Data for choosing film for stereo

[Paul Talbot <ptww@xxxxxxxxx>]

I sent this to P3D yesterday, but it appears to be down.
Thought I might as well share it here.

Fuji's "Professional Data Guide '99" has some interesting
info for choosing film for stereo.  Here are the RMS (a
measure of grain), and resolving power for some Fuji slide
films, listed from least to most grain:

Film                    Code     ISO     RMS   Resolving Power*
----                    ----     ---     ---   ---------------
Provia F                RDPIII   100       8      60 ;  140
Velvia                  RVP       50       9      80 ;  160
Provia                  RDPII    100      10      60 ;  140
Astia                   RAP      100      10      55 ;  135
SensiaII                RA       100      10      55 ;  135
Provia 400/SensiaII 400 RHP/RH   400      15      40 ;  125

High/Multi-Speed films:
Provia 1600             RSP      800      22      40 ;  100
                                1600      25      40 ;  100
                                3200      30      32 ;   71
Fujichrome 100/1000 Pro RMS      100      10      55 ;  135
                                 200      11      55 ;  135
                                 400      13      55 ;  135
                                 800      15      55 ;  135
                                1000      16      55 ;  135

* Two measurements of resolving power (lines/mm) are listed:
the first is for Chart Contrast 1.6:1, the second is for
Chart Contrast 1000:1

Some observations I found interesting:

1. The new Provia (RDPIII) has even lower grain than Velvia.
However, the resolving power is unchanged from the current
version of Provia (RDPII), which has somewhat less resolving
power than does Velvia.  (I haven't seen the new Provia for
sale yet.)

2. If you need something faster than ISO 100 for stereo
slides, the recently introduced multi-speed (RMS) is a
much better choice for stereo than traditional high-speed
slide film.

3. I have often heard rumors that Provia and Sensia are the
same film.  The evidence* clearly shows that the current Provia
(RDPII) and Sensia II (RA) are NOT the same film.  (I don't 
know about the previous version of Sensia.  Does anyone know
what its code was?)  The evidence* appear to show that Sensia
II (RA) is an amateur version of Astia (RAP).

* Taking as evidence the resolving power, the film codes,
and the spectral  sensitivity curves, which are also printed
in the guide.

Paul Talbot