Ken's a kooky guy, but his reviews are important for those of us who didn't grow up with the old film cameras. He just has some crazy thoughts, knows his stuff and believes wholeheartedly in velvia. Nice video!
And nobody does better hear photography than Ken. I loved getting on his site just to look at the gear. He was really a big factor in me getting into film. Thanks for watching!
I started photography with Fuji Velvia 20 years ago. I saw photos from National Geographic and Transworld Skateboarding in the 90’s as a teenager and was hooked.
I used to shoot Velvia almost exclusively back in the day, mostly bird and landscape photography and I loved it. Then I moved to digital and hadn't touched my film cameras in years. Fast forward to a month ago and I picked up a Hasselblad 500CM which reignited my interest in film. And much to my surprise, I find Velvia is still being made AND they make it in 120 size...at least for now.
A few days ago the reseller i usually go to suggested me to try it out... But damn, 33€ per roll... That's fucking crazy, its basically 1€ per shot without counting the development 😢
Nice choice for best slide film. Velvia has always been a favorite of mine. For color negative film, my #1 choice of all time is Fuji Superia Reala 100. A discontinued film stock, but it was there for me during my 10 years living in Hawai’i.
One of my favorite films. When they said they were discontinuing it, I stocked up a bunch. Since then, I only shot 2 rolls as it's my goto for the fall. Unfortunately, for the first time in 15 years, my local lab had their agitator break and both rolls were lost.
I know this is late, but I saw plenty of fuji film in London. I picked up some provia and velvia 50 and 100 all in 120. I also seen 8x10 and 4x5 large format sheets. Its def available if you look in the right places. I just can't find it online anywhere which is weird
I actually did shoot Kodachrome the last few years of production. Interesting film. The way I like to phrase it; whereas most of my slide films "fade to blue" in bad lighting, Kodachrome tended to "fade to gray". I also really liked Fuji's Astia film (another one that the world has forgotten apparently). Hope they continue to produce Velvia and Provia. These are great.
I just bought my first Velvia 50 a couple of months ago. It was fine and I get that it would look good with a slide projector, but I scan the film and for me higher contrast and more saturated colors makes for more difficult scanning. I'll most likely stick mostly with Provia and some C41 film but might try Velvia again occasionally. Maybe one for fall colors later this year.
A lovely homage to Velvia, if a little depressing at the end! Personally I'm more optimistic (hopeful?). Poor old Kodachrome hit a perfect storm; the rise of digital AND the launch of Velvia AND the very complex and not easily reproduced processing system. If Fujifilm ever did decide to pull the plug, given that Velvia uses the much more common E6 system, I do wonder if an entrepreneur somewhere would pick up the baton and relaunch it? (Like the Impossible Project). I love shooting blue hour landscapes over water, and that's Velvia's home ground. But seeing some of your sample shots has motivated me to go out with a few rolls this Autumn (fall) to capture the reds and oranges. Probably in "wash your mouth out!" territory here, given the nature of your channel, but I think Fuji could really do with working on their Velvia digital film simulation if they're not going to continue supporting the actual film. I shoot with a GFX (as well as a Mamiya 645 for film) and, IMHO, Velvia is probably the least effective of their film simulations.
I've just got a roll of Velvia ISO 50 that expired 2001. Normally I'd adjust the ISO a stop per decade for expired film. Could I just leave ISO 50 and over expose two stops with exposure compensation on my camera? I'm guessing it works the same.
I haven’t shot film before, but I was planning on picking up some Velvia 50 for a trip once I get a film camera. I was wondering if you know how some people get a green tint to their film pictures when using Velvia 50; would you obtain that tint by increasing the ISO?
In my experience Velvia is pretty green even at box speed. The images you seen in the video that I took were shifted warmer to make them look a little more fall. Those would have been a little green if they weren’t manipulated. Getting decent green should be no problem, even at box. Thanks for watching!
@@Overexposed1 Ok Thanks, great video btw. Surprised something like this came onto my recommendation seeing as I was looking Velvia 50 for the first time yesterday.
