Digital Negatives for FB Silver Paper with PGHG / R2400

[michael_hogan]

I have had further success in printing to traditional fibre based enlarging

paper using Pictorico PGHG White Film on my Epson R2400. I was sceptical that

this would work as the FB+ fog of the PGHG is really high. Given the

outstanding perforance of the OHP with pt/pd I tested it anyway, not really

expecting it to work very well.

 

My darkroom setup for this exercise; Besseler 45 dichro head (250watt) / Nikon

50mm f2.8 lens / 8X10" contact frame. I set the head for grade 1.5 paper (Y-15).

 

I had to hit the PGHG paper wide open at f2.8 for ~30sec to reach dmax on

Ilford MG IV FB developed in Agfa NE 10+1 for 3 minutes. Thatﾒs a lot of light!

Forget about POP/DOP (AZO) contact paper with the PGHG film you will never get

the Dmax without a plate burner or HID lamp.

 

Anyway just like OHP for pt/pd I developed my curve and wow - from Trinitron to

real silver FB paper in 5 minutes! With better fidelity than I can achieve with

manual / optical enlargement! I am once more astonished at the image quality

and wonder why more people are not using this method - again I have tried to

find fault with it but I can see no downside (you will need to fork out for a

decent PC, scanner and R2400 etc). The image quality speaks for itself. You

don't need to buy any books or need special instructions - find the dmax for

fb+f and build a curve - simple; it works.

 

I also printed images directly to the PGHG white film and the image produced on

my R2400 is technically as good if not better than anything I have ever seen

from a wet darkroom - including master prints from (among others) Adams, Weston

(s), Bullock, Caponigro, Bravo etc.. Better fidelity that is; high dmax (2.3-

2.4), exquisite tonal range - Supposedly PGHG film is rated to 100+ years. I

also print regularly with graded seagull toned in SE and the tonal range and

damx is slightly better with K3 ink on PGHG. Something still bugs me though -

it's a piece of plastic and there is something I don't like about that. I will

continue to use FB paper and hand coated pt/pd paper; but I will be adding PGHG

white film to my arsenal - put simply it is absolutely stunning!

[robert_brake1]

Thanks for the post. I have a packet of White Film sitting on the shelf waiting for my slow

work season (winter) to play with. I'm printing now quite happily with B&W inksets but some

images just demand silver. Looking forward to it!

[rkbrooks]

B&W Inksets for PCHG? I'd like to hear more about that...

[michael_hogan]

Take a look at the scan below. It's a straight print to Pictorico PGHG White film; Epson R2400 / ABW (warm) / Photo RPM / Glossy Photo Paper setting. Origanal photo shot on Polaroid Type 55pn (4X5) scan via Epson V700.

 

-Mike<div></div>

[henry_tolino]

"Forget about POP/DOP (AZO) contact paper with the PGHG film you will never get the Dmax without a plate burner or HID lamp."

 

Interesting thought. I have an old Fotodyne UV lightsource (essentially, a box of germicidal UV lamps illuminating an 8.5" x 11" slot-load tray). Would it be practical (or even slightly impractical) to contract print a PGHG negative onto Azo using a setup like that?

[larry_s__indiana_]

Could you explain your workflow again, please, for the completely uninitiated? I'd like to

understand this a little better. Thanks

[robert_brake1]

Ryan, any decent B&W pigment inkset should print well on the PGHG White film for making

negatives.

 

Henry, PGHG White film won't pass UV but the OHP Pictorico used to have, a clear

transparency film may or may not be available. My local source says it's not available from

Olympus any more but that doesn't mean there still isn't some around.

[michael_hogan]

Yes, the white film is UV opaque - so it's no good for UV sensitive media. Pictorico clear OHP Transparency film works great for those applications. OHP has a slight grain which is not apparent in most ALT processed like pt, pd, ect; POP DOP contact papers are slow when compared to enlarging papers and the white film would not pass enough light for them, then there would be the issue of slight grain since DOP / POP papers are glossy not matte - though I have not tested them. A plate burner or 1KW+ HID lamp would probably work fine.

 

The white film is higher resolution - I can not detect any artefacts or grit/gain contact printing with the white film to FB silver paper - I can confidently say that prints made by contact printing with Pictorico PGHG white film are slightly better than those made via optical enlarger; truly remarkable! I can do all my manipulations in PS the output as a negative on PGHG and make a straight contact print that is perfect every time - in ~5 minutes - with no wasted enlarging paper and minimal darkroom time! The digital signature is erased from the final print - if Ansel Adams were alive he would be all over this process - it's like the zone system on steroids!

 

Larry: Take a look at these sites to get up to speed:

 

http://www.danburkholder.com/Pages/main_pages/book_info_main_page1.htm

 

http://www.precisiondigitalnegatives.com/

 

http://www.bradhinkel.com/Correction%20Curves%20for%20Digital%20Negatives.htm

 

www.pictorico.com

 

I did not need any books or secret methods - just good PS / darkroom skills and common sense. I spoke at length with Kevin Bostick (from Bostick and Sullivan) and exchanged ideas but that's it. I have found it very straight forward to create stunning pd/pt and silver prints with these two Pictorico products (OHP and PGHG). I don't understand why more people are not using these materials. I get the feeling that there is a lot of bulls#th about the process being difficult; it's not!

 

I would also add that the PGHG white film is the best straight digital media I have ever seen. Even if you don't want to contact print back to silver - the PGHG all by itself is absolutely stunning - there is nothing else that I have seen that comes even close to this stuff - get some and see for yourself. Forget the matte so called "fine art" papers - after you see your work on PGHG you will be trowing it in the trash! I am tossing all my other inkjet papers and standardising on PGHG for my straight digital workflow.

 

-Mike

[leonard_peterson]

It has been my experience that using a vacuum frame I have to put this material face down. Otherwise the contact print does not seem to be as sharp. Anyone else finding this to be true? At first I thought this would make dodging and burning an issue, but as most of this work is down in PS... How are others doing a test exposure for exposure times?

[michael_hogan]

I print ink to emulsion -

 

In PS I go rotate canvas -> filp horizontal. Then I apply my curve and invert.

 

I use a spring back frame as I don't print larger than 11X14" - great results.

 

My stanard time for OHP for pt/pd under a bank of BLB tubes is ~3 minutes.

 

For Silver on PGHG I use a 250w Dichro head. for Seagull G2 I remove the lensboard and expose for 10 sec. For Ilford I use a 50mm Nikkor wide open @2.8 contrast is grade 1.5 (Y=15) - 40 sec for MG IV / 80 sec for Warmtone - I use the same curve for both Ilford papers. I use a much different curve for Seagull G2 - and another for Agfa MCC 111/118 (what little Agfa I have left).