david_goldfarb Posted November 13, 2000 Share Posted November 13, 2000 Anybody out there ever try this as a film for still photography and have any opinions or recommendations? I just won an auction for 4 rather old 35mm x 100' rolls, real cheap (cheap enough for me to bid on a whim--maybe it will be interesting for some retro effects, and I'll certainly have enough to experiment with). I know that Kodak still makes it in 35mm x 400' and 1000' rolls for motion pictures, and Freestyle in L.A. lists developing times for it in various developers, suggesting that they might sell it spooled up for still cameras. <p> Is it the same emulsion as Super-XX, which was a popular thick-emulsion film for large format, especially for Zone System users, at one time? It is rated at ASA 250 for daylight, 200 for tungsten, but given the age, I'll do my own tests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_goldfarb Posted December 5, 2000 Author Share Posted December 5, 2000 Well, if anyone is curious, that film I picked up turned out to be DEAD, DEAD, DEAD. From the serial number I determined that it must have dated from 1972. <p> First experiment: Developed about 2 feet unexposed in D-76, 1:1, 12'. Base fog looked pretty serious--about 1 stop. <p> Second experiment: Bracketed 5 exposures, half-stop increments, of a Kodak gray scale, middle exposure would rate it at 200 (Kodak's rating for tungsten), developed for the recommended time of 10', D-76, 1:1, with 1 oz/quart of Edwal Liquid Orthazite anti-foggant. No base fog this time, that's for sure. No images either. Nothing. Absolutely clear except for the exposed leader which was slightly grey. <p> Third experiment: Cut off about 2 feet of film in roomlight, and put into straight D-76. In about three minutes it became moderately grey, maybe two stops past middle grey, probably would reach a full black by 8 minutes. I would say that rates this film as somewhat slower than fiber-based paper, an E.I. of about 0.5-2.0, maybe. <p> So, for my $15 expenditure, I learned some interesting things. I did some research on movie films and the effects of benzotriazole. I have some nice metal reels if I ever want to try spooling some film from movie-sized reels onto 100' reels for bulk loading. Not a total loss. That doesn't rule out trying some fresh XX at some point in the future, but nothing's coming from this batch. Anyone need about 390 feet of 35mm streamers for the Christmas tree? New Year's? How about some super slow film for photographing nuclear explosions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_goldfarb Posted June 10, 2002 Author Share Posted June 10, 2002 Hey, now that the forum has moved to photo.net, this question shows up in the "My Workspace" area, and I can post an update. THE FILM LIVES IN DEKTOL! I let it sit in my freezer for some months for a while waiting for some new ideas, and it turns out that I can produce really grainy results, but with reasonable contrast and density range in Dektol 1:3, 5 min. at 68 F, agitating 5 sec/min, rated at EI 80. Base fog is a high .5 (it's old stuff), but I still get a respectable DMax of 2.1 above base+fog. I might try a few tricks to reduce the base fog yet. I haven't photographed anything terribly interesting yet with this film, but if I do, I'll post some examples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryuji_suzuki Posted June 10, 2002 Share Posted June 10, 2002 What about trying potassium bromide (a couple grams per liter) in D-76 1+2? Dektol has higher pH that tends to fog and some bromide that restrains development of unexposed silver halide particles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_goldfarb Posted June 10, 2002 Author Share Posted June 10, 2002 Thanks, Ryuji. The film doesn't seem to respond to D-76, for whatever reason (not active enough, I assume). I was planning to try a little Potassium Bromide or Edwal Liquid Orthazite in the Dektol, since I can at least get an image from Dektol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Gammill Posted April 2, 2003 Share Posted April 2, 2003 I know of a source of fresh Eastman 5222 film. Film Emporium sells "short ends" of various Kodak, Ilford, and Fuji motion picture stocks. I bought 200 feet of fresh 5222 for 10 cents per foot. I rate it at E.I. 250 and develop for 7' @ 68 degrees in D-76 with good results. The film is a nice compromise (in terms of grain) between Plus-X and Tri-X. Some numbers for you: The RMS granularity is 14 and resolving power is 100 lp/mm. I like the film and at this price experimentation is cheap. Load into ISO 200 DX cartridges and cut back on development a bit and it's a great film for point and shoot cameras. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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