@@Overexposed1 That’s because Fujichrome film has a green D-Max and Ektachrome film has a blue D-Max. D-Max: is maximum density when seen through a densitometer. A device used to measure the density of film to determine correct highlights (D-Min) also, the speed and contrast of the film. We used it to ensure the E6 processor remained consistently online. I was an E6 processor for 25 years. Working to Q-Lab standards. We’d send off Master control strips to Kodak every month. To ensure standards were consistent. May the Force be with you.🌀 Jim🌀 (-: :-)
Well hey dude, Tom from England here .. I just got my Mamiya 645 1000s and I also scored 5 rolls of Velvia 50 for a ridiculously low price .. any tips on shooting it ? That would be cool oh and I’m new to 120 format like virgin new .. great vids man keep up the good work keep on shooting on. Thanks Tom.
I love Velvia 50, it's the best film to shoot on daylight that always produce fine grain and colorful pictures when shoot it right, and it's not too vivid in some way or another either, it may not be the most color accurate film but most of the time its color is reliable, more so than the less vivid Provia 100F in many times. On the other hand, Velvia 100 is my least favorite slide film aside from Kodak Elitechrome Extracolor (which I used to shoot only 1 roll of it and hate it right away as it had too much contrast back when it still in production), I always get the scan from lab always look so red all over and it's always like that since I start shoot with it in 2010, and it's always look more red than any other film including one with vivid color like the ISO 50 counterpart or the old Kodak E100VS. It's really hard to shoot and get decent picture out of it unless it's in a scene where the sky is very clear then it will not look that red. I only shoot with it many times just because it's the slide film that is available more often than other reversal film stocks, at least until 2021 when I bought slide film the last time as after that all slide film became much more expensive (more than $30 per roll) and reliable lab with standard E-6 developing machine also ceased to exist in my country soon after that, it will be silly if I want to shoot more slide and have to ship film internationally just to get them develop and have the lab ship them back which is very expensive and I don't trust if there might be some condition inherent to international shipping that might damage the film.
Ironically KR's Velvia hype back in 2008-10 is what got me deeper into film then, with the side benefit of shooting Kodachrome during its last kick. However, I only have shot a couple rolls and settled for the milder Provia; format of choice is 120 6x9 through a Fuji 6x9 nonetheless! Now I crave some Velvia, but given the 2023 shortage let's see. Most of EU retailers appear out of stock.
@@Overexposed1 I just bought a roll of Velvia 100. I have shot a lot of slide films over the years but I have never tried Velvia 100 so I decided to give it a go!
The Velvia line probably discontinued. Although Fujifilm only says they paused the production due to shortages in the right raw materials. But the longer it stays silent, the more permanent it is.
This ended up being my 2nd favorite film after Kodachrome. Unfortunately I never used it until Kodachrome and EktachromeVS went away. I did shoot it from 2013-2020, but now I can't justify 40 dollars a roll. that's just ridiculous
Its true , i had more photos published using velvia and developing it in my agfa daylight developer in half an hour , perfect slides every time , (i realized soon kodak was second rate and flawed) maybe that was just canon cameras ? Similar traits to modern sony mirrorless colours ! Rank .
I’m still not entirely sure what to think of it. Velvia 50 has somewhat of a sweet spot. It works absolutely wonderful under certain light and on certain subject. Hit that sweet spot and it’s absolutely magical. If you however fail to hit the sweet spot or get your metering wrong (or mess up your reciprocity failure compensation) it is absolutely horrible.
I like Fuji for it’s more punchier colors, with all of the prices going up and discontinued stocks, I have been shooting more color digital, I shoot about one or two slide film rolls a year. I shoot Ektachrome here and there but the colors seem more subdued compared to Velvia.
You're about twenty five years late realizing that Fuji Velvia is the best slide film! I've probably shot a thousand rolls of it. Galen Rowell and John Shaw pretty much didn't use anything else. I was buying it for about $9.00 a 36 exposure roll and the processing was about ten dollars at New Lab in the city. It payed to have a good lab run the rolls as they always had fresh chemicals and did most of the professional film processing in the Bay Area. Looking back on some of the old wildlife and nature photos it's hard to believe that a lot were taken with 50 ASA film!
@@danoconnor1536 Ken’s a fantastic photographer and absolutely knows his stuff. But he’s been a HUGE proponent of not shooting in RAW. He has time and again maintained that it’s a waste of hard drive space and that jpegs are just as good. And he gets defensive about it too-hence the hill to die on.
