Push eph to 3200

I have a question about EPH 1600. Has anyone here pushed EPH past

1600 or had it cross processed and if so what were the results? i am

looking to use it for a project at school and wondered about using it

pushed past the 2 stop that Kodak recommends for 1600. I have the

tech sheet for it but it lists nothing about going past 1600. Any and

responses are welcome.

Thanks,

Gary

Gary,

EPH has to be push processed two stops just to get it to the EI1600 rating. To take it to EI3200, you need to keep it in the first developer about 18 minutes, which will cook it. Pushing it to EI2500 with a 15 minute first dev time is about the limit to get usable results...

Been there, done that, have the T-shirt...

I thought that push 3 was 13 minutes in the first dev. I used EPH pushed three for a job a few years ago, but it gets very contrasty and so it is not easy to hit the right exposure. It's a fairly contrasty, gritty film anyway - not the sort of film you'd choose unless you wanted that particular look. I generally prefer EPJ pushed three and rated at EI 2000. Kodak doesn't mention that in the tech sheet either.

I suspect that the best thing to do is to shoot a test roll and make your own mind up - you'll either love it or hate it. Is there any reason for using EPH rather than a fast neg film?

Best, Helen

Helen,

The only reason that I am using EPH is that I want a different look for my end of semester project in school. I am taking an artificial light class and my thought was to take various still life shots on slide film and either cross process or push three stops to 3200 and print these on print paper for effect. After reading your comments and Dan's I may just shoot it at 1600 and go from there.

Gary

You might want to first try EPH at/around EI 1600 to get a feel for the image quality. I suggest during your trials to bracket 1/3 stop lower, say EI~1280 with this film and the standard push-2 process (11 minutes).

If you try EI~3200 with push-3, I think you will find severe high contrast, very low d-max, shadows that are either totally blocked up or maybe even fogged (artifact of low d-max), blocked colors (flat looking), poor neutrality, and very grainy. Perhaps these are the special effects you are looking for!

Good luck.