P3D New Provia

[Paul Talbot <ptww@xxxxxxxxx>]

I spoke with Don Lopp by phone just before I left for vacation.
He told me that he shot some of the new Provia III, and that
it appears to be as fine-grained as Velvia, but not as sharp.
I told him the published specs have it as slightly better
(less) grain than Velvia, but not as sharp, as he noticed.
Don was unconvinced that the grain could actually be less,
but easily agrees it is as good as Velvia.  We discussed
that perhaps the grain difference (RMS of 8 instead of 9)
is below the limit of visual observation.  (That could be
especially true of the 120 film he used and viewed in a MF
viewer, where the magnification is less than 35mm in a realist-
format viewer.)

Don also mentioned the new Provia seems to avoid the tendency
of RDPII to show some pink, and is better than Velvia in
very bright light (not as contrasty).  (My notes are buried
under tons of paperwork; any inaccuraccies in reporting his
comments are due to my faulty memory, but I think I got it
pretty straight!)

The film is apparently readily available in 120 format in
the Seattle area, but I haven't yet seen it in stock anywhere
myself.  Presumably B&H would have it by now, but I haven't
checked.

Anybody else tried this new wonder film yet?  It sounds like
an incredible development for stereophotographers!

Paul Talbot