Fuji Velvia 100F - Test Results
Milky Way Widefield
This is a 45 minute exposure taken with a Pentax 67 165mm lens at F/2.8. Despite much of the Milky Way being quite low at a latitude of 45°N, it offers a plethora of targets to test a potential astrofilm. The first thing that stands out are the dull colors. I had hoped this was due to the low elevation of this target; however, you will see the same characteristics in the following examples: dull color and very little contrast. A similar image of the same area using a different film, Kodak E200, can be viewed here.

Cygnus Region

Here's an image of the Cygnus area taken with a Pentax 67 165mm lens at F/2.8. It is a composite of two exposures: one 45 minute and one 60 minute. The North American Nebula is in the upper center. Generally, this nebula stands out clearly in this nebula-filled section of the summer Milky Way; unfortunately, Fuji Velvia 100F renders the scene dull and almost lifeless. This particular target was near the zenith during this exposure. A similar image taken the following night with a 300mm lens using Kodak E200 can be found here.

Winter Milky Way

This area was chosen for its blue target: the Andromeda Galaxy. It was a 45 minute exposure taken with a Pentax 67 165mm lens at F/2.8. Again, Fuji Velvia 100F performed exceptionally well at rendering the target dull and lifeless. This particular image reminds me of an image I took last year while trying to capture a few meteors during the 2004 Perseid Meteor Shower; unfortunately, I was using dead film (i.e. film past its expiration date). As an aside, I did manage to capture a Perseid meteor near the Heart and Soul Nebula.

Conclusion: Despite having ideal imaging conditions (i.e. humidity less than 35 percent and above average transparency), the film performed rather poorly as an astrofilm; hence, I can not recommend Fuji Velvia 100F for use in deep-sky astrophotography. Here's a quote from Tony Hallas, "NO COLOR - DON'T USE THIS FILM". It's too bad Fuji Provia 100F suffers from a bad yellow cast because it performs the best out of all the ISO 100 slide films I've tested.

Image(s) may not be used or reproduced without written permission from Thomas W. Earle. Copyright © 2005.