Fuji provia

Ben johns

Ben johns

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Been looking at trying Fuji provia but I have no idea where I can get it processed in the uk.
Also is it worth the cost vs negative film? I’ve found it for £7 a roll but I’ve only ever used colour negative. It’ll be 120 film
 
What’s the best way to meter for it? I was going to use my a6000 and go with what it gave me
 
Ben johns said:
What’s the best way to meter for it? I was going to use my a6000 and go with what it gave me
Click to expand...

I’ve always used an app on my iPhone but the A6K meter will do the same job.

As above, slide film has much less latitude than negative but nothing beats the tiny stained glass windows you get to look at once it’s been developed!

I’ve just had a sheet of 8 years OOD Velvia 50 developed by Peak. Sent off to them on Tuesday using their Freepost address then developed returned to me by today so I’m happy with that turnaround. The Velvia could probably have done with another stop of light for the shadows but I metered it using my phone so am happy with the result.

IMG_1518823535.425536.jpg

I’ll do a proper scan later next week [emoji1303]
 
Ben johns said:
What’s the best way to meter for it? I was going to use my a6000 and go with what it gave me
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Just be very accurate :)

Not very helpful but true.
I find with slide film that a slight under exposure keeps the colours rich and saturated.
Over exposure washes colours out. It only takes a 1/3 to a half stop to make a big difference.
If you use the A6000 use it in spot meter mode and take readings from the darkest and lightest areas, average it and base your exposure on that.
Remember what you did and you'll find out in a couple of weeks if it was correct!
 
kendo1 said:
Just be very accurate :)

Not very helpful but true.
I find with slide film that a slight under exposure keeps the colours rich and saturated.
Over exposure washes colours out. It only takes a 1/3 to a half stop to make a big difference.
If you use the A6000 use it in spot meter mode and take readings from the darkest and lightest areas, average it and base your exposure on that.
Remember what you did and you'll find out in a couple of weeks if it was correct!
Click to expand...
How do you average 2 exposures? Add them together and divide by 2?
All I was was going to was put the Sony on multi meter mode and match the settings
 
It depends on what technique you would want to use, if I was lazy I might use my light meter and measure the darkest and then lightest part of the image and hit the average button to see what middle ground reading I get.

If I was putting more in to it for slide I might take a meter reading off the lightest part of the image that I just about want detail in, then I would add two stops based on the zone system (your meter reading should come in at zone 5);
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_System

Then take a meter reading off the darkest part of the image that you just about want detail in, if this comes in at more than 4 to 5 stops from your plus two reading then I would suggest you'll have blown highlight/shadows.
 
Ben johns said:
All I was was going to was put the Sony on multi meter mode and match the settings
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That takes all the fun out of it! You can do this. It will probably be accurate enough and you can gauge your success when the film returns.
Remember to match the ISO :)
 
Agfa Precisa is supposed to be Fuji Provia reboxed. Have shot Precisa & it's lovely stuffs Had mine developed by Peak Imaging.
 
kendo1 said:
That takes all the fun out of it! You can do this. It will probably be accurate enough and you can gauge your success when the film returns.
Remember to match the ISO :)
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yea lol i just i want to get it right first then play around later. plus lightmeters are so expensive! i only have my sony
 
I get my slide films processed at The Darkroom UK Ltd - http://www.the-darkroom.co.uk/
The turnaround is very fast (often one day in the lab + 1 day either side for postage) and they provide a downloadable prepaid postage label.

I would normally spot meter from a grey card, although if using the inbuilt metering in my Fijifil GA645Zi I would trust to that - the second shot below was taken with that method.

Here's a couple of examples - the first is 6*7 and the second is 6*4.5


Poppies on a windowsill by Kevin Allan, on Flickr


Pittenweem Harbour by Kevin Allan, on Flickr
 
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stevelmx5 said:
I’ve always used an app on my iPhone but the A6K meter will do the same job.

As above, slide film has much less latitude than negative but nothing beats the tiny stained glass windows you get to look at once it’s been developed!

