Fuji Velvia 50 35mm Color Slide: A Beginner's (Very) Non-Technical Review

I am by no means an expert on film stocks, but here is my opinion of Fuji’s Velvia 50 ISO slide film (cross-processed).

Not too long ago I purchased a 5-roll box of Fuji Velvia 50 Color Slide Film, with the intent to cross-process it. The results have been pretty stunning. As you can see from the pictures, this film heavily favors the greens, which is really great for landscapes. It makes the greens in the grass and trees really pop, and it turns the sky an awesome bluish-green color. It’s a very dynamic look, in my opinion.

On overcast days, the pictures take on a completely different look:

As you can see, it preserves skin tones fairly well, and mainly effects the greens and blues.

There was one thing I noticed, and that was how much your exposure effects the outcome of the picture. If you don’t nail it, it might not turn out as well. Slightly under-exposing can cause your shot to lose a lot of color. Take a look at the following comparisons. The first of each set is the underexposed image, and the second is properly exposed.

The second is example is a little extreme, but if you’re shooting a sunset, it can be tricky to know how to expose your shot. I think the only answer is to shoot as many exposures as you can to make sure you capture those sunset shots just right. A couple of stops can make a huge difference!

At times when you’re shooting in complete shade, it yields a soft, bluish tone, like in the shot of the newspaper and the shot of the purple flowers. I think a lot of this is the nature of cross-processing – you never really know exactly what you’re going to get! Which is what’s so fun about it.

Overall, I highly recommend this film. It’s fairly affordable, and worth every penny. Get some today and enjoy what that extra green boost does to all these beautiful fall colors!

written by joefrank on 2012-10-19 #gear #review #film-review #fuji #velvia #crossprocess