AshigrainColour reversal · Vivid & saturated
Fujifilm Velvia 50
Velvet grain, colour as you remember it.
Very saturated colour and steep contrast for landscapes: deep skies, rich foliage and glowing water. Original vs Ashigrain.
At a glance
- Exposure index
- 50
- Daylight
- Introduced
- 2007
- In production
- Process
- E-6
- Prints on
- Reversal, viewed directly
About the film
According to Henry Wilhelm's 1993 study of colour permanence, the name Velvia joins “velvet”, for its smooth, fine-grained tones, with “media”, the printed pages it was aimed at.
Fujifilm brought the original to market in early 1990, after professional photographers asked for an E-6 slide film that would beat every other, Kodachrome included, for image quality. Its engineers set out to make a 35 mm frame fine and sharp enough to reproduce at B0 poster size in print, using a new Sigma Crystal grain technology and thinner layers. Wilhelm judged its grain and sharpness about equal to Kodachrome 25, long considered the sharpest slide film in the world. Fujifilm built it around remembered rather than measured colour, and it became a reference for saturated colour among landscape and nature photographers. Production stopped early in 2005 when essential raw materials ran out, and after requests from photographers Fujifilm developed substitute materials and new manufacturing methods. It announced the current Velvia 50 for 2007 and describes it as nearly identical in performance to the original. Velvia also lives on as one of Fujifilm’s digital film simulations.
Sources for this history
- FUJICHROME Velvia 50 Professional [RVP 50], FUJIFILM Corporation
- Fujifilm Announces Two Reversal Films, Photo Review
- Fujifilm Re-Introduces Velvia 50, Photography Blog
- FUJICHROME Velvia 50, FUJIFILM North America
- The World of Film Simulation episode 3, FUJIFILM Corporation
- 超高画質カラーリバーサルフィルム フジクローム「ベルビア」の技術と性能について (日本写真学会誌 55(3), 1992), The Society of Photographic Science and Technology of Japan
- The Permanence and Care of Color Photographs, chapter 6 (Henry Wilhelm, 1993), Preservation Publishing
The look
Fujifilm Velvia 50 is a daylight slide film rated EI 50, viewed directly as the positive. Its steep curves and dense shadows push greens, reds and skies towards the colours people remember, with very fine grain.
Saturated colour in soft light: punchy, with the steep contrast kept in check.
Blue hour on slide film: deep, saturated blues and a dark sea.
Best for
- Mountain and forest landscapes in low sun
- Autumn colour and wildflowers
- Seascapes under open sky
Among the films
Science & sources
A daylight colour reversal film with an exposure index of 50, aimed at strongly saturated colour, with steep curves that reach a maximum green density of about 3.8. 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 | 0.00493 | 0.005128 |
| G | 0.3 | 0.00493 | 0.005139 |
| B | 0.3 | 0.00493 | 0.005117 |
| R | 0.6 | 0.006971 | 0.007252 |
| G | 0.6 | 0.006971 | 0.007267 |
| B | 0.6 | 0.006971 | 0.007236 |
| R | 1 | 0.009 | 0.009362 |
| G | 1 | 0.009 | 0.009382 |
| B | 1 | 0.009 | 0.009342 |
| R | 1.5 | 0.011023 | 0.011466 |
| G | 1.5 | 0.011023 | 0.01149 |
| B | 1.5 | 0.011023 | 0.011441 |
| R | 2 | 0.012728 | 0.01324 |
| G | 2 | 0.012728 | 0.013268 |
| B | 2 | 0.012728 | 0.013211 |
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.
- The model assumes custom lighting spectra, camera metering and the spectral reflectance inferred from fixed-white-balance footage. These inputs are not measurements of the film.
- The spectral transmission of the conversion filter the source prescribes (80A for daylight films under tungsten, 85 for tungsten films in daylight) is modelled, not supplied by the source.
- The source prints one MTF curve with no densitometry stated, not separate red, green and blue curves. The model applies it to all three layers.
- The source publishes one RMS granularity value, 9 × 10⁻³. The granularity response away from that level is modelled.
- The source prints separate cyan, magenta and yellow dye curves but no neutral; the dye scales are taken as printed.
- 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 +1 stop without curves.
- The antihalation undercoat is printed, but halation strength, radius, layer weights and bloom are not measured.
- Where calibration data is missing, the model approximates dye amounts, interactions between layers and push/pull behaviour. Grain size is an assumption: published RMS granularity does not determine dye-cloud size.
- Characteristic response outside the published exposure range is an extrapolation, not measured film data.
- Modelled projection flare raises screen blacks. Its strength is assumed because the available sources do not measure it, so it does not establish measured projection contrast.
Film guide: assumptions and practical choices
Sources
- Exposure index: FUJICHROME Velvia 50 Professional [RVP 50] Data Sheet, AF3-0221E2 (KAMIQ-07.3-FP), p. 1
- Process: FUJICHROME Velvia 50 Professional [RVP 50] Data Sheet, AF3-0221E2 (KAMIQ-07.3-FP), p. 3
- Diffuse RMS granularity: FUJICHROME Velvia 50 Professional [RVP 50] Data Sheet, AF3-0221E2 (KAMIQ-07.3-FP), p. 7
- Characteristic curves: FUJICHROME Velvia 50 Professional [RVP 50] Data Sheet, AF3-0221E2 (KAMIQ-07.3-FP), p. 8