Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/05/18

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Subject: [Leica] Re: Re: velvia vs. provia
From: "Doug Richardson" <doug@meditor.demon.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 18 May 2000 10:46:53 +0100

 Peter Jon White <PeterJonWhite@PeterWhiteCycles.com> asked:

>So, in trying to decide which of two films you would prefer, are you
saying
that you would rather read the opinions of others, than look at the
two
films side by side? How can someone else's description of an emulsion
be
better than seeing it for yourself?

Sorry Peter, - re-reading my posting I realise I didn’t explain very
well what I meant.

Of course there is of course no substitute for trying the film for
yourself. As Mr Rabiner so colourfully puts it...

"You can talk talk talk;
You can bicker bicker bicker;
BUT YOU GOTTA SHOT A TEST ROLL YOURSELF!!!"

But at the end of that test roll you have only 36 samples of how that
film behaves against the subjects you had available to you and the
lighting conditions you met. Asking for other folks’ opinions will add
their knowledge and experience to yours, perhaps of using that film
under very different conditions. A film which performs well in a
California summer may not do so well in a London winter, or an Alpine
snowscape. Or as I discovered, the film I use here in England simply
couldn’t cope with the heavy shadows cast by the Florida winter sun.

Asking opinions of an untried film could also help narrow the field
before testing begins - useful in a world where there seems to be an
ever-growing number of film types. For example, if the general
consensus of the LUG is that WizzoChrome gives high-contrast images of
high colour saturation, then that film is unlikely to satisfy a user
who does not like this style of image.

When I asked for recommendations for 400ISO+ slide film, the general
consensus of the LUG was that they could not be recommended, though
someone suggested with the possible exception of 400ISO Fujichrome.
Since no-one sprang to the defence of their favourite high-speed slide
film, I concluded that the chances were fairly high that indeed none
were very good. But as the man says, BUT YOU GOTTA SHOT A TEST ROLL
YOURSELF!!!. I’ve shot some 400ISO Fujichrome, and the resulting
slides look pretty good - haven’t seen them projected to large size
yet.

Regards,

Doug Richardson