Fuji: Velvia No More

This is a sad day. While I don’t foresee the end of the world, the Mayans tell us we still have time…it can still happen. Certainly, this being the third post about discontinued film since I started on Fstoppers just six months ago, this is the start of the photographers’ Armageddon. But don’t go hang yourself just yet — there’s just enough good news to keep me going just a little longer.

For those who don’t know, Velvia is a line of Fujifilm color reversal (positive/slide) film that is certainly one of, if not the, most loved film of all (especially since the discontinuation of Kodachrome just over three years ago). But there are different Velvias.

The good news is that while all sizes of Velvia 100F have been discontinued, we’ll still get to see 35mm and 120 sizes of Velvia 50 (RVP50). Still, cutting out large format is a sign for the future. If anything is to be saved in terms of film, it should be the large format film, since it’s large format negatives that digital really won’t be able to compete with anytime in the near future.

That said, we still have our beloved Velvia 100. Newer than Velvia 50, the 100 version is twice as fast, but still slow enough to keep grain to a minimum and pack in those saturated colors that made us fall in love with Velvia to begin with — and it’s my favorite color reversal film.

So for now, I’m okay. But I fear the end is near…

Want to help make me and others feel better? Post links to your favorite Velvia shots in the comments section! We should at least give these films a good send-off. Here’s one of my own to start…long live Velvia…

Oops, I shot some portraits on Velvia...