Velvia - Very contrasty, with completely unrealistic
colours, especially the blues. No gradation. The shadows block
up very suddenly, and greens block up before anything else (you
can see this from the datasheet too), which accounts for the
way it "pumps up" greens to make landscape conform to some
people's preconceptions of them. As we all know, higher-key
or normally bright scenes should be overexposed 1/3 stop with
this film, which is consistent with that. But then the colours
become even more kindergartenish. OK for cloudscapes. Resolution
about that of Kodachrome 64. Does handle long exposures better than
other films.
At last! Someone who shares my disdain of this film!
(I call it "Velveeta" because of all the "cheesy" colors. For those
outside North America, Velveeta is the brand name of a processed
cheese that is applied to hamburgers as a heart-disease enhancer. :-)
But alas, it sells, doesn't it? Open up a nature photography magazine
and try to find one shot that isn't on Velveeta.
But if you work digitally, you don't need it. I have a Photoshop
action called Velveeta that adds about 0.2 gamma to green, about +10
contrast, and about +20 saturation.
It's better to do this in Photoshop than with light, because the
latter is not reversible should you suddenly develop a sense of
editorial objectivity about color. After I sell the Velveetized
version, I can still go back and enjoy the original.
: Jan Steinman <mailto:Jan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
: Bytesmiths <http://www.bytesmiths.com>
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