In article
>When George Lepp tested Provia 100 in his Natural Image newsletter, he
>claimed it was the sharpest film he had ever tested. He gave it a 10
>on his sharpness scale, when Velvia and Kodachrome 25 both only get
>a 9. Since then, he, and Fuji, have said that Sensia 100 is identical
>to Provia 100, except for the usual pro vs. amateur film differences
(.....)
>Has anyone tested Sensia 100 against Provia 100 (and indeed, against
>Velvia and/or K25)? If so what did you find? Is Provia as sharp as
>Lepp suggested? Is there a significant difference in sharpness between
>Provia 100 and Sensia 100?
I have not used Provia 100, and had assumed they were nearly
identical except in price (though people claim that Elite and
Lumiere are also not identical). Sensia 100 and Elite 100 seem
to me to be almost identical in contrast, speed, grain, sharpness,
and color (except for a little more yellow bias in the Elite).
Neither seems to be quite equal in sharpness and grain to either
Velvia or Kodachrome 25, and the contrast, speed, and color characteristics are quite different from those of the slower
films. Fuji 50 may not be as good as any of the above in sharpness
and grain characteristics, but it can produce the bright, luminous
blue skies I like; and it has normal contrast, good skin-tone,
good neutrals - just plain nice color except for a tendency to
produce blue shadows in the local glens and gorges (for which the
old Fuji 100 was excellent as long as no skin-tones were involved).
BTW, Kodachrome 200 is a favorite of mine for evening pictures,
or for photographing during those icky, soupy, humid summer days
when nothing looks good (but it looks so rich on K200!).
Alas, there is no perfect all-around transparency film.
Hope this helps.