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General Climbing Discussion

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photo question 19-May-2005 At 10:06:41 PM Onsight

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In response to a query received in a PM:

>What is the main difference between say Senisa and Velvia film (except of course >price??? ... I have used Sensia quite a bit and have been reading some of your other >posts noticing that you use Velvia. I … wanted to try and get some good shots for >home, the kind of thing you can blow up… Is Velvia much better for this, I really like >the colour you can get with slide film and really like using it, guess what I'm really >asking is, is the extra cost worth it.

Like w most photography questions it’s worth deciding your end use before getting down to details. Basically, if all you are ever going to want to do with the photos is blow them up for big prints on the wall then it might even be worth considering print film. It’s the film most wedding photographers use as it is good for skin tones, prints nicely, and is less contrasty – easier to use as expose isn’t as critical (you wouldn’t want to use a wedding photographers film though, you’d need to find out which are some of the more saturated emulsions). But if there’s a chance you may ever want to use them in a slide show, have them published, or want to put yourself on a learning curve then slide film is the way forward (as exposure is more critical and what you see is what you get).

Sensia is just the “amateur” version of Provia. Meaning Provia costs more, is kept refrigerated, and has more consistent colours (is more rigorously controlled). Basically I doubt it’d be worth you paying the extra for Provia over Sensia. Provia/Sensia are 100 ASA and are not as colour saturated as Velvia which is now available in 100 as well as the standard 50 (which I rate as 40 – the 100 version is true 100 however). Velvia 100 is a bit more saturated than Provia/Sensia, but not nearly as saturated as the 50 (40). Shooting with a slower film like that opens up problems unless your lenses are “fast” – so you might have more problems with the zooms, but maybe fixed lenses will be fast enough.

Hard for me to say whether the extra cost is worth it for you as I don’t know your budget and how great an end result you want. I like it and it’s easier to capture those beautiful saturated oranges in some of our Ozzie cliffs with it (esp without going to extremes like shooting at dawn or dusk). I think it is many landscape photographers film of choice for good reason. Anyway, a lot might come down to where and how you get the prints made in the end. I’d recommend experimenting w a few rolls – particularly w the Velvias 50 and 100. You might be blown away by them. And no, I’m not sponsored by them (if only).

I’ve got some general photography questions and answers on my web site here:
http://www.onsight.com.au/about/questions.htm

Hope this helps. Have fun.