Sean Esopenko

Downtown Walk Using Velvia 100

October 28, 2010

Due to a desire to shoot more large-format colour I decided to give my light leaking 6×9 back another try.  I used it with Velvia 100 film (which I will talk about later) and attempted to shield it from light using my film changing back.  When I first purchased my used Wist 45SP, I purchased a 6×9 film back to go with it.  Shooting on roll film sounded attractive and convenient for times that warranted it.  I was disappointed to get my first roll of 120 film back to discover light leaks across almost every exposure.  They occur in the same place every time in varying degrees of strength.

This Saturday I decided to give it another go, wrapping my camera in the light tight material of my film changing bag as I take the picture.  I didn’t actually open the bag up, I just rested it on it and wrapped it around the camera.  When I got the Velvia film back I was disappointed yet again.  The surprising part was that the second last exposure had the light leak across the very top part of the frame, instead of 3/4 from the edge like all the rest.  The final image had no light leak across it.

This causes me to wonder if it was dark slide and any mechanisms involved with it that is the cause of the light leaks.  I have a roll of Reala that I’m going to finish before I inspect the film holder again.

As for the Velvia 100 film, I found it hit and miss.  Some of the images worked well with the heavy saturation.  The blue and green dumpsters looked great and the various paints used in the graffiti in the alleyways were stupendously rendered by the Velvia.  Some images, however, didn’t do well with the heavy saturation and high contrast.  The day was overcast with muted light, which lent well to most of the pictures, but one of the images’s red brick wall was so strong and red it was sick.  For natural landscape with leaves and sky it’s splendid, however.  The newer Velvia 100 is supposed to have less contrast (read:  more dynamic range) than Velvia 50.  I prefer dynamic range over contrast, especially if I’ll be working with the images on the computer.  Overall I’m fairly satisfied with the dynamic range of the Velvia 100 film.  I can see some situations where it would be tough to use, even with a graduated ND filter and a polarizer (like I used in the image below).

This particular image is at Prince’s Island Park again, overlooking the water pond and the west village developments in behind.  Take notice of the sharpness of the foliage in the foreground and the definition of the buildings at the back.  This image was shot at F22, which would equate to about F8 in the 35mm film world!  Lens movements make a world of a difference!

I’ve recently discovered that American dealers sell boxes of 4×5 film at half the price the local dealers do.  I also found out that ABC Photo in Vancouver can do mail-order C41 and E6 processing (colour negative and slide).  They’re cheap at only $2.50 per sheet and an additional $10 for them to mail it back.  That’s an enormous difference from the price Vistek charges to process E6 and nobody in Calgary can do C41.  ABL was the last ones to do it and they stopped a while ago.

The other problem I’ve been trying to overcome is film flatness when scanning roll film.  I never have issues with sheet film and I can see it with the superb grain definition in 2400 dpi scans of b&w and slide sheets.  Roll film never has the same definition when I scan it with my Epson V700, however.  I’ve learned that you can tape the negatives to the scanner glass and rest a sheet of anti-newton ring (ANR) glass on them to get sharp scans with 100% film flatness.  Sourcing out the ANR at a reasonable price looked tough until I discovered the top pane in a glass 4×5 negative carrier for darkroom work is made with ANR glass.  Some e-bay searching found replacement 4×5 ANR glass for as low as $25.  Much better than the $150+ some places were charging!

So this weekend I’ll be going out again.  I’m going to use up the rest of what I have in my box of 4×5 Velvia and then send it out to ABC Photo.  I’ll see if I can develop a routine of ordering film from the states and processing it in Vancouver that suits my personal creative work-flow well.  I can’t make nor share photos if I’m waiting for film in the mail.  I’ll see if it works out.

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