Seaside Camping With Fujifilm Fujichrome Provia 400

Fujichrome Provia 400 is the first in Fujifilm’s series of exceptional high-speed slide films. It was made in the late ‘90s/early ‘00s.

Provia 400 was discontinued sometime before 2005 and is the least documented emulsion of the high-speed series — superseded by the Provia 400F and concluded with the incredible Provia 400X. The X ended production in 2013. In this review: Shooting expired slide film at box speed. Expired film fog. Provia 400 colours. Provia 400 grain. Twenty years past expiration — is it still worth it? Where to buy Provia 400 and how much does it cost? Support this blog & get premium features with GOLD memberships!

Being the first of its kind, Provia 400 did not boast the fine grain of the 400X (RMS 8 — exceptionally small!) nor did it feature the fine colour reproduction and dynamic range of the 400F. But it was very close in quality and looks to those films.

Like the other ISO 400 Provia films, the original 400 could be safely pushed to 1600 (I didn’t try that). It wasn’t the fastest slide film on the market, but it is still much faster than the modern fresh Fujifilm Fujichrome Provia 100F or Kodak Ektachrome E100.

Last month, I happened to find two rolls of Provia 400 in my freezer. Remembering how well its younger siblings worked out, I decided to take them on a long road/ferry trip to one of the scenic British Columbia’s Gulf islands with my partner, Betty, and Noodle-dog.

Shooting expired slide film at box speed.

The effects of time on film are hard to predict. Storage conditions can affect it a big deal. For a high-quality emulsion, a decade past its expiration date shouldn’t be a big problem. But in this case, my film likely passed its prime about twenty years ago, which is a while.

Some photographers recommend over-exposing colour-negative film by a stop for each decade past its expiration. But that doesn’t work for slide film. Whereas negatives can typically handle additional light well, reversal film does not. The fragile highlights of colour positives behave too much like digital sensors: easily friable.

So the only thing to do with an old roll of slide film is to shoot it at box speed (i.e., the ISO marked on the film box) and hope for the best. Which is what I did.

Expired film fog.

Considering how old this film is and the relatively unknown storage conditions (I kept it in the fridge for about two years, but who knows where it was before), I think my rolls of Provia 400 held up well.

It was also very hot the entire time, so the rolls must’ve been exposed to 30-35℃ (85-95℉) for a good chunk of the week.

But there is a noticeable flaw that I saw on the physical rolls after getting them back from the lab that’s not evident in the samples here. The images appeared somewhat dark. My Nikon Super Coolscan 500 scanner, combined with the equalization technique was able to restore the colours to what I think they should be.

However, some red noise in the shadows and base fog made the film unsuitable for projection. Thankfully, this is 2024 — we scan our film and we can fix things digitally with relative ease. What you see here wasn’t altered beyond equalization and occasional cuts to the red channel in the shadows.

Some photos turned out a lot darker than I expected them to be. I didn’t share them here because they sucked and I’m pretty sure the fault is mine. Slide film is notoriously difficult to meter correctly. I made the mistake of trusting my camera’s built-in meter completely. Should’ve used the Sunny 16 rule.

Provia 400 colours.

The photos that did turn out looked very impressive. High contrast, strong blues, dark greens. The colours are realistic and not overly saturated, yet punchy — just as expected from the Provia line of films.

Some frames felt like they were getting slight colour shifts, particularly in the shadows. But that was also easily fixable with the equalization technique I mentioned above. The only downside I can think of is some additional loss of detail in the shadows as a result of the fix.

I also noticed that the Provia 400 colours appear a little closer to what I got from Provia 400X than the F, though that’s just a guess as I haven’t tested them side-by-side.

Provia 400 grain.

I saw an old forum post made around the time Provia 400 was first released. The author complained about the grain. I can see how it can be very noticeable in some cases, particularly in areas that are under-exposed.

With a film that has no more than five stops of dynamic range, it may not be feasible to avoid dark shadows and thus, chunky grain.

I just said that I wouldn’t share bad grainy photos, but the one above is an exception that I’m leaving in to illustrate the potential for graininess and noise in the shadows. Besides, it’s not such a bad photo.

Due to the age of this film, grain in the shadows can be made worse. The red colour noise is a little annoying. Cutting it it completely may work, or it may not as that can sometimes affect other colours. I left it in this photo of a deer to retain some warmth in the image that would otherwise appear a little too blue for my liking.

That said, scenes with less contrast can look as smooth as on any of the Provia 400-series films. I’d say it’s finer than on Kodak Portra 400, a film that claims to have the finest grain in its speed (now contested by CineStill 400D). Here’s a sample that can give you a good idea of how fuzzy this Provia may get (it’s best to view it on a large screen):

Yet Provia 400F and X seem to be even smoother.

Twenty years past expiration — is it still worth it?

Fujichrome Provia 400X films are high in demand. They aren’t exactly cheap, either, with some 35mm rolls going for well over $200!

I think that the X supplies are running low, which is reflected in the price. I reviewed this film in 2020 when it was selling for under $40 per roll. $200 is insane (I’d rather get Aerochrome for this money).

The original Provia 400 is very close to the X with the latter only beating it with the smoother grain rendition. That may be worth money to you (especially if you’re planning to print big), but for a fun trip like mine, that may not be necessary. This film takes a little more work to get the colours right and it may not preserve the shadow detail as well, but it also costs four times less.

Where to buy Provia 400 and how much does it cost?

As of this writing (early August 2014), Fujichrome Provia 400 sells for around $40 per roll in 35mm on eBay. It may get cheaper or it may get pricier with time. There are also more rolls of this film and other ISO 400 slide films available in 120 at more reasonable prices.

My advice: stock up!

❤ By the way: Please consider making your Provia 400 purchase using this link  so that this website may get a small percentage of that sale — at no extra charge for you — thanks!