Cross-Processed Fuji Velvia 50 RVP: Keeps the Spirit of Your Scenes

A while ago I ordered Fuji Velvia 50 RVP 35mm color slide film because I liked the idea of getting very fine grained pictures it promises to deliver. It is a slow speed film that, if treated with xpro, features slight to medium versatile color shifts and very saturated colors. Compared to the Velvia ISO 100’s typical red and purplish hues, cross-processing the Velvia ISO 50 brings you more subtle but still distinctive results. It’s not the best choice for night photography. Now, the colors that it brings is what I like about it.

I’m still a newbie when it comes to the most films available and especially what to expect from them being crossed. Therefore, every once in a while, I buy a film I’ve never used before to gain some experience about its xpro nature. Different lenses differ from each other the way they picture the world, so I want to know how a certain film works with my equipment. Searching on Lomography a while ago, I discovered that they had just received Fuji Velvia 50 RVP 35mm color reversal film. Yes, ISO 50! So, I knew what to order and try. I wanted to see whether it is as fine-grained as promised.

A cold January Sunday morning, I loaded the film into my Praktica BX20 and headed out for a short Lomowalk through my neighborhood.

Below is a detail of the second picture above to show you what this film is capable of in terms of grain.

Another beautiful but very cold February afternoon, I was cruising a little through my region, taking local trains, to experiment with my camera and film and to catch the spirit of that day. I remember that day being exceedingly cold, so exposing my hands to shoot these pictures made my bare fingers numb within seconds.

Daylight and Outdoor Shooting

Impact of direct sunlight gives your pictures distinctive and warm yellow-greenish hues…

…while gloomy, overcast, and foggy conditions turn your photos into overall cooler bluish tones.

When I look at these photos, I think the color shift you get by cross processing the Velvia 50 doesn’t change the scene’s native atmosphere—it is rather enhanced in a way. Winter landscapes (without snow) often lack intensive colors but this film seems to boost saturation of existing, slightly shifted tones.

Long Exposures and Night Shots

It is possible, but, as ISO 50 rating suggests, it takes a lot of staying power. That’s why I wouldn’t recommend using auto mode shooting at night (see example below) because actual time to expose properly may exceed the maximum exposure time your camera is able to provide (40s for mine), as well as reciprocity law failure becomes quite significant which the camera might not compensate for.

Let me show you a a short comparison: Fuji Press 800 vs. Fuji Velvia 50

Both pictures were taken under the same conditions at the same location:

• artificial illumination
• f-stop: 22
• auto mode with aperture priority

This film is more suitable for several minutes bulb mode exposures, since you can’t hardly overexpose.

Artificial light might be the source of the distinctive bluish green hues that soaked into my night time shots.

What I Like About This Film:

• Color shifts are slight to medium, versatile and vibrant. They don’t erase the native atmosphere of the site where you’ve shot.
• The very saturated colors you get.
• Thumb up to the price as I think it has very good price-performance ratio.

So, to conclude, I like the Velvia 50 not necessarily because of its very fine grain but mainly for its behavior in terms of colors. It’s definitely worth buying and cross processing it!

Have fun and thanks for reading!

Fuji Velvia 50 RVP 35mm is super-saturated and as high-res as film can get. When cross-processed, greens become greener and reds and yellows pop. See the whole range of colour slides in our Shop.

written by andyresag on 2012-04-12 #gear #review #green #yellow #x-pro #praktica #lomography #fuji #color-slide-film #xpro #x-pro #cross-process #crossed #iso-50 #color-reversal-film #user-review #fuji-velvia-50-rvp #very-fine-grain #fine-grained