From the research I have done it seems that using Velvia is not the best option for skin tones but I wanted to see for myself. I mean what is the point of testing unless you know for yourself what something can or can’t do.
For this roll of film I also shot some frames with CTB and CTO gels in front of the Profoto B10, which I didn’t do on the previous test roll of Ektachrome. What I didn’t realise was that the first CTB gel I pulled out of the pack was the double CTB. Which does explain why I was getting a much lower exposure reading when taking those frames.
This film is much warmer than Ektachrome. I had the mistaken belief that Velvia would make skin tones radioactive but in actual of fact it seems quite pleasant to me. Adding a CTO gel to the lighting, does give a late summer afternoon feel.
While Ektachrome seemed to like being under exposed, Velvia looks like it might like being a little over exposed. I can’t guarantee that the lighting was 100% the same for the two rolls of film, but this is not a scientific experiment. This testing has been for me to figure out what tools are out there and how I can use them to my advantage.
In conclusion, I would not discount this film as not fit for purpose but would be worth getting if I had something specific in mind.
Below is the full tech sheet.
29 January 2021 It just occurred to me that as I shoot the contact sheet images with my Fujifilm X-E1, I wondered what it would look like if I took it with the in camera Velvia profile.
If there is a difference between the top version taken with the Standard profile and this version it is very subtle.
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