"David J. Littleboy" wrote in message ...
"Craig" wrote:
Hello, I'm just returning to slide photography after having been out of it
for a few years. I'm planning a trip to SE Asia next year and am planning
what film to bring. I'll be shooting primarly landscape and scenic shots.
Because it is the tropics (during dry season), the bulk of my shots will
be
made in strong sun. Lots of green foliage with blue skies and browns
(dirt
roads etc.). Any suggestions as to what films might work best for this?
I've been looking at Fuji Velvia 100F and Kodak E100VS, but am a little
concerned about the saturation.
I've been shooting a lot of Velvia 100F lately and am quite pleased with it.
It's a completely different film than classic Velvia. Colors are very
neutral. It's a bit less blue than Provia 100F, but otherwise quite similar.
I want saturated colors, but not to the
point that they look unrealistic. I'm also afraid it might be too
contrasty
given the strong sun. (I prefer films that portray realistic color and
offer fine grain.)
You should try the new Astia 100F, since Fuji claims that it's essentially a
finer grain, lower contrast version of Velvia 100F. I haven't done much with
it yet since I've taken to shooting 220, and you have to buy 5 rolls in 220,
and I would like to shoot one or two rolls of it in 220 before buying that
much. I still have 10 rolls of Provia 100F 120 sitting in a drawer unlikely
to get used....
Skin tone isn't a high priority as I will have another
camera loaded with print film that will be used for shooting shots. I
will
not be using filters, so a film that can capture the natural colors of the
sky and sea is a plus (hence my reason for considering the above films.)
Would these films be good choices, or should I stick with the old stand
bys
(Fuji Sensia and Kodak Elite Chrome). How about Elite Chrome EC? How
about
Fuji Provia...a good choice for fine grain but more natural colors than
Velvia?
Again, Velvia 100F is more neutral/natural that Provia 100F. A lot of people
seem to be having trouble getting that through their headsg.
David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan
I've been very pleased with both the new Astia 100F and Velvia 100F.
The Astia has become my main color film, due to the wider lattitude,
ease of scanning, and neutral color. But I do miss a tad of that
"punch" that the Velvia gives. I always shot original Velvia 50 at 40
anyway because otherwise it was just too much. The 100 speed version
seems to be right for rating it at 100. Either film should give you
great results but I'd lean towards the Velvia for landscapes.
I used to shoot almost nothing but Kodachrome 64, but somewhere along
the way, it seemed to get very dull and "brown-looking" to me. Plus,
the difficulty of getting it developed these days is an additional
challenge.
-Karl
http://pages.cthome.net/karlwinkler