FujifilmSensia 100

Fujifilm Fujichrome Sensia 100 [RA] is an ISO 100 daylight color reversal film for E-6 processing, described by Fujifilm as a well-rounded film for scenery, portraiture and snapshots, with RMS granularity 8 and “natural and faithful color reproduction” [1]. Fujifilm discontinued the Sensia line in 2010 [2].

Look and color

• Natural, faithful color. Fujifilm describes “natural and faithful color reproduction”, helped by an MCCL technology (a red correction layer added to the green one) aimed at skin tones and colors “from subtle pastels to vivid primary colors” [1].
• Slightly warm. A blogger describes a “slightly warm” film for all situations, known for its sharpness [5]. The Fuji X Weekly site calls the film’s rendering “warm and vibrant” in a film simulation recipe context [6].
• Less color pop than other Fujifilm slides. Canon Classics finds “a little less contrast and color pop than other Fuji slides”, which some readers may prefer [3]. The datasheet gives no saturation figure.
• Versions. Community sources say the film went through three generations, each looking “very slightly different” [6]. This page follows the datasheet, which describes the [RA] version.
• Aged film. A roll that expired in 2006 showed “little shift in the colour”, which the author puts down to cold storage [4].

Tonality

• Curve. On the datasheet graph, D-min is about 0.13 and D-max about 3.05 (red) and 3.25 (green and blue). The slope reads about 1.2 in the highlights, 2.1 in the midtones and 1.9 in the shadows, and the three curves nearly coincide [1] (our reading of the graph, about ±0.1).
• Steeper than Provia 100F, on paper. The same reading method gives about 1.75 in the midtones for Provia 100F [7]. This is the reverse of the impression given by Canon Classics [3]: the sources disagree, and the datasheet reading is ours.
• The datasheet’s words. “Smooth and rich tone reproduction” and “gradation with superb linearity” from the highlights to the shadows [1]. It states no latitude figure.
• Long exposures. No correction from 1/4000 s to 1 minute; from 2 minutes, a 5B filter and +1/3 stop (+1/2 at 4 minutes, +2/3 at 8) [1].

Grain and sharpness

• Fujifilm calls RMS 8 “one of the finest levels for a reversal film” [1]. Canon Classics also calls the grain fine [3].
• All are read with a 48 µm aperture at a density of 1.0, but the Velvia sheet measures 1.0 above D-min, while the Sensia and Kodak sheets use a gross density of 1.0: close, not identical, conditions [1] [9] [10].
• The datasheet credits MSSC grain technology, an improvement on the emulsion of Provia 100F [1].

Spectral sensitivity

The blue layer has a broad plateau from about 430 to 470 nm, the green layer peaks near 550 nm and the red layer near 645 nm [1]. Measured from the green peak, the blue–green and green–red crossings sit about 0.87 and 0.74 log lower, against about 0.95 and 0.75 on Provia 100F and 0.9 and 0.75 on Astia 100F [1] [7] [8] (our reading of the three datasheets): the overlap between neighboring layers is close to that of Fujifilm’s other ISO 100 slide films. The Grain Archive style is not computed from these curves.

Names, status and history

• Three generations. Community sources describe three generations of Sensia [6]. Their introduction dates were not confirmed for this page.
• The [RA] version. The bulletin describes Sensia 100 [RA], emulsion number 651, with new couplers and MCCL technology, as an improvement on the grain technology of Provia 100F [1].
• 2010: end of the range. In 2010, Fujifilm’s product manager Gabriel Da Costa said that “all Fujichrome Sensia film” had been discontinued because of increasing production costs and decreasing demand, with stock expected to last until December [2]. Photographers named Provia and Astia as alternatives [2].
• Other speeds. The Sensia range also included ISO 200 and 400 [2].
• Not in production. No current Fujifilm source lists Sensia 100; the film can still be found expired.