Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/03/11

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Subject: [Leica] Re: OT: Nikon 28 Ti?
From: smcj35 at yahoo.com (Colin J)
Date: Sat Mar 11 15:15:13 2006

Sonny C wrote:
> 
> In a message dated 3/11/2006 9:02:22 A.M. 
> Central Standard Time, 
> philippe.orlent@pandora.be writes:
> I found an  available Natura S on the Bay for
> about 333 USD, but very  
> little info  (unless in Japanese) on the web.
> 
> Check here for the Natura:  
> http://www.unicircuits.com/shop/    be sure to 
> set the price  button to your currency.  Dirk
> runs an excellent webshop.  This 
> is  where I get the Fuji Natura 1600.


I would like to endorse Sonny's recommendations
of Fujicolor Natura ISO 1600 film and Dirk's
"Megaperls Workshop".  First, the service from
Dirk is indeed excellent.  My order was well
packed and shipping to Europe took only 4 days. 
Follow-up was good too.

The Natura ISO 1600 film is outstanding. Grain is
tightly controlled, saturation is natural and the
film is tolerant of a variety of lighting, even
mixed lighting (example: fluorescent and
daylight). Latitude is not wide but it is good
for ISO 1600 film. The film is not tolerant of
underexposure so care needs to be taken with
exposure, or choose to expose at ISO 800 to get
more shadow detail.  

My local Wal-Mart has a photography student who
operates the Fuji Frontier minilab on Wednesday
evenings (6 pm to 10 pm).  She is very
enthusiastic and found a channel on the minilab
for Natura 1600! So I get best results and good
prices too ...

Also, I think on Sonny's recommendation, I tried
Fujichrome Fortia ISO 50 slide film, also from
Dirk at Megaperls.  This is a lovely saturated
film, more like a punchy version of Provia than
Velvia, which Fortia does not resemble at all. 
Fortia is a bit like Ektachrome 100VS but less
grainy and with better colour balance.  

I use Fortia to add some colour to my outdoor
townscapes on grey days - I shoot a lot of retail
and clients like the strong colours but still
with a good perceived fidelity.

A 5-pack of Fortia costs Euro 54.25 or US $64.57
plus shipping.  A 3-pack of Natura 1600 costs
Euro 15.90 or US $18.93 plus shipping.  These are
not cheap films but they are unique.  

Colin


                
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