I absolutely hate Velvia. Kodak E100VS was way better for a saturated film. Provia is still really saturated but doesn't have the contrast or color accuracy issues nearly as bad as Velvia. World's best color slide film was Fuji Astia 100F by a long shot.
@@robdixon5016 no. It's not good outside of landscapes and some street photography. People buying it for stuff it isn't good at has killed of great slide films. Provia has great saturation and colors but doesn't have the contrast issues that Velvia has.
Ken's a kooky guy, but his reviews are important for those of us who didn't grow up with the old film cameras. He just has some crazy thoughts, knows his stuff and believes wholeheartedly in velvia. Nice video!
And nobody does better hear photography than Ken. I loved getting on his site just to look at the gear. He was really a big factor in me getting into film. Thanks for watching!
I started photography with Fuji Velvia 20 years ago. I saw photos from National Geographic and Transworld Skateboarding in the 90’s as a teenager and was hooked.
I've shot a TON of Velvia 50. Doesn't work in every situation, but there's nothing else like it when it does work.
Perfectly right. Perhaps it is not so good for skin tones.
@@wramaccorsi1357learn to use flash !
I used to shoot Velvia almost exclusively back in the day, mostly bird and landscape photography and I loved it. Then I moved to digital and hadn't touched my film cameras in years. Fast forward to a month ago and I picked up a Hasselblad 500CM which reignited my interest in film. And much to my surprise, I find Velvia is still being made AND they make it in 120 size...at least for now.
Thank you for the good juicy analog goodness.
You are welcome! Happy to oblige
A few days ago the reseller i usually go to suggested me to try it out... But damn, 33€ per roll... That's fucking crazy, its basically 1€ per shot without counting the development 😢
Nice choice for best slide film. Velvia has always been a favorite of mine. For color negative film, my #1 choice of all time is Fuji Superia Reala 100. A discontinued film stock, but it was there for me during my 10 years living in Hawai’i.
I agree, Reala was a great film. I ran a large commercial photo lab for years. Reala was under appreciated. I shot dozens of weddings with it.
One of my favorite films. When they said they were discontinuing it, I stocked up a bunch. Since then, I only shot 2 rolls as it's my goto for the fall. Unfortunately, for the first time in 15 years, my local lab had their agitator break and both rolls were lost.
Velvia 50 is not discontinued
@@goldenhourkodak they discontinued 100 and everyone I talked to thought 50 was next.
@@goldenhourkodak But very difficult to find
Excellent video 😊!
Thanks Stephan!
Fairly certain this film took the most viewed photograph ever called Bliss for the Windows XP OS. Everyone knows it
my favorite film by far! rvp and rdp are all I'm shooting and what got me into film, too! I love the massive 6x7 landscape slides I get from it.
Yep!
Velvia 50 in a Pentax 6x7....the details go on *forever*!
My go-to film since, what, 1990!
Thanks for another great video. I live in the UK. and have just looked to see whats available and all the fuji slide film is out of stock.?
I know this is late, but I saw plenty of fuji film in London. I picked up some provia and velvia 50 and 100 all in 120. I also seen 8x10 and 4x5 large format sheets. Its def available if you look in the right places. I just can't find it online anywhere which is weird
Love the vids dude!!!
Thanks!
I actually did shoot Kodachrome the last few years of production. Interesting film. The way I like to phrase it; whereas most of my slide films "fade to blue" in bad lighting, Kodachrome tended to "fade to gray". I also really liked Fuji's Astia film (another one that the world has forgotten apparently). Hope they continue to produce Velvia and Provia. These are great.
I just bought my first Velvia 50 a couple of months ago. It was fine and I get that it would look good with a slide projector, but I scan the film and for me higher contrast and more saturated colors makes for more difficult scanning. I'll most likely stick mostly with Provia and some C41 film but might try Velvia again occasionally. Maybe one for fall colors later this year.
Try multi pass scan in vuescan...
Also, try shooting at iso 32 and pull-process 1/2 stop ...
I’ve got a few sheets of expired velvia in 4x5. Can’t wait to shoot it!
A lovely homage to Velvia, if a little depressing at the end! Personally I'm more optimistic (hopeful?). Poor old Kodachrome hit a perfect storm; the rise of digital AND the launch of Velvia AND the very complex and not easily reproduced processing system. If Fujifilm ever did decide to pull the plug, given that Velvia uses the much more common E6 system, I do wonder if an entrepreneur somewhere would pick up the baton and relaunch it? (Like the Impossible Project).
