Consistency has not even been a target within branded ranges; Kodachrome 200 does not look like Kodachrome 25, and Fujichrome RF 50 doesn't match Fujichrome RH 400. Alone of all the makers, Agfa has aimed for and claimed a reasonable match within the professional non-process paid range, but only for the 50, 100 and 200 speed slide films. The 1000-speed film couldn't be expect to keep the same quality.
In the current Provia (professional non process paid) and Sensia (retail, process paid) E6 slide films, Fuji uncharacteristically aims for neutrality, and in doing so has narrowed down any differences between emulsions of various speeds. The professional Provia 100, 400 and 1600 films mix far better with Velvia (ISO 50) than the earlier Fujichromes, and all four have maximum densities strong enough to eliminate shadow area color casts with bright projectors.
Tested on the Kodak Gray Card and test patches, above, are Fujichrome Sensia 100, 200 and 400 (from left). There are slight differences but overall color is very well-matched. The warmer balance of 100 and lower saturation of 200 can be seen here.
I tested the process-paid Sensia range, which is aimed at the consumer market but otherwise resembles Provia (just as Kodak's Ektachrome Elite is the 'amateur' equivalent of Panther). Apart from the inclusion of relatively low-cost, high quality mounted processing in the UK by Fuji's new laboratory, this stock differs from Provia in not requiring refrigeration to maintain the correct color balance and speed. Cold storage will keep it at its best, but exposure to summer temperatures for a month or two won't harm it.
Sensia comes in 100, 200 and 400 speed versions. The 200 film is welcome, as it provides exactly the necessary extra stop down or faster shutter speed needed in bright sun with mirror lenses, long teles and macros. If you don't believe me, try ISO 100 film with a 500mm f8 mirror lens, and note the shutter speed. Even the brightest European sunshine will only give you 1/500th. A 200-speed slide film enables that vital shift to 1/1,000th. It also makes a great difference for low-power studio flash and general bounce-flash. Instead of f4 you can use f5.6, and that is more often than not the widest aperture of many modern compact zoom lenses.
The best choice for contrasty subjects is Sensia 100, above. It has warmer color; the yellow dye is rich compared to the faster versions, and even in this JPEG image you should be able to see that the yellow cone has more magenta present than with the faster films. The overall result is very smooth and natural, and well-balanced for strobe lighting.
Sensia 200, above, so frequently gave a more useful exposure setting that I would pick it as my standard film despite slightly inferior latitude. There is some loss of sharpness, increase in grain and lowering of color saturation, but if you were happy with a 100-speed slide film two years ago, you should be perfectly content with this new 200-speed film today.
Sensia 400 I liked less. It has slightly less resonant colors, and the grain is present in 10 x 8 prints. Having said that, it's better than at least two other 400-speed slide films currently sold! The density is extremely good, and the color balance identical to 200, so mixing Sensia 400 with slower Sensia is acceptable even for careful dissolve sequences.
If I have a criticism, it is that all three films tend to achieve 'snap' and saturation at the expense of the three-quarter tones (between shadow detail and mid-tones). In the wrong lighting, shadows can be sooty, and this makes duping and reversal printing less satisfactory. This is a problem with all new generation slide emulsions and appears to be a side-effect of the new grain technology which has so greatly improved other aspects of the films.
All my dozen and more rolls of test film were perfectly processed and correctly mounted. Criticisms of 'spray marks' or damage from past process-paid arrangements will, hopefully, never recur (international note: this is a UK comment - British processing has in the past compared badly with processing in Europe and the USA). The slim slide mounts fit high capacity magazines, but use awful red glue to hold the slide. This can splat on to the image-area if you remove the original for remounting or printing, but you are also likely to tear the slide as the glue is fairly strong.
The new plastic boxes (UK) appear to lock firmly shut, and are mailed in a burstproof plastic bag which needs scissors to open, but every single film returned had the box open inside the bag, so that slides either fell out all over the place or nearly did! No damage was done, but this jack-in-the box design is poor.
The new Fuji Sensia slide films are available now and the 200-speed version will, I think, make winter's lower light-levels less of a barrier to good, sharp, fine-grained work. - DK