I ran a roll of colour negative film through the F100 mainly to check if it was leaving tramlines on the film as this camera has sometimes done. It passed the test so I’m loading up the queen of all colour films, Fujichrome Velvia 50 which, know it or not, you saw splashed across magazines throughout the 90s.
I found this precious roll in the fridge (expired 2009) and, since I’ve discovered there’s a place processing slide film in Cape Town, wanted to shoot it on the F100. The F100 came out in 1999 and can use Nikon’s most recent F-mount lenses, including those with image stabilisation for maximum sharpness - especially with a very slow, 50ISO film like this. A lot of young people may only think of film for producing images with character. But Velvia can theoretically out-resolve the highest resolution full-frame digital cameras and produce wild colour.
But it’s hellava tricky to use with only five stops of dynamic range, slow speed (meaning slow shutter speeds and the risk of camera shake) and turns the shadows deep blue - so you want to shoot sunlit subjects or use a warming filter. Hence I want to use my most technically advanced film camera to make the most of it.
But anyone who’s used it knows the feeling of seeing the almost unbelievable vibrancy of 36 frames of Velvia 50 on a light table.