rewind processing of bulk RA4 color-neg paper?

[tor_kviljo1]

Anyone out there able to help me with a weird question?

Using 70mm film for aerial photography, I have used low-res scanning

(i.e. fast) & outprinting on epson 2100 to produce small proofs of

the jobs. selected frames then scanned to high resolution when/as

required. There is no production facility for inexpensive RA-4 prints

from 70mm neg.s so that is not an option (checked it befor I went the

digi-print route). However, there is demand for a larger proof print

(8"x8" or so) and both scanning-times & printing times/cost using the

digi-set up makes this approach less appealing for producing proofs.

Thus, I wonder if I should make a setup with my 4"x5" color enlarger,

printing frames in succession on 8"/250' roll paper & developing in

ordinary RA-4 minilab chemistry (which I anyhow uses for the Noritsu

35mm minilab). Roll paper is the option as pictures are square

(6x6cm) and the volume being produced ie easier to handle on a roll

than as 175 single sheets (number of exposures each roll)....

However, I don't have a roll-transport RA4 machine (and I don't know

if these accept unlimited long rolls of paper - as there might minute

differences in roll-diametres & thus transport speeds between racks -

producing transport trouble), but I do have a Zeiss Aerial-film

rewind-developing machine capable of handeling format up to 10' wide

& at least 200 feet. This is intended for film processing, but do

anyone know if these units also can handle paper-processing (or why

not!). Kodak have lots of info on dev. times & adjustments for rewind

processing of the aerial films, but I do not know anything about

number of passes necessary for RA 4 processing. As a developing unit

for long rolls of paper the unit would be close to perfect - small &

easy to put away, rapid chemistry change, low chemistry usage &

corrosion proof (everything of SS). Any help on dev. of uncut RA4

roll-paper appreciated!

[discpad]

<i>Why reinvent the wheel? </i>Pick up a used Noritsu (or other) minilab optical photo printer & processor for a couple thousand bucks. You sit down, put the first frame of your strip of negs on the carrier, and push a button. Slide the film to the next frame expose again. In a few minutes the finished prints start popping out the other end. <br><br>

 

Or, you can pick up a small-ish 16 to 20 inch used roller transport processor for about a grand. <br><br>

 

Alternately, you can simply roll up the exposed paper, and take it to a friendly photo lab with a processor and have him run it through. [by the way, when I print my own negs in my darkroom, I do exactly this.]

<br><br>

These days, with wet chemistry labs dropping like flies, you can get commercial gear for pennies on the dollar. Take a look at <a href = "http://www.rkequipment.com/Start.htm" target = "_blank">RK Equipment</a>, which brokers used photo lab equipment all over North America.

<br><br>

Cheers!<br>

Dan Schwartz<br>

Cherry Hill, NJ<br><hr> <br>

[tor_kviljo1]

Thanks for info, Dan.

 

My trouble following Your route is to find a printer able to take the uncommon 70mm long-roll variety of color-neg films. At best, they are able to do 120 rolls. However, doing the printing myself and bringing the roll to lab. for developing is a nice thought. I belived it would be difficult as I expected that the printer & processor worked together so that developing a pre-exposed roll and running it uncut through the processor would be difficult to accomplish. Seems You have worked it out, so I will look if that is possible to arrange also here in Norway. You are of course absolutely right about processor-prices (is how I got my Noritsu for 135mm), but I do not have space for another roller transport machine (got rid of an old Kreonite 16 a few years back and saved a lot of space) and are unsure about perfectness of transport when running continous roll through it but - however, You have obviously tested & OK'ed that.

 

Thanks for info!

 

Tor Kviljo

[m_kevin_johnson]

On several 4x5 enlargers you can get or make a roll feed unit. We will be adding one to our Durst 1200. We already have one on our 10x10 Durst so that covers the immediate need. Just a though but you can do a project like that in roll contact form. If you normally work with the 9.5 inch aerial film as well you could use a Kodak Colorado or Niagra to make a roll set of contacts. If you were in Daytona I would say drop by, we have a 55 inch RT machine for RA4. I would not recomend hand line of that length of color paper. I do not think it would be consistant enough for you. If you can not find a local place (around the corner) that can do it I would not suggest shipping it out to a place to be run a day later either. You will find that processors very a little day to day and it could be enough to take something that looked good to be well...... In short if you printed one day, they processed the next, you saw the results the next and printed, they processed the next there is a lot of days there.

 

We have an old Krionite machine that is about the size of a copier. It runs on 110 volt and something like that would work for what you are doing perfectly.

 

Kevin

www.AerialPhotoLab.com

[discpad]

<p><i>My trouble following Your route is to find a printer able to take the uncommon 70mm long-roll variety of color-neg films. At best, they are able to do 120 rolls. However, doing the printing myself and bringing the roll to lab. for developing is a nice thought. I belived it would be difficult as I expected that the printer & processor worked together so that developing a pre-exposed roll and running it uncut through the processor would be difficult to accomplish. </i> </p><p> Tor,

</p><p> I'm a bit confused: What is the frame size? On a Noritsu, you simply slide the film across the platen, and it hangs over either side of the small work platform. You line up the frame, then hit the button to expose. Then, simply hit the button again: You can do a 400 foot roll this way...</p><p><i>On the other hand,</i> if you need one long print (like a 10 inch by 72 inch print from a Cirkut 10), then that's a whole different ballgame. </p><p>

As for RA-4 roller transport processors handling long rolls, I do it every day with 30 inch wide rolls up to 50 feet long every day, with the outpup from a Durst Epsilon photo printer.

</p><p> Cheers!<br>

Dan</p>