I’ve just had a sheet of 8 years OOD Velvia 50 developed by Peak. Sent off to them on Tuesday using their Freepost address then developed returned to me by today so I’m happy with that turnaround. The Velvia could probably have done with another stop of light for the shadows but I metered it using my phone so am happy with the result.

View attachment 120487

I’ll do a proper scan later next week [emoji1303]
Click to expand...

Port Sunlight?
 
Ben johns said:
yea lol i just i want to get it right first then play around later. plus lightmeters are so expensive! i only have my sony
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Once you have a light meter though, it can be used with any camera; it opens up a lot of possibilities. It's not the only way to do things (e.g., sunny 11/16, iPhone light meter apps, etc.), but it's certainly the one I prefer and recommend.

Also, while a light meter may seem expensive, how much does a flubbed exposure in 120 format cost you? Probably at least a £1 per shot if not more. If a light meter results in more accurate exposures, which it should, I would argue it actually saves money in the long run if you plan on shooting a bit of film. Accurate exposures are even more critical—and mistakes even more costly—if you plan to shoot slide film.
 
skysh4rk said:
Once you have a light meter though, it can be used with any camera; it opens up a lot of possibilities. It's not the only way to do things (e.g., sunny 11/16, iPhone light meter apps, etc.), but it's certainly the one I prefer and recommend.

Also, while a light meter may seem expensive, how much does a flubbed exposure in 120 format cost you? Probably at least a £1 per shot if not more. If a light meter results in more accurate exposures, which it should, I would argue it actually saves money in the long run if you plan on shooting a bit of film. Accurate exposures are even more critical—and mistakes even more costly—if you plan to shoot slide film.
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I definitely agree with this and also, when I very first started with film I thought the same, I would use my DSLR to meter, then take the shot on film. What an absolute faff and you end up carrying a load of gear around and it's just horrendous!! Get a light meter, leave everything digital at home (or sell it) and enjoy shooting film. :D

As for Fuji Provia, I love it. Haven't shot much at all but when I look at the images from it, I wonder why I don't shoot it more!!

 
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With regard to the expense of light meters, I recently purchased an old Weston Master III for £10, which measures very close to my Sekonic L785 spot meter. Having said that I had a few old light meters in the past which weren't accurate, which caused me to stump up for the Sekonic. I also recommend the small Sekonic Twinmate L-208, which unfortunately I dropped down a railway enbankment and lost - using a neckstrap would have been a good idea.
 
Kevin Allan said:
I recently purchased an old Weston Master III for £10
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Westons were good in their day, but I wouldn't pay £10 for one now unless I'd tested it. If they still work (and for how much longer?), they can often read too low (ie the cells seem to lose sensitivity). I've got a couple, a II and a III, but the hand-held meter I use is a Lunasix 3 with a battery adapter for current batteries.

The whole metering business, though, as ever, has to do with where you point it and how you interpret its reading - ie nothing is going to do everything for you and a bit of brain input is required. With slide film, you've got to be on the button. There's little forgiveness.
 
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Yea I agree that it’s annoying using a second Camera. I went out today with a mamiya 645 with a pinhole bodycap lens and it was a pain having another Camera strung round my neck.
I experimented once with just using my iPhone to meter, if I remember I metered for the darkest part I wanted to hold detail in then darkened it 2 stops, I don’t think it worked very well. I didn’t care about the highlights
 
You have to account for what film type you're using, Ben. Neg film and slide film are opposites.
 
droj said:
You have to account for what film type you're using, Ben. Neg film and slide film are opposites.
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Oh of course, it was just an experiment. My exposures are 99% fine using my Sony and matching the settings, when/If I can afford a spot meter I’ll spend some time trying to perfect it.
 
