Railfan Technology > sensia, astia, provia

Is sensia 100 the consumer version of astia or provia? I've heard both. Since Astia has an RMS of 7 vs Provia's 8, wouldn't in theory Astia be sharper due to it's smaller grain structure? It seems the consensus across multiple boards is that Provia is fuji's sharpest chrome.

TME

I've consumed all three films and they are all good. I think Astia is geared toward people photography since the color is more neutral to better record skin tones. Provia has a bit more saturation and Sensia is a good low-cost general use slide film. Since all slide film is so good these days, I don't worry about RMS numbers; better to just pick a film based on what color rendition you prefer. I haven't seen any statistics about how many pros are still shooting slide film, but I suspect the market is pretty much being supported by advanced amateurs at this point.

PullmanPorter Wrote:
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> I've consumed all three films and they are all
> good. I think Astia is geared toward people
> photography since the color is more neutral to
> better record skin tones.

Yes. Astia is designed for better flesh tone color balance for "people" shots. I shot two test rolls in a railroad setting and the results were nauseating.

On the other hand, Provia 100F is a great film for RR photography. Sensia works fine if you can't get Provia.

Bob

Velvia 50 is the only way to fly!

Indecline Wrote:
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> Velvia 50 is the only way to fly!


And the big green box has brought 50 back out

For what it is worth, I have been shooting with Fujichrome for almost 15 years. I started with the original Velvia and have tried all of the different types. Here is what I have found after shooting about 1000 rolls. Previously, I shot Kodachrome 64. I switched to the Velvia back then because I liked the color saturation and the "punch" the film had, especially on cloudy days. However, I do not use the new Velvia. The new Fujichrome Velvia is very unpredictable. One can shoot 10 or 20 rolls of Fujichrome Velvia and get fine results and then, without warning, a roll will produce a set of slides with strange color aberrations and the result can only be described as weird - sometimes psychedelic. The slides obtained in this case will be useless. I have never been able to ascertain why this is so, but I have learned the hard way that it is true. Others have experienced this as well, so it's just not me.

The previous comment about Astia is dead on. Good for people shots and portraits - not so good for railroad and scenery photography.

Sensia and Provia are both excellent films and yield consistent, predictable, and very fine slides. The Provia is more expensive and is, in my opinion and experience, the choice for studio situations with controlled lighting. Used in the field - especially with certain filters, i.e, a polarizing filter - the film does not seem to have very much exposure latitude.

The much cheaper Sensia seems to be more forgiving and has a little wider exposure latitude yielding very satisfactory results if the exposure is a little off or when using filters.

All of this being said, you really can't go wrong with either Provia or Sensia. If you choose Provia you will pay almost a dollar more per roll and should check your camera's meter against an independent light meter and gray card to make sure that the exposure you think you are getting is what you are getting as the Provia doesn't have quite the margin of error. Mostly I use Sensia 100 but sometimes use the Provia. I have 20 rolls of Provia in my fridge right now. That's another thing: tech bulletins from Fuji emphasize that cold storage of Provia is necessary if storing the film for months at a time.

All of these issues were addressed with many more comments from Trainorders folk a couple of months ago. You might want to search for those threads for more input.

birdman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For what it is worth, I have been shooting with
> Fujichrome for almost 15 years. I started with
> the original Velvia and have tried all of the
> different types. Here is what I have found after
> shooting about 1000 rolls. Previously, I shot
> Kodachrome 64. I switched to the Velvia back then
> because I liked the color saturation and the
> "punch" the film had, especially on cloudy days.
> However, I do not use the new Velvia. The new
> Fujichrome Velvia is very unpredictable. One can
> shoot 10 or 20 rolls of Fujichrome Velvia and get
> fine results and then, without warning, a roll
> will produce a set of slides with strange color
> aberrations and the result can only be described
> as weird - sometimes psychedelic. The slides
> obtained in this case will be useless. I have
> never been able to ascertain why this is so, but I
> have learned the hard way that it is true. Others
> have experienced this as well, so it's just not
> me.
>
Is this experience with the NEW Velvia 50? It hasn't been out but a month or so. I have quite of few bricks of the OLD Velvia 50 in the freezer and so far, the results have been the same as when the film was available. I have a brick of the NEW 50, but I haven't shot any of it yet. I didn't care for the Velvia 100F or the Velvia 100. I still have a brick of the 100 I don't know what to do with.

No, I have not tried the new Velvia ASA50 because of my experiences using the Velvia ASA100 film. I have had 3 rolls out of about 100 of the "new" Velvia 100 that resulted in horrible color shifts. In a previous set of threads about the subject of slide films that appeared on Trainorders a month or two ago, I wasn't the only person that had experienced the bizarre colors. I don't recall in those threads if people were reporting results for ASA50, ASA100 or in general with regard to Velvia. I have been so satisfied with the Sensia and Provia that I guess I haven't felt the need to test the waters with the "brand new" Velvia ASA50 film. By the way, when I experienced the bizarre color shifts in the Velvia ASA100 film, I had other rolls processed at the same time that were fine, so I am inclined to think thar the problem did not lie with the processing but the film itself.

birdman Wrote:
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> No, I have not tried the new Velvia ASA50 because
> of my experiences using the Velvia ASA100 film. I
> have had 3 rolls out of about 100 of the "new"
> Velvia 100 that resulted in horrible color shifts.
> In a previous set of threads about the subject of
> slide films that appeared on Trainorders a month
> or two ago, I wasn't the only person that had
> experienced the bizarre colors. I don't recall in
> those threads if people were reporting results for
> ASA50, ASA100 or in general with regard to Velvia.
> I have been so satisfied with the Sensia and
> Provia that I guess I haven't felt the need to
> test the waters with the "brand new" Velvia ASA50
> film. By the way, when I experienced the bizarre
> color shifts in the Velvia ASA100 film, I had
> other rolls processed at the same time that were
> fine, so I am inclined to think thar the problem
> did not lie with the processing but the film
> itself.


Thanks, you had me concerned about a film I have not even shot yet. I never had any bad experiences with the Velvia 100, I just didn't like the yellow cast to it.

The yellow cast that you referred to with the Fujichrome Velvia ASA100 film is something that I also do not like and I suspect that it is the yellow cast component that, sometimes, on certain rolls of film has gotten totally out of whack. I'm not a chemist, but it seems like there may have been an issue with something in the emulsion formula that was not stable or changed somehow producing very bizarre colors. Perhaps Fuji got a bad batch of a certain chemical at one time. Good luck with the Velvia ASA50 that has just come out recently. Please let us know here on this board about your experience with it. I really liked the original Velvia 50 and used it for years. I would like to read your opinion of the new film.

This comment is dated, since my experience with Velvia was with the original Velvia 50. I used it with great success on the California Northern/ex-NWP in the spring, and it really worked with the green hillsides and green and cream engines. Incredibly vivid colors without looking too vivid. But when I tried in on Tehachapi with some Warbonnets, the reds were just terrible. Really terrible. My conclusion was that Velvia was a special purpose film with the results VERY sensitive to the colors involved. Since then I switched to Provia for about everything, but if the Cal Northern were still running on the NWP I'd try Velvia again, no question. But now its all digital.

John West