BW - BW Slide Film for home processing

<p>So I'm currently in the process of getting set up for home processing and I have a few questions. I've processed my own film before but negative film not slide film. I was not aware until recently that there was BW slide film. So What I'm asking is a two part question...</p>

<p>Part I<br>

What BW slide films are on the market? Do they come in bulk? How much do they run? How does processing differ from regular BW films? </p>

<p>Part II <br>

What chemicals are good to use with TMax? What slide films and chemicals would you recommend for use with my M2?</p>

<p>Thank you for your help.</p>

<p>~Andrew</p>

<p>The terms you want to Google both here on Photo.net and more widely on the internet, are "reversal", plus "film" and "processing" to start off with. A good place to start is at Wikipedia (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversal_film">link</a> ). What you will find will give you other terms and phrases to search for.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>any slide film is picky as to exposure, maybe even more than color slide film<br>

Kodak used to make a Direct Positive B&W slide film and developing kit.<br>

Panatomic -x at, I believe iso 80 could also be used. it is long gone.<br>

there was an agfa film and is it DR5 that offers reversal processing of B&W film.<br>

You can with experimentation reverse process some B&W negative films.<br>

ask or look for someone who has done it. some regular chemicasls and a few non-standard chems will be required. I don't know the difference between movie and still camera film<br>

but many movies are shot on negative film and than PRINTED<br>

the film they use is " kodak fine grain release positive # 5302.<br>

basically it is enlarging paper emulsion on a clear ( white film base.<br>

it develops under a yellow or amber safelight the same way as enlarging paper.<br>

using paper developer.<br>

cou can contact print negatives on this film<br>

If you want a few feet I have an old roll and can spool off some.<br>

either in a metal film can or a 35mm cart.<br>

the cart. have to handled carefully as the film is white and light will "pipe in<br>

the felt light trap. Possibly a slide duplicator could be used.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I enjoyed using Panatomic-X with the Direct Positive kit. The tonality and sharpness and grain were all outstanding. I think the first version of TMX could also be developed in a Direct Positive kit. The DR-5 lab will make b&w slides of a number of different b&w negative films. Somewhere I have the list of formulas used for the Direct Positive kit. I suppose you could mix up everything from scratch and then experiment with different b&w films. Panatomic-X did not have a clear base. You could compensate for this by using brighter bulb in your projector or by turning the lights down when viewing the projected slides. </p>

<p>Actually, Kodak still makes a Direct Positive Kit for making slides at home from Tmax 100. Search for "Kodak TMAX Direct Positive" to find it. <a href="http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/j87/j87.pdf"> Here's the link to the Kodak tech pub. </a></p>

<p>Note: The chemicals are hazardous and liquid, so you might have trouble getting it shipped to you. Calumet is the only place I know of that will ship it to you.</p>

<p>The Agfa film is called Scala 200X. It is technically discontinued, but many places still have it, like B&H. It requires specialst processing to get a reversal image, so you can't process it as a reversal film yourself. The only bw film designed for reversal still in production is Fomapan R100; Foma also makes a kit to develop it. While you did say you wanted to develop yourself, I'd suggest looking through the dr5.com website. They are one of the places that processes Scala 200x, but they will also process most other bw negative films as slide films. They have sample images for most current production bw negative films (like Tri-x, HP5, FP4, etc) processed as slides in proprietary processes, you might find a rendering that you like with a regular film.</p>

<p>Also theer is the FomaPan R100 that is designed for reversal processing and they even sell the kit to process it but I have not seen the kit for about a year now. I just send mine to DR5.</p>

<p>http://www.freestylephoto.biz/411813-Foma-Fomapan-R100-BandW-Reversal-Film-35mm-x-36-exp.?cat_id=402</p>

<p>I have compliled a list of techniques that can be used to generate B&W slides. It's been linked to before on this forum, and is also the first hit when you search Google for "B&W slides" :)</p>

<p><a href="http://www.photosensitive.ca/wp/methods-for-producing-bw-slides">http://www.photosensitive.ca/wp/methods-for-producing-bw-slides</a></p>

<p>If you can find a package of Bessler "Slide-O-Film" on an auction site or in the backroom of a photography store, give it a try. It has been years since it was marketed, but it was designed to be used with normal negatives to produce slides. In practice, a piece of Slide-O-Film was put in a contact print frame with the negative. It was then exposed to the sun for about 30 sec-1 min. The Slide-o-film was then put into boiling water for about a minute. The resulting image wasn't B&W, but was shades of milky white and clear. When mounted and shown thru a projector, the whites blocked the light, so the projected image was, in fact, black & white.</p>

<p>Stephen Now I don't ever remember that but it sounds like some stuff we used to use in the graphics shop I worked in years ago but we used a UV lamp.</p>

<p>Foma makes Fomapan R100. You can find it at Freestyle.</p>

<p>Get a packet of 4x5 ortho sheet film, a dish of very dilute paper developer, a flawless piece of glass, and make contact exposures of your favourite B/W negs, any format up to the size of the sheet film.<br>

However, you will hate the idea (and probably me) until you have learned how to create a dust free environment.<br>

Now, if you are talking 35mm, along the lines of my suggestion, Leitz produced a neat little gadget back in 1931 with the name Eldia. It is effectively a camera with a contact frame in stead of a lens. The camera is loaded with the ortho film, and the negs to be copied are slid through, one frame at a time for exposure. Nothing auto - all manual.<br>

Using ortho film permits work under red safe light. Do a Google/Images search on <strong>Leitz Eldia</strong> . They used to be found everywhere for a couple of bucks each. The collectors have ruined this for us now, and they often go for stupid amounts of money. But you can be lucky.<br>

So you can do without the fancy film emulsions and expensive reversal kits.</p><div></div>

<p>Not quite an answer to your query but it might help a bit...! <br /> I use transparencies exclusively for my b+w work, all processed by dr5. I've used dr5 lots over the years and can wholeheartedly recommend them. Here's a link to all the films they can reverse:<br /> http://www.blackandwhiteslide.com/Filmreview.html<br /> And for info here's a link to a few of my photos, all b+w transparency processed by dr5:<br /> http://www.apug.org/forums/portfolios.php?u=12991<br /> Cheers,<br /> Gavin</p>