Ben johns said:
I experimented once with just using my iPhone to meter, if I remember I metered for the darkest part I wanted to hold detail in then darkened it 2 stops, I don’t think it worked very well. I didn’t care about the highlights
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I've played around with the Light Meter app on my iPhone SE numerous times, and I've never been convinced that it works properly. I point it at something and get a reading, then move it to something else that's obviously darker or lighter, and the reading doesn't change. I point it a few other things, and it eventually changes. I point it back at the original thing, and sometimes it's a different reading. Maybe it's just very slow, or intermittently slow (seems to change quickly at other times). Pointing it at my monitor, it disagrees with my Minolta spot meter by 1 stop. I'd rather use sunny 16 than trust it to tell me what's happening.
 
I'd use a digi camera to meter for slide, I would expect it to be fairly accurate.
I think you can ensure a decent exposure if you are selective about the scene you shoot.
Its difficult to capture big differences in light levels without a grad, even if you make a compromise between the darkest and brightest elements of the scene, you're still going to over or under expose something in frame.
To be safe I shoot scenes with more balanced light levels, scenes that are lit evenly across the frame.
That's not to say you can't shoot in to the sun, its just tougher to meter for and you will be compromising some part of the scene one way or the other.

The sky/beach is slightly over in this, but I still think the camera metered well to maintain good exposure in the larger portion that is shade...(mju1)

ae9zb6.jpg



I don't think anything could be done with this, there is too much disparity in the light levels, I don't think the beach could take a lot more exposure in order to pull detail in the cliffs...(mam6)

14awgma.jpg



so I mostly shoot evenly lit scenes, slide excels in good even light...:)

2rz5hg6.jpg
 
joxby said:
I'd use a digi camera to meter for slide, I would expect it to be fairly accurate.
I think you can ensure a decent exposure if you are selective about the scene you shoot.
Its difficult to capture big differences in light levels without a grad, even if you make a compromise between the darkest and brightest elements of the scene, you're still going to over or under expose something in frame.
To be safe I shoot scenes with more balanced light levels, scenes that are lit evenly across the frame.
That's not to say you can't shoot in to the sun, its just tougher to meter for and you will be compromising some part of the scene one way or the other.

The sky/beach is slightly over in this, but I still think the camera metered well to maintain good exposure in the larger portion that is shade...(mju1)

ae9zb6.jpg



I don't think anything could be done with this, there is too much disparity in the light levels, I don't think the beach could take a lot more exposure in order to pull detail in the cliffs...(mam6)

14awgma.jpg



so I mostly shoot evenly lit scenes, slide excels in good even light...:)

2rz5hg6.jpg
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Nice :) I like the last one of the flower.
I’d like to try sunsets with it but could be tricky, I have a set of nd filters and nd grad filters but never really used them as I’ve only ever done digital for sunsets and the like. Going to order a pack of 5 in a day or 2, I think the first roll I’ll try to shoot during the day and at sunset if there’s a nice one, just play around with filters and exposure and see what happens.

Speaking of filters I’ve read that a warming filter would be handy? An 81a or 81b? Which would be most useful in general, don’t want to get 2
 
I enjoy shooting slide film purely for the little pictures you get to sit and stare at once the film comes back from development.

They are a bugger to shoot and a bugger to scan IMO.
 
Sectionate said:
I enjoy shooting slide film purely for the little pictures you get to sit and stare at once the film comes back from development.

They are a bugger to shoot and a bugger to scan IMO.
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That's the main reason why I love shooting slide. The end result in your hand always looks awesome! I took a PenF I had to Fuerteventura last time we went away (as it's rare to be able to shoot Velvia in UK sun!) and seeing 72 tiny little stained glass windows come back was even more amazing...wish I hadn't sold it now!
 
I shoot and love Slide, 55 years ago my Mum always photographed with her Agfa camera with slide, Fuji film, then in 1967, I met my wife, Jan, she also used slide film, always Fuji with her little camera. I still have both cameras and all the slides.

Never had a problem, even using OOD film, just make sure you meter across the whole shot and use the average. Works for me.(y)
 
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Sectionate said:
They are a bugger to shoot and a bugger to scan IMO.
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To shoot? You pay close attention to the light and the exposure. The key word is attention. That doesn't mean it's difficult.

