Ilford Delta 3200 x-rayed

[muenchphoto]

Hey all,

 

just a simple question: I am currently shooting Ilford Delta 3200 B/W Film which

I forgot to take out of my handchecked baggage - and so its x-rayed!

 

Can't develop this kind of film here in La Paz and so I will shoot 3 rolls of

this film (well knowing I can't depent on the pictures) before getting the

surprising result in santiago de chile hehe..

 

what do you expect? totaly ruined pictures?

 

best regards, marcel

[richam]

A similar thing happend to me a few years ago with Kodak 3200. I developed one of the

blank films and sure enough, found banded fogging which would have seriously degraded, if

not ruined, any photos. I'm sure it depends on how hot the xrays were for your luggage, so

you might get lucky.

[Craig_Cooper11664875449]

Ive had Ilford 3200 and other high speed film go through multiple carry on xray machines and nothing; no impact at all. Most likely a very low probability there will be anything wrong with them.

[tim_b]

As Craig above, I've had DELTA 3200 X-rayed as part of carry-on luggage without any side effects.

[richam]

Marcel, did I understand it right? Did the film go through the hand baggage and passenger

inspection station or with your checked baggage? If the former, you should have no

problem. It's the strong x-rays of the checked baggage machnies that did the damage for

me.

[ronald_moravec1]

There is always some effect from X ray however small. Checked may be ruined cmopletely.

 

Shoot at 1000 as that is all the film is anyway. Leave some test pics on the front of one roll which you will develope first ( 6 exposures- 12 inches that you pull out in the dark. )to see what is going on. It developes nicely at 1250 in ID11 or D76. Do not push to higher EI to be most safe.

[muenchphoto]

hey I think it was two times hand baggage checked x-ray..

 

In mexico i got those 3 rolls of films from a new york times photojournalist who said it has been x-rayed at the airport and so she thinks its not longer usable.. I should try it.

 

Later I flew to cuba where a handcheck was denied and I had to get it x-rayed again! (well they said aswell, that the x-ray shouldn't harm the film.. but hey, which cuban authority guy has a clue about professional B/W film, huh?)

 

Well I will let you know as soon as I am in Santiago and be able to devolop the rolls. Goddamn.. of course I got some nice pictures in La Paz this day, which I would love to see without any picture-errors.. well we will see :)

 

still got my digital slr for backup :)

 

best wishes, marcel

[muenchphoto]

I have to say, that it is my first high-speed B/W film aswell and I have no clue about pushing, and so on. I shoot this film currently with ISO 3200 or 1600 settings. Better go back to 1000, huh?

 

thanks for your replies :)

[richam]

Marcel, Check out Fuji Neopan 1600 if you haven't tried it already.

[pete_andrews10]

I was totally under-impressed by Delta 3200 when I tried it. As stated above, the true speed is somewhere around 1000 ISO, and you can get that from uprating almost any 400 ISO film. Delta 3200 is also EXTREMELY grainy, even when rated at EI800, and about as sharp as a butterknife that's been used to whittle an oak log down to a matchstick.

 

So I think a little X-ray exposure is going to be the least of your worries with this film, Marcel.

[al_divenuti]

I'm not much of a Delta 3200 fan, overall, but there are a couple steps you can take to help improve its performance:

 

a) Buy it from an outfit that still sells lots of film. Delta 3200 will deteriorate pretty rapidly after manufacture and here is a case where you really should shop by expiration (further in future is better) date and try to get the "freshest" film stock possible.

 

b) Store it in the fridge before you use it. And use it quickly.

 

c) Most importantly, process this stuff as soon as you can after shooting it. Really. If you've only shot 25 frames of your 36 and aren't sure when you'll use the last 11 - write them off in the interest of prompt processing.

 

d) You'll not in c I said "process" not "get it processed". I tried a few dip and dunk labs for Delta 3200 and they couldn't process it worth a damn. The resultant negatives had huge grain and blown highlights, suggesting overdevelopment. Contrary to instinct, Delta 3200 is actually pretty kind to highlights and I found that at EI 1600 and EI 2000 (all I ever shot it at) you could definitely give it the full development time suggested by Ilford in DD-X. In fact, in retrospect, my negs could have benefited from additional 5-10% development time.

 

The above won't work miracles, but I think they will help. At the end of the day, this is THE fastest pictorial B&W film out there (real EI of about 1000) and you are going to have to accept big grain and diminished sharpness as the trade-off for a film that gives you this speed and a more normal contrast curve with extended processing.

 

TMZ will give you considerably less grain and better sharpness at a slight cost in speed (maybe 1/3 stop) and a contrast curve that is more in keeping with pushed film.

[muenchphoto]

thank you so much for your answers.

 

well yes, its my first high-speed B/W film and I have to rate it after developing. to be honest, after reading your answers, I really dont expect anything good, because I got this rolls of film, well .. in mexico and traveled afterwards through cuba, venezuela, ecuador, peru, and bolvia.. and now I am using it. no good start, huh? :)

 

we will see soon. i am heading to santiago in a few days, and I think I will be able to develop it there.

 

best wishes, marcel

[muenchphoto]

update:

 

okay i do have the results now and there is some fog on every third picture. i hope i am able to get some recoveryresults with photoshop back home but anyway i never counted on good results with this rolls. thanks for your replies again!

 

ciao, marcel