Kodak so2238: Journal of a Mad Film Tester

Hello everyone. Now with one roll thru the camera & 4 left in the frig, I hope to see if this film (Kodak so2238) can be added to the ever diminishing list of films for us "Freaks".

Background: Last month started horridly with me dropping, and destroying, my Zorki-4 / I-61 camera. Starting with the "simple" idea of replacing that set, a Major G.A.S. attack ended up with a sexy red Zorki-4, I-61, Jupiter-11 (135 tele) & a Jupiter-12 (35mm wide angle) arriving the same day as 5 rolls of the so2238 film Bad decision on my part to test all on the same day!, but that's karma.

A 36x roll of the 38 film was loaded & off I went on a bright, but cloudless day, to my Tulalip Marina with a test of EVERYTHING (as mentioned, not the best thinking for "testing" purposes) on my mind. Not totally clueless, a tripod was brought along.

That evening, the film was processed as per the data on the pictures. The bright yellow film mask is still a wonder. I can scrape off the yellow coating on the emulsion side, but when a snippet of undeveloped film is clear in my hypo, this mask does not show.

Speaking of hypo. This film is on an Ektar base and you must test your hypo clearing time. Double that time & NO MORE for fixing the film. I used my DIY, alkaline, sodium thiosulfate fixer.

Developed Film: First noticed & confirmed in scanning, was the high contrast of the negs even with the semi stand development. Also was sharpness of the negs. Yesterday a roll of UFX400 & a Jupiter-8 on the Zorki was exposed/developed, so the "slow" speeds of 1/30 used for the initial test might be the problem. My shutter release cable does not work on the Zorki & the 10sec self time was used. It "sounds" like a tractor, so perhaps the "normal" vibration damping of the self timer is not there?. . .My Yashicat Mats have spoiled me!

Anyway, here is the most promising picture of that first roll. Later rolls will be in my Obsidian Aqua soup, so I expect some vast improvements. Bill (camera porn will be soon)

I might mention that in that GAS package was a KMZ Universal Turret view for range finder cameras. . Greatest treat for me!! Now I can really know what will be exposed, since the parallax introduced by a RF is not what you "really" get on film. Bill

Hello Bill

That looks great

Hello everyone. Don I used the 60m SS developing to get a sense of what the film potential is. This roll has shown me that there is enough silver in the emulsion to "tweek" the shadow/highlight values into what I have expected of my films. Remember, I am an old time Zone System Dead Head.!! Somewhere on the Net this film has acquired the moniker "Poor mans TechPan". It is no where near the virtues that Tech Pan had, but with a little work I hope to see if it can be used at 25asa in our 35mm cameras. . . I am no fan of Pan F or Rollei Pan 25 films. Bill

Great results. Thanks for posting.

:)

Hang tight lads. . . I am minutes away from putting the 2nd roll into my Obsidian Aqua & will blurb pre-lim results before going to bed. . . a few scans perhaps tomorrow evening. Bill

Sorry about the long delay. . .life got in my way! So here is the latest. Rolls 2 & 3 are thru the camera(s) & I finally got these two scanned tonight. The one fact screaming out of this exercise is USE THE *%^$*** tripod ! Even the monopod was not enough to eliminate my shaky hands.

PyrocatHD & Obsidian Aqua were used on the two rolls. Both developers are pointing at a "true" ASA speed of 12. The Pyrocat seems a bit less contrasty than the OA roll, but I think either will work for my Zone System desires.

The yellow stock overcast is some type of coating on the emulsion side & so far none of my chemistries seems to eliminate it. A healthy blue-green dye came out with the developer & I was hoping the yellow was with it. . . no cigar. If a film snippet is hypoed & dried, the coating can be scratched off, revealing the clear Estar base. Scanning thru this yellow does not seem to alter the results, but I think major trouble would occur if a wet print were needed. For almost all my wet lab years, variable contrast b/w papers were used & it gave me fits when I needed to replace fliters now & then.

Here is a combined print of each negative/developer used. I noticed some "spots" on the Pyrocat, almost like those Don Harpold blurbed about, so another "wrench" in the soup?? Bill