To scan - I'd say slide is easier - there's no colour mask or inversion, so what you see is what you get right from the off. A decent scanner helps - some Nikons at least had multi-pass which helped to dig stuff out of the shadows.
 
I do like Provia, rarely shoot it though! Must have shot about 6 rolls of slide film in the last 8 years.

Scanning isn't too bad as long as you make sure you have multiple exposures switched on for dense slides and the film itself isn't too out of date - you get weird colour shifts then that I personally found hard to correct without ruining all the other tones.

Both on a Rolleiflex MX-EVS, Provia 100F:
4c96uJl.jpg


wusGUnf.jpg


Same Rollei, Velvia 100F:
robMW8L.jpg


As for metering, I use an incident meter most of the time but your digital in matrix metering should be fine - just know when to compensate for really dark/really bright objects in frame that would throw off any meter.
 
Negative film: meter for the shadows = (usually) good exposure. It's almost impossible to blow the highlights, but underexposure will leave you with a 'muddy' image and no shadow detail.

Positive (slide) film: meter for the highlights = (usually) good exposure. You have limited exposure latitude, so you have to read the light better. Grad filters to bring the level of the sky down a stop are useful. If all else fails, come back when the light has changed...when it's not so contrasty.

("Usually" because you have to put your brain in gear first and think about what you want to capture. I.e. if the subject is in the shadows of a shot taken on slide film, you may have to meter that and let the highlights blow).

An incident meter = highlight meter (with the bulb in place). Therefore...

Positive (slide) film: Hold the meter in the same light as the subject, bulb pointed towards the lens. Meter. Take the shot = Beautiful slide.

Negative film: Hold the meter in the shadows by the subject (or shade it with your hand if you can't access the subject), bulb pointed towards the lens. Meter. Take the shot = Beautiful negative.

Incident meters are simple, accurate and make for a happy photographer :snaphappy: :)
 
Cheers :). I’m looking forward to trying it, just a shame not had many nice sunsets or light recently
 
stevelmx5 said:
That's the main reason why I love shooting slide. The end result in your hand always looks awesome! I took a PenF I had to Fuerteventura last time we went away (as it's rare to be able to shoot Velvia in UK sun!) and seeing 72 tiny little stained glass windows come back was even more amazing...wish I hadn't sold it now!
Click to expand...

It is - can you imagine seeing a 4x5 or 10x8 slide? That would be awesome.

droj said:
To shoot? You pay close attention to the light and the exposure. The key word is attention. That doesn't mean it's difficult.

To scan - I'd say slide is easier - there's no colour mask or inversion, so what you see is what you get right from the off. A decent scanner helps - some Nikons at least had multi-pass which helped to dig stuff out of the shadows.
Click to expand...

That's your experience. Provia is much more forgiving than Velvia; I don't even bother with Velvia in a 35mm anymore as 1/2 a stop out and you lose shadow detail instantly. I seem to get on with it much more effectively on 120. My experience of scanning slides is that the software adds some colour irregularities to it that take a while to sort out.
 
Ben johns said:
Speaking of filters I’ve read that a warming filter would be handy? An 81a or 81b? Which would be most useful in general, don’t want to get 2
Click to expand...

I dunno, warming filters are not something I've felt necessary, my slide is Velvia and that don't need no warming, although I would say that it does cool quite a bit shot in dull overcast or dusky conditions, I don't bother with those conditions, Velvia loves the sun.
I would imagine Provia/Precisa may be quite neutral in that department, I dunno....wish Precisa was available in 120.
 
joxby said:
I dunno, warming filters are not something I've felt necessary
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Likewise. Someone somewhere is always trying to get us to buy something, that hardly means we need it. When film was mainstream and all there was, it seems that every half-serious casual colour snapper thought that they had to have a uv filter, a 'skylight' filter or something similar on the lens at all times. When I come across cast-off slr's (or lenses), it's almost the norm for them to have an 81a screwed on the front. The first thing I throw away. I think it was a fashion thing.
 
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