Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/03/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]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 ___________________________________________________________ Win a BlackBerry device from O2 with Yahoo!. Enter now. http://www.yahoo.co.uk/blackberry