Disappointment

[peterqd]

I've now scanned some of the first colour shots I took with the Yashica-Mat on my trip to Holland in October. The camera is great fun to use and I was asked about it a couple of times by strangers, which was nice. But the results from the Velvia 50 are way too saturated for my taste:


I had to lighten this a little due I think to metering more of the sky than the land, but apart from that I haven't changed anything in the scan except the size. This shot was taken at the same time with my Flek 2.8/20 on the 400D



Honest opinions please. I've always been a Kodachrome man but processing is a pain now. Does anyone know how Ektachrome E100 compares?

[Attila]

First one is not real over saturated on bad way ...

[Attila]

I changed saturation, when sky is pretty ok landscape goes to b&w

[Katastrofo]

It's probably nostalgia, but I happen to like the first pic. Reminds me of
how the pics looked in National Geographic, etc, in the early 60'[s.

Oversaturated good, Bill like!


Not to say I don't understand Peter's disappointment, looks like more experiments with different film.

[Orio]

Velvia 50 is not good for landscapes in my opinion.

[LucisPictor]

Yes, Peter, that's the Velvia look.
I also only like it in suitable situations, like an autumn shot in a forest. This can blow you away.

Peter, you should try the Kodak Portra 160 NC.
The VC version produces strong colours (rather similar to the Velvia) but the NC version, which is perfect for portraits, shows less saturation and thus would surely be a film you like.

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/products/films/portra/portraIndex.jhtml?id=0.1.18.14.13.14&lc=en

[peterqd]

[Attila]

I hope it will works for you I just do a quick try, because I was curious.

[patrickh]

Dont touch the saturation - try the White balance levels. It looks to me as though the WB has not got it quite right and that is why when you try saturation you get changes throughout the picture - I suspect you have WB too high, try lowering it a bit and see what happens. Use that in conjunction with tint - not saturation. Saturation kills almost as many pics as sharpening



patrickh

[Laurence]

On a GOOD note, your scan is absolutely TERRIFIC for sharpness!

Yeah, Velvia has its place, and its WONDERFUL for the right subjects. I've certainly made my "mistakes" with using it in the wrong places - the desert southwest with its strong orange colors comes to mind.

Provia has been a fantastic film for many of my slides - perhaps a tiny bit more saturated than I wanted, but awfully close to "true".

The deep forest has been good for Velvia (for me), because the colors can be muted in there, and the Velvia seems to bring them closer to "what I see".

I look forward to more shots from your Yashica! And, of course don't need to call it 'disappointment'! Call it 'different' is all!

[peterqd]

[peterqd]

Two shots from the second roll of Velvia 50 scanned with the V700. I'm much happier with the colour this time, but both shots were a little underexposed and I had to "rescue" them as best I could in PS, so I'm suspecting the camera meter is inaccurate.

1 - Boatyard on the Thames at Bourne End:


2 - Old deserted cottage near my home.

I've only included this to show how much better the colour is on this roll. The cottage is a precious example of local construction, probably built about 1800. The slated roof means it was built after the local canal was opened, and the walls are built of flints which continually come up through the soil in the fields on our chalk hills. It has a timber lean-to barn at the back where a horse or two, a cow and probably some pigs would have been "stabled" during the winter in former times. All the old windows and doors are still there and even an old fence and front porch of iron framing. It's rapidly deteriorating now (not helped by the ivy on the front wall) and I wanted to photograph it before it gets any worse. Late afternoon lighting in January isn't helpful and I'm not at all happy with this shot - I'll probably take it again in a few weeks time.

[Attila]

From the first one I really can't recognize this is a scanned picture... Looks you get a very nice scanner.

[peterqd]

Thanks Attila. I'm very pleased with the results now I'm a getting bit more familiar with this scanner. This was scanned at 3200. All I need now is some of Laurence's talent

[Attila]

Seems you are going on good path!

[peterqd]

I was wondering, is it possible the different colour tone and depth could be due to the processing? The second roll was done by a different lab.