I love shooting blue hour landscapes over water, and that's Velvia's home ground. But seeing some of your sample shots has motivated me to go out with a few rolls this Autumn (fall) to capture the reds and oranges.
Probably in "wash your mouth out!" territory here, given the nature of your channel, but I think Fuji could really do with working on their Velvia digital film simulation if they're not going to continue supporting the actual film. I shoot with a GFX (as well as a Mamiya 645 for film) and, IMHO, Velvia is probably the least effective of their film simulations.
I've just got a roll of Velvia ISO 50 that expired 2001. Normally I'd adjust the ISO a stop per decade for expired film. Could I just leave ISO 50 and over expose two stops with exposure compensation on my camera? I'm guessing it works the same.
I haven’t shot film before, but I was planning on picking up some Velvia 50 for a trip once I get a film camera. I was wondering if you know how some people get a green tint to their film pictures when using Velvia 50; would you obtain that tint by increasing the ISO?
In my experience Velvia is pretty green even at box speed. The images you seen in the video that I took were shifted warmer to make them look a little more fall. Those would have been a little green if they weren’t manipulated.
Getting decent green should be no problem, even at box.
Thanks for watching!
@@Overexposed1 Ok Thanks, great video btw. Surprised something like this came onto my recommendation seeing as I was looking Velvia 50 for the first time yesterday.
@@Overexposed1
That’s because Fujichrome film has a green D-Max and Ektachrome film has a blue D-Max.
D-Max: is maximum density when seen through a densitometer. A device used to measure the density of film to determine correct highlights (D-Min) also, the speed and contrast of the film.
We used it to ensure the E6 processor remained consistently online.
I was an E6 processor for 25 years. Working to Q-Lab standards. We’d send off Master control strips to Kodak every month. To ensure standards were consistent.
May the Force
be with you.🌀
Jim🌀
(-: :-)
Well hey dude, Tom from England here .. I just got my Mamiya 645 1000s and I also scored 5 rolls of Velvia 50 for a ridiculously low price .. any tips on shooting it ? That would be cool oh and I’m new to 120 format like virgin new ..
great vids man keep up the good work keep on shooting on.
Thanks
Tom.
Wish I could get my hands on some. Only shot a 20 year old expired roll my dad still had from when he shot film
In the 80' and 90's I shot FUJI 400 with a Mamiya 645! Good times!
I love Velvia 50, it's the best film to shoot on daylight that always produce fine grain and colorful pictures when shoot it right, and it's not too vivid in some way or another either, it may not be the most color accurate film but most of the time its color is reliable, more so than the less vivid Provia 100F in many times. On the other hand, Velvia 100 is my least favorite slide film aside from Kodak Elitechrome Extracolor (which I used to shoot only 1 roll of it and hate it right away as it had too much contrast back when it still in production), I always get the scan from lab always look so red all over and it's always like that since I start shoot with it in 2010, and it's always look more red than any other film including one with vivid color like the ISO 50 counterpart or the old Kodak E100VS. It's really hard to shoot and get decent picture out of it unless it's in a scene where the sky is very clear then it will not look that red. I only shoot with it many times just because it's the slide film that is available more often than other reversal film stocks, at least until 2021 when I bought slide film the last time as after that all slide film became much more expensive (more than $30 per roll) and reliable lab with standard E-6 developing machine also ceased to exist in my country soon after that, it will be silly if I want to shoot more slide and have to ship film internationally just to get them develop and have the lab ship them back which is very expensive and I don't trust if there might be some condition inherent to international shipping that might damage the film.
Ironically KR's Velvia hype back in 2008-10 is what got me deeper into film then, with the side benefit of shooting Kodachrome during its last kick. However, I only have shot a couple rolls and settled for the milder Provia; format of choice is 120 6x9 through a Fuji 6x9 nonetheless!
Now I crave some Velvia, but given the 2023 shortage let's see. Most of EU retailers appear out of stock.
Glad to know I'm not the only one. Hopefully its back on the shelves soon!
Velvia 50 and Ektachrome E100 are the reason I am shooting film. I have a small stockpile of both in my freezer.
