AshigrainColour reversal · Natural
Fujifilm Astia 100F
Fashion's slide film: soft contrast, true skin.
Soft, natural slide colour for skin, viewed directly. Original vs Ashigrain.
At a glance
- Exposure index
- 100
- Daylight
- Introduced
- 2003
- Discontinued 2012
- Process
- E-6
- Prints on
- Reversal, viewed directly
About the film
When Astia 100F went on sale in 2003, Fujifilm’s researchers said it was the first colour slide film to reach an RMS granularity of 7.
It followed the original Astia, which Fujifilm introduced in 1997 for fashion, portrait and commercial work. The new version went further, with softer gradation, wider latitude and smoother skin, and Vividlight noted that the old Astia had measured RMS 10 and the previous record holder, Provia 100F, RMS 8. Extra fifth and sixth colour-correction layers, grown from Fujifilm’s fourth-colour-layer technology, brought its colour sensitivity closer to the eye’s and reduced colour shifts between light sources. Fujifilm’s UK director Graham Rutherford said fashion magazines now wanted more subdued, natural skin tones, and that the film had been tailored to that trend. Fujifilm called it the softest in tone and most muted in colour of all its Fujichrome films. It announced the end of 35 mm Astia 100F in December 2010 and named Provia 100F as the replacement. The last 120, 220 and sheet film was due to ship in March 2012, which ended the Astia name altogether.
Sources for this history
- FUJICHROME ASTIA 100F Professional [RAP100F] Data Sheet, FUJIFILM Corporation
- 新カラーリバーサルフィルム フジクローム「Velvia 100F/100」，「ASTIA 100F」の開発 (FUJIFILM RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT No. 49), FUJIFILM Corporation
- フジクロームASTIA100の開発 (FUJIFILM RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT No. 43), FUJIFILM Corporation
- Fujichrome Astia 100F Professional [RAP 100F], Timeline of Historical Film Colors
- Fujifilm Professional's Astia 100F out now, ePHOTOzine
- Fujifilm Astia 100F, Vividlight
- 富士フイルム、35mm判の「アスティア100F」と「ネオパン1600 Super PRESTO」を販売終了, デジカメ Watch
- 富士フイルム、一部銀塩フィルムの販売終了, デジカメ Watch
The look
Fujifilm Astia 100F is a daylight slide film rated EI 100, viewed directly as the positive. Fujifilm made it the softest and most muted of its Fujichrome films, keeping skin smooth from highlight to shadow where Velvia would turn hard.
Low-contrast daylight: subdued colour and gentle tones.
Skin from highlight to shadow on a soft slide film.
Best for
- Fashion and beauty portraits in daylight
- Skin under hard midday sun
- Bright scenes that need open shadows
Among the films
Science & sources
A daylight colour reversal film with an exposure index of 100, softer in tone and colour than Velvia 50. Its positive image is shown directly, without a print stage.
Response curves and the evidence behind the model
Compare manufacturer data with the Ashigrain model on the same axes. This shows the calibration to source curves; comparison with photographed film is a separate question.
Characteristic response
RMS granularity
Density variation (σD) measured through a 48 µm aperture. Where the datasheet gives a single grain value, the response away from that point is an approximation.
| Channel | Density | Datasheet-based σD | Model σD |
|---|---|---|---|
| R | 0.3 | 0.00412 | 0.004286 |
| G | 0.3 | 0.00412 | 0.004295 |
| B | 0.3 | 0.00412 | 0.004272 |
| R | 0.6 | 0.005826 | 0.006061 |
| G | 0.6 | 0.005826 | 0.006073 |
| B | 0.6 | 0.005826 | 0.006041 |
| R | 1 | 0.007522 | 0.007824 |
| G | 1 | 0.007522 | 0.007841 |
| B | 1 | 0.007522 | 0.007799 |
| R | 1.5 | 0.009212 | 0.009583 |
| G | 1.5 | 0.009212 | 0.009603 |
| B | 1.5 | 0.009212 | 0.009552 |
| R | 2 | 0.010637 | 0.011065 |
| G | 2 | 0.010637 | 0.011089 |
| B | 2 | 0.010637 | 0.01103 |
Model limits
These images show the film model in use. Spectral response, lighting and viewing conditions include approximations, while halation, bloom, grain size, weave and flicker are not fully measured for each film. A real film capture also depends on development and print timing.
- Custom lighting spectra, camera metering and the spectral reflectance inferred from fixed-white-balance footage are modeled assumptions, not measurements of this film.
- The spectral transmission of the conversion filter the source prescribes (80A for daylight films under tungsten, 85 for tungsten films in daylight) is modeled, not supplied by the source.
- The source prints one visual MTF curve, not separate red, green and blue curves. The model applies it to all three layers.
- The only grain value is RMS granularity 7 × 10⁻³, read at a gross (not net) visual density of 1.0. Its conversion to net density and the response away from that point are modeled.
- The source prints separate cyan, magenta and yellow dye curves, each normalised to a peak of 1.0, and no neutral; the dye scales are fitted assumptions.
- No minimum-density spectrum is printed, so the reversal base-density spectrum is approximated. Reversal push and pull have no published curves and use a generic model.
- The source states a push/pull range of −½ to +2 stops without curves.
- The antihalation undercoat is printed, but halation strength, radius, layer weights and bloom are not measured.
- Individual dye amounts, layer interactions and push/pull behaviour are approximated where the datasheet provides no calibration. Grain size is assumed; published RMS granularity does not specify dye-cloud size.
- Characteristic response outside the published exposure range is an extrapolation, not measured film data.
- Veiling projection flare is not measured in the available sources. Its modeled contribution lifts screen blacks; it is not a measured projection-contrast claim.
Film guide: assumptions and practical choices
Sources
- Exposure index: FUJICHROME ASTIA 100F Professional [RAP100F] Data Sheet, AF3-149E (EIGI-03.11-HB•5-3), p. 1
- Process: FUJICHROME ASTIA 100F Professional [RAP100F] Data Sheet, AF3-149E (EIGI-03.11-HB•5-3), p. 3
- Characteristic curves: FUJICHROME ASTIA 100F Professional [RAP100F] Data Sheet, AF3-149E (EIGI-03.11-HB•5-3), p. 8
- Diffuse RMS granularity: FUJICHROME ASTIA 100F Professional [RAP100F] Data Sheet, AF3-149E (EIGI-03.11-HB•5-3), p. 8