrome 100W - like back when they offered GX or X, and alittle before that for awhile it was Ekatchrome SW and if you could do without the added 'warmth' stick with 'S' (for 'saturated').
This is a film possibility that could rival Mother Velvia, because lets face it film shooters: It doesn't look like Fuji could care less anymore - if they did, the shelves would be stocked with Velvia.

Oh my, the Ektachrome SW stuff was horrible! I like Provia and Ektachrome, Velvia for certain things, I don't have much hope for Fujichrome films availability. Wish it all stays around!

 

[dscottjorgenson]

As a long-time Velvia 50 user in 120, who hasn't been able to lay hands on any domestic (USA) stock since October, I've just finished some test-shooting with E100 to see how I liked it. My verdict: well, at least its a color reversal film too, one of only 3 (Velvia 50, Provia 100F, and E100) ostensibly still available in the USA, and the only one with a fairly consistent supply - so its got a lot going for it on that front. And its got all the sharpness and fine grain that Fujifilm delivers, and that we would all expect in a modern high-end photographic film from Kodak. And its lower-contrast than Velvia, good for seeing into the shadows a bit more. Its also considerably less saturated, more color-accurate, and more neutral-balanced than even Provia, let alone Velvia. So if that's what you're into, you'll love it.

But for outdoor landscape/nature shooters who love the rich, paint-like saturation and slightly warm color balance of Velvia, E100 is a pretty distant runner-up. If I could, I would choose Provia over E100, but of course if Fujifilm finally pulls the plug on Velvia there is great risk they would do the same for Provia too, so that's not saying much.

I would second the other poster here - if Kodak were to re-release E100VS, the more saturated version of Ektachrome they used to have in their lineup, I would feel much better.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

As a long-time Velvia 50 user in 120, who hasn't been able to lay hands on any domestic (USA) stock since October, I've just finished some test-shooting with E100 to see how I liked it. My verdict: well, at least its a color reversal film too, one of only 3 (Velvia 50, Provia 100F, and E100) ostensibly still available in the USA, and the only one with a fairly consistent supply - so its got a lot going for it on that front. And its got all the sharpness and fine grain that Fujifilm delivers, and that we would all expect in a modern high-end photographic film from Kodak. And its lower-contrast than Velvia, good for seeing into the shadows a bit more. Its also considerably less saturated, more color-accurate, and more neutral-balanced than even Provia, let alone Velvia. So if that's what you're into, you'll love it.

But for outdoor landscape/nature shooters who love the rich, paint-like saturation and slightly warm color balance of Velvia, E100 is a pretty distant runner-up. If I could, I would choose Provia over E100, but of course if Fujifilm finally pulls the plug on Velvia there is great risk they would do the same for Provia too, so that's not saying much.

I would second the other poster here - if Kodak were to re-release E100VS, the more saturated version of Ektachrome they used to have in their lineup, I would feel much better.

Like you, I love Velvia 50. Unfortunately, they no longer make it in 4x5 and other large formats. I've got two boxes of 4x5 left in the freezer, and I'm watching their value increase faster than gold. When I run out, I'll have to go back to shooting it in 120 (6x7).

I've tried both Provia 100 and Ektachrome 100. Provia has more orangey reds and Ektachrome is more fire engine reds with greener greens. Here is a comparison I did. The first is with some editing. The second comparison is with just a digital shot of the negatives on my cellphone.

 

[igzabeher]

Like an above poster, it's Provia I'm replacing with Ektachrome at the moment. Like them both, but had Provia in mind for a project. Maybe one day there will be stock again.

 

[loccdor]

While I do shoot Ektachrome E100, Velvia, and Provia sometimes, I prefer Sensia 100-400 to all of them, and found it holds up well in expiration and has a nice amount of latitude.

I like Velvia and Provia in cameras with lower contrast lenses because it evens them out.

 

[George Mann]

I shoot Ektachrome because I can't shoot Kodachrome.

 

[DREW WILEY]

There is no blue cast with current Ektachrome, or even is recent predecessors. It's more neutral than Provia. But if you shoot under a blue sky or cold overast light, of course there is going to be a bluish skew, especially to shadows, easy enough to counter with warming filters. The only really blue-biassed Ektachrome was Ekta 64, a long time ago.

 

[armadsen]

There is no blue cast with current Ektachrome, or even is recent predecessors. It's more neutral than Provia. But if you shoot under a blue sky or cold overast light, of course there is going to be a bluish skew, especially to shadows, easy enough to counter with warming filters. The only really blue-biassed Ektachrome was Ekta 64, a long time ago.

People say this, and I get the technical argument, but reality is that if I don’t use a warming filter I’m unhappy with how blue my Ektachrome shots come out. I don’t have that problem with Provia. I don’t really care if that’s because Provia isn’t neutral because my goal is photos that I like looking at, not photos that perfectly represent reality.

 

[ChrisGalway]

There is no blue cast with current Ektachrome, or even is recent predecessors. It's more neutral than Provia. But if you shoot under a blue sky or cold overast light, of course there is going to be a bluish skew, especially to shadows, easy enough to counter with warming filters. The only really blue-biassed Ektachrome was Ekta 64, a long time ago.

I can believe this, but you actually point to data that shows this? Presumably someone has done a properly controlled quantitative colour reproduction experiment to compare these two films (and Velvia).

 

[koraks]

I can believe this, but you actually point to data that shows this?

People say this, and I get the technical argument, but reality is that if I don’t use a warming filter I’m unhappy with how blue my Ektachrome shots come out.

The problem here is not with the film - it's with how our visual system works. Shadows in daylight scenes are very, very blue - but we don't perceive them that way. For photographic systems, this brings a challenge. Either you optimize for reality, which means rendering shadows very blue - but people won't like it. The alternative is to try and somehow introduce some crossover so that lower values are artificially warmed - which from a technical viewpoint, 'breaks' the performance, but people will find the end result more pleasing.

There's a very powerful Photoshop-like engine continuously at work in our heads and dealing with this from a technical viewpoint is challenging. It's hard (arguably impossible) to get it right, as it boils down to shooting at a moving target.