Fuji Velvia 50 is a magical film. The film, formerly known as just Velvia, is known for its incredible saturation and fine grain. In particular, Velvia is know for favoring greens. Taking a roll of Fuji Velvia into a lush forest is a recipe for success. If you have been shooting Kodak Ektar because you like punchy colors and you've found yourself saying, “Gosh, I wish I could turn the saturation of this stuff up a bit,” then Velvia 50 is your film! Everything else will look drab by comparison.
The other reason to shoot Velvia 50 is because of the “what you see is what you get” aspect of it. One of the best features of slide film is that the only thing between the scene you photographed and your finished positives is the developing of the film. There is no printing or scanning that may skew your results. If the color temperature of the scene was on the warm or cold side, you’ll see it. If your meter is under or over exposing, you will see it. If there was a distinctly unique quality to the light that is nuanced or hard to reproduce, you will see it. Slides are only one step removed from that original scene, not having been translated through scanners or corrected based on the eye of a printer.
The very biggest reason to pick up a roll of Velvia is for the moment when you see the roll for the first time, those images backlit on a light table. It is a magical experience and you can easily get lost in the tiny scenes (or larger scenes, if you shoot a roll of Velvia in 120). There is so much depth in slide film. We wish there was a way we could share this with you virtually, but there just isn’t. We’ll include some sample galleries, but trust us when we say, it is a but a shallow reproduction of what an actual page of slides is like to experience.
Fuji Velvia 50 35mm Sample Gallery - Nikon FM2n
Sample images made on Fuji Velvia 50 film with a Nikon FM2n by staff member, Zeb Andrews.