Velvia

Velvia (RVP) Discontinued
Maker	Fujifilm
Speed	50/18°
Type	Color slide
Balance	Daylight
Process	E-6
Format	35mm, 120, 220, 4×5 in, 8×10 in, 9×12 cm, 13×18 cm, Super 8†, 16mm† †Third party
Grain	RMS 9
Exposure latitude	±½ stop
Saturation	very high
Application	Nature

Sunset over the St. Lawrence River, shot on 6x6 cm Velvia 50

Velvia is a brand of daylight-balanced color reversal film produced by the Japanese company Fujifilm. The name is a contraction of "Velvet Media", a reference to its smooth image structure. It is also known as RVP, a classification code meaning "Reversal/Velvia/Professional series".

Velvia was introduced in 1990 and quickly replaced Kodachrome 25 as the industry standard in high-definition color film. It had brighter and generally more accurate color reproduction, finer grain, twice the speed, and a more convenient process (E-6). Kodachrome 25 fell out of popularity a few years after Velvia was introduced, and Kodachrome 64 and 200 have followed more slowly. Many photographers credit Velvia with ending the Kodachrome era.

The above is OPINION, and should not be stated as fact. In the very early 90's, higher ups at Kodak begain regionalizing kodachrome processing. Overnight kodachrome processing was replaced by 2-3 day service and this upset many people who relied on the overnight processing of kodachrome for their livelihood. The COMBINATION of the introduction of Velvia AND Kodak's questionable move of regionalizing their processing of Kodachrome at the same time put a dent in Kodachrome sales that Kodachrome never recovered from. Quality may have suffered as well when Qualux entered the picture and took over the kodachrome processing for Kodak. It was odd timing that right when a competitor brought out an excellent competing product that Kodak would actually alienate their own client base, but that's what they did, and perhaps a few higher up executives made some bonuses for creating short term profits at the expense of long term stability.

Velvia has the highest resolving power of any slide film. When shot with an excellent lens, a 35 mm Velvia slide will hold detail equivalent to 22 or more megapixels of image data.

Appearance

Velvia 100f
Maker	Fujifilm
Speed	100/21°
Type	Color slide
Balance	Daylight
Process	E-6
Format	35mm, 120, 220, 4×5 in, 8×10 in, 9×12 cm, 13×18 cm
Grain	RMS 8
Exposure latitude	±½ stop
Saturation	high
Application	Nature

Velvia 100
Maker	Fujifilm
Speed	100/21°
Type	Color slide
Balance	Daylight
Process	E-6
Format	35mm, 120, 220, 4×5 in, 8×10 in
Grain	RMS 8
Exposure latitude	±½ stop
Saturation	very high
Application	Nature

A photo taken with Fuji Velvia 50 film

Velvia has very saturated colors under daylight, high contrast, and exceptional sharpness. These characteristics make it the slide film of choice for most nature photographers, including such respected artists as John Shaw, Steve Parish, and the late Galen Rowell.

Shaw, who is known for his extreme close-ups of flowers, has praised the film for its accurate reproduction of the color purple, which has been a difficult color to accurately capture on other films. This was a major issue with Kodachrome, which tended to render purple objects as blue.

Velvia's highly saturated colors are, however, considered overdone by some photographers, especially those who don't primarily shoot landscapes. Its tendency to oversaturate skin tones makes it unsuitable for portraits, because it gives pink or brown skin a red cast. Velvia is referred to as "Disney-chrome" or "Crayola-chrome" by some detractors.

Speeds

The original Velvia is an ISO 50 film. However, many photographers manually set their cameras to an exposure index (EI) of 40 or 32 to over-expose it slightly (one or two thirds of a stop respectively) in order to yield less saturated colours and more shadow detail.

In 2002, Fuji introduced Velvia 100F, which offers similarly saturated colors but much lower contrast.

In February of 2005, Fujifilm announced Velvia 100 as a replacement for Velvia 50, which was being discontinued. Velvia 100 is about as saturated as the original 50 version but has lower contrast. The newer speed also has finer grain (an RMS granularity value of 8), and uses the color correction layers found in Provia 100F.

In October 2006 Fujifilm announced the production of a new Velvia 50 film, tentatively named "Velvia II". Fuji revealed that the original Velvia 50 had been discontinued due to difficulties in obtaining some of the raw materials needed to make the emulsion. Fuji had reportedly been inundated with requests to continue making Velvia 50 since announcing the discontinuation. Due to this demand, Fuji R&D worked to create a new emulsion which substituted different materials in its manufacture yet retained the appearance of the classic Velvia. The new Velvia film is expected to be available by the middle of 2007.

Long exposure issues

A problem with the original Velvia 50 is that it suffers from the effects of reciprocity law failure much more than other films. Exposing the film for as little as 16 seconds will produce a marked color shift, typically to purple or green, depending on shooting conditions. Anything over four seconds requires the use of blue color correction filters if correct color balance is required, and anything over 32 seconds is "not recommended" by Fuji.

Velvia 100 is much better with longer exposures. A 2.5B color compensation filter (CC0025) is sufficient to correct the color shift of an eight-minute exposure for Velvia 100.

Velvia in cinematography

Many commercials have been shot on Velvia film stock, but it has rarely been used for feature films. When used for 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.

Since 2006, Velvia 50 D (also sold as Cinevia) is available in Super 8 via three independent companies, Pro8mm in the US, and GK Film and Wittner Kinotechnik in Europe. However, demand for it is higher than those companies together are currently capable of properly supplying. Spectra Film and Video has also been loading Fuji Velvia into Super 8 cartridges and for 16mm. They recently improved the Kodak-supplied cartridges to ensure a smoother transport of Velvia film through the cartridge.

External links

• Fujifilm Velvia page
• DigitalFilm: an imitator for Fujifilm Velvia (RVP) & Kodak B/W T-Max 100
• super8camera.com for Velvia samples & other super-8 stock.