Completely agree. E100 is great, and we are lucky to have it!
@@Overexposed1 I just bought a roll of Velvia 100. I have shot a lot of slide films over the years but I have never tried Velvia 100 so I decided to give it a go!
The Velvia line probably discontinued. Although Fujifilm only says they paused the production due to shortages in the right raw materials. But the longer it stays silent, the more permanent it is.
Just got 10 rolls of Velvia 50 dated for 04-2025. Awesome!
@@robdixon5016 would it be a newly produced product then? By Fujifilm? Or is it old stock?
Looks to me like brand new especially with the late expiry date. @@Mennozo
I think the delay was due to off shoring film production to China. I wager it’ll be back.
I also owned a photo lab and we used Fuji paper, I always liked it much better than Kodak!
This ended up being my 2nd favorite film after Kodachrome. Unfortunately I never used it until Kodachrome and EktachromeVS went away. I did shoot it from 2013-2020, but now I can't justify 40 dollars a roll. that's just ridiculous
Yeah, the prices are bonkers! Thanks for watching.
where do you live? where i live its only the equivalent to around 12 dollars
@antonikx_ didn't think that was possible anymore🤯 I'm in NYC, which probably has something to do with it
Its true , i had more photos published using velvia and developing it in my agfa daylight developer in half an hour , perfect slides every time , (i realized soon kodak was second rate and flawed) maybe that was just canon cameras ? Similar traits to modern sony mirrorless colours ! Rank .
I’m still not entirely sure what to think of it. Velvia 50 has somewhat of a sweet spot. It works absolutely wonderful under certain light and on certain subject. Hit that sweet spot and it’s absolutely magical. If you however fail to hit the sweet spot or get your metering wrong (or mess up your reciprocity failure compensation) it is absolutely horrible.
Wow
I like to call "Velvia 50" the "Frutiger Aero" of film, it just fits that aesthetic perfectly, especially when used for landscape imagery.
Wonderful description. Thanks for watching!
I like Fuji for it’s more punchier colors, with all of the prices going up and discontinued stocks, I have been shooting more color digital, I shoot about one or two slide film rolls a year. I shoot Ektachrome here and there but the colors seem more subdued compared to Velvia.
You're about twenty five years late realizing that Fuji Velvia is the best slide film! I've probably shot a thousand rolls of it. Galen Rowell and John Shaw pretty much didn't use anything else. I was buying it for about $9.00 a 36 exposure roll and the processing was about ten dollars at New Lab in the city. It payed to have a good lab run the rolls as they always had fresh chemicals and did most of the professional film processing in the Bay Area. Looking back on some of the old wildlife and nature photos it's hard to believe that a lot were taken with 50 ASA film!
Come to Canada, we got that 100 for you!
And healthcare. Looking better all the time, neighbor!
Received 10 rolls of Velvia 50 today from B&H. Dated for 04-2025. 120 format.
Love Velvia 50.
Dooooon’t feel the same about Ken. He chose a weird ass hill do die on.
What did Ken do/say?
@@danoconnor1536 Ken’s a fantastic photographer and absolutely knows his stuff. But he’s been a HUGE proponent of not shooting in RAW. He has time and again maintained that it’s a waste of hard drive space and that jpegs are just as good. And he gets defensive about it too-hence the hill to die on.
Those are some mightily madenta lips my dude, was this video sponsored by T-Mobile?
Color grading aside, that was an enjoyable video, keep it up!
Thanks! Ill watch that slider!
ha the same film used on bliss? nice
I absolutely hate Velvia. Kodak E100VS was way better for a saturated film. Provia is still really saturated but doesn't have the contrast or color accuracy issues nearly as bad as Velvia. World's best color slide film was Fuji Astia 100F by a long shot.
As always a personal taste
@@robdixon5016 no. It's not good outside of landscapes and some street photography. People buying it for stuff it isn't good at has killed of great slide films. Provia has great saturation and colors but doesn't have the contrast issues that Velvia has.
THE PRICE ON VELVIA 50 IS 30+ $ A ROLL RIGHT NOW LOL
I like Velvia 50, but I much preferred Kodachrome.
Too Disney for me.
On a happy note I just got 10 rolls of Provia 120 from B and H. Expiry date 06/25. Dam fresh of I must say.