Velvia

From Free net encyclopedia

Velvia is a name of an ISO 50 (though many rate it at 40), daylight-balanced color reversal film produced by the Japanese film company Fuji. The name is a contraction of "Velvet Media", a reference to its smooth image structure. It is also known by the abbreviation RVP (a classification code meaning "Reversal/Velvia/Professional series"). Its remarkably vivid, saturated colors under daylight, high contrast and incredible sharpness and clarity make it the film of choice for outdoor photographers; and it is considered by many who use it as the peak of perfection in color film. Many well-known nature photographers swear by it, including macro-masters John Shaw and the late Galen Rowell.

Its saturated colors are, however, considered overdone by some photographers, especially those that don't primarily shoot landscapes. Its tendancy to oversaturate skin colors makes it unsuitable for portraits.

In 2002 Fuji introduced Velvia 100F, which offers similarly bright colors, but it does have much lower contrast and the shadows can look a little muddy.

In February of 2005 Fuji announced Velvia 100 to replace Velvia 50. Velvia 100 is said to be as saturated as the old Velvia, although not as contrasty. The newer version also has finer grain (an RMS value of 8), and uses the color correction layers found in Provia 100F.

Currently Velvia has the highest resolving power of any slide film. When shot with a quality lens, a 35mm Velvia slide will hold the equivalent of at least 12 megapixels of image data.

Using Velvia for long exposures

The old Velvia 50 had issues with reciprocity law failure. Exposing the film for as little as 16 seconds would result in a heavily greenish cast. Anything over four seconds requires the use of blue filters, and anything over 32 seconds is "not recommended" by Fuji. The newer version of Velvia is much better in regard to longer exposures. Even at eight minutes exposure time a 2.5B color compensation filter (CC0025) is sufficient to correct color shift. Velvia 100F also seems to be an excellent alternative to Fuji's Tungsten-balanced film 64T, as some photographers may be unsatisfied with its large grain and low resolving power.

Velvia in Cinematography

Numerous commercials have been shot on Velvia film stock, but use in motion pictures is extremely rare. When it does see use in movies, it is usually for shooting stock landscape shots and special-effects background plates. One example is the 1998 film What Dreams May Come, which took place largely within a painting.

External links

• Fujifilm Velvia page
• Opanda DigitalFilm - a tool for simulating the velvia effect with photos from a digital camera.