Hi,
When I went to Ireland a month ago, I took 2 bodies, filled one with Sensia100
and the other with Provia100F, and took each shot twice to compare the films.
Both bodies were set to manual, and the exposure data copied from one to the
other. One body had a 50mm/f1.4 lens, the other a 90mm/f2 (which is a
reference to the thread about lightweight travel, except I wouldn't take the
second body :-) ). Imagine me swapping lenses every time I wanted to take the
shot with the second body. To all who saw, and possibly now to many of you, I
must have looked like a complete fool. But since now you're reading my test
results, I kindly ask you to refrain from mentioning that if you want to reply.
I had already used Sensia 100 on a long trip to Schotland, and I was quite
happy with the creamy off-white and general sharpness. I wanted to see why
Provia was called a pro-film, and whether I should care for my summer holiday.
The shots are quite varied: I took a stroll along a canal in Dublin, and took
pictures of industrial sites, back yards, the locks and a few other things. To
finish the rolls, I made several pictures inside churches in Antwerp during the
Organ Weekend: impressive architecture, impressive instruments, impressive
music, and it turns out some of the shots are equally impressive. Only the
Dublin shots were taken on both film, though, so the organ shots are meant more
to see if I notice enough difference in "real life" scenarios.
I inspected the slides by projecting them, as well as using a 50mm/f1.8 as a
loupe against ambient light (no light box).
Generally speaking, the Sensia100 is a much warmer film than the Provia. In
some shots of buildings, it gives the impression of an evening sun, while the
shadows clearly indicate a noon sun. The Provia gives a more "realistic"
colour balance. In landscapes, the warmth of Sensia is quite pleasing. But in
buildings, particularly old industrial and such, the harder Provia works very
well: deteriorating buildings are depicted without any frills.
The Provia is sharper than the Sensia. In buildings, more detail can be seen
in the walls, and the window edges are more clearly defined. There seems to be
a little bit more detail in the shadows and the highlights. As far as the
church shots is concerned, I much prefered the Provia in this particular
context.
I'm considering taking a pile of Provia with me, because I'll mainly spend time
in cities anyway. I would also take some Sensia, for when I happen to end up
in nature, or for people shots (I expect Provia to be too sharp for this).
Does anybody have experience with how long a Provia can be stored while
travelling in summer (backpack, train, hostels etc., no airconditioning, no
fridge available) ? If it's kept for too long, what difference will it make ?
I expect to take a month before reaching Japan, where I expect Fuji slide
processing won't be a problem.
On a side note, where can I still buy a 2-13 screen ? I've got one for my
OM-4Ti, but I'd like to have one for my OM-3 as well !
Peter.
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