eric_chamberlain

I was pretty skeptical about the new tri-x times with hc-110 as well. And finally I found some new stuff to run some test development. Here's what I did. I dug out an older packaging of the new emulsion (before they altered it to remove the inconsistancy in the times). One column says the time for a given temp and dilution, and another column gives the relative change in time as compared to the old emulsion. So for dil B at 68, the one column said something like 3 or 4 minutes. The other column said +1/4minute. I used the +1/4minute added to the 7.5 minutes from the dataguide, and my negs came out looking about the same as any of my other old emulsion negs processed to kodak dataguide numbers. Just my particular results. YMMV.

This is a question a little off-topic, but I was recently questioned

how my pictures compare to other photographers' results. I'm no

ansel, not even at the calendar photo level. Just a student with an

old olympus, and an older kodak 620. My question is this, how often

do you all get a picture that really hit the mark on what you wanted

out of the exposure. Where the detail was how you imagined, and the

composition, angle and colors were what you saw when you first hit

the expose button. I average about 2 exposures a month that I'd

really like to have printed and framed, and the others go into my

archive for the possibility of salvaging some of them into a collage

or whatnot.

 

TIA, Eric

I have a question that I hope can be resolved quickly, though I know

better than to start holding my breath. I'm trying to develop the

arista lith film in the arista lith developer, 1:1 ratio of a:b.

Here's the problem, and I can't figure it out, much less guess. I

expose the film for 4 seconds under a contact print light source, and

put it in the developer. Within 3 seconds the emulsion lightens in

color so dramatically, I originally thought I was looking at the

bottom of the tray, but its opaque still, then after some time, I

move it to the stop bath because the latent image doesn't appear

within 30 secs. And at that moment in the stop bath the latent image

appears, as if I stuck it into an actual developer. However the

background field that should come out opaque (the artwork is line art

on a transparency), isn't and actually starts to become transparent.

can somebody help? Thanks, Eric

For measuring out that amount of chemical you could measure out 2g and add to, say 50mL of water. Then dilute 1+9 and use 50mL, keeping track of the amount of water that you are adding into the end solution. This might only be practical if you you have something to with the other 450 of phenidone solution, which I've heard doesn't keep well in aqueous state.

I too can't speak for 4x5. For 35mm, I just bought a bulk roll of tri-x from adorama a couple weeks ago and it came old emulsion. Ebay usually has sellers of tri-x as well. Theres also a camera store in cape girardeau, MO (Nowell's camera) that has a big pile of old tri-x, maybe 20 rolls. He may have some 4x5 as well, and if he does, you can bet it'll be old. I only know of one place on my short list of film suppliers that sells the new emulsion.

Nah, mr blatant plug got it right. Say you had a film that has a horizontal sensitivity curve, and you stick a red filter in front of it. The only light that passes through is the red component of your subject. So the blues and greens are diminished, and the reds are left intact. Looking overall at the system, you would say that it gave more exposure to red light, even though it was really that the light only contained red. So you'd call the film red sensitive.

 

Scott, As for the contrast of the pics, you really need to read the kodak datasheet for techpan, cause you'd find out that you can develop to different contrasts by using different developers. For instance, TP in dektol would give you lith contrast, while in technidol you'd get more greys. Technidol is the only developer they list as giving the lowest contrast, ie xtol is higher up on the contrast scale.

While I'm still getting around to testing new v old in my soup, I've found that alot of places still sell the old stock. A local shop has a couple dozen single rolls, and I just bought bulk from adorama and it is old stock. And thats all 35mm. I've heard that you'd be very lucky to find a roll of 120 with new emulsion this early in the game. I ought to buy out the local stock here, just to have a supply on hand.

Don't want to ask us silver guys color questions? When you prick us, do we not also bleed in color? =)

 

About the number of push, me too, don't let him touch it, its a one, 320 is a 1.5. But to answer your question, many films have the lattitude to handle 1 stop underexposure (your situation) without an adjustment, and not a large amount of difference. So here's the familiar tag line. If its important, shoot another roll in a similar way and have it developed normal. If it still looks good, then do it with the roll you're questioning. I've never worked with provia, to say if it has the exposure lattitude, but I'm guessing it has at least 1 stop of play.

You mean sharper than tech pan, right? Not sharper than tmax.

My method has already been posted by Reina, but I'll offer these two points. First, some people, the crafty ones, make a PVC drying tunnel with air filters, circulation fans, and air heaters. In this manner the film is left on the spiral. Maybe I'll do this someday. Second, I've heard some people like to hang their film at an angle, so the direction that the drying water drops move is shortened to the width of the film. Another good idea. BTW, hypo clear agent is also useful to cut washing times to the minimum. Some don't believe in it, and some do. Good luck

Thanks Bill. Now that you mention the red sensitivity, I was wondering earlier while reading about the effect of blue filtration, or green filtration during exposures. Do you have any experience with those colors?

I ordered up a couple rolls of TP from freestyle (35mm), along with

the technidol developer. I want to give it a go, from what I learned

about the film on my last post. I plan to vary the kind of shots I'm

taking, ie macro, landscape, portrait, still life... and I wanted to

get a well rounded survey of the film and what its capable of. I

plan to shoot at 25 and develop 68F for 7 minutes (Kodak literature

says this will give a 0.58 gamma). Are there any hints from users on

the best ways I can put this film to use, in exposing and developing

technique? Thanks

I've nothing really to contribute. Ed's long history with chemicals would make his answer superior. I, like Ed, am pleased by this print. What was the manipulation that gave the dappling?

The press kit is just that, it was designed for press photogs to do development in hotels, closets whatnot. Its a 1 liter powder kit from tetenal. It comes with developer, blix, and stabilizer.

If the spots are solid particles then you should go the wipe down route. Just wet your fingers and glide over the spots, you won't damage it. If they are higher densities in the emulsion then its a developer/exposure problem.

Scott, there's an easy way to curb that salad craving when you're in the darkroom, stay near the fixer for a little longer and say goodbye to vinegar nose. =)

Now that its mentioned, I do recall my reading on the press kit, and others. You must reuse within the same day to make the processing cost effective, but they won't last too long after a couple days.

What would be the effect of underfixing a print and allowing it to sit in daylight for a length of time before finishing the fixing?

I'm not sure about reusing the blix. I would guess to not reuse it, since consistency is already a problem with c-41. I know with reversal processes that use bleach, it shouldn't be reused, so I'm likely to extend it to c-41 as well. I've also heard that when a company combines the bleach and fixer into the blix bath they do so to save money, not shelflife.

What is your development process? And chemicals? Is it recurring?

You're prices look reasonable. It looks like you're getting a good deal on 2nd hand stuff. If you want cheaper.... use a darkened room instead of a changing bag (you're right not to trust a used one) and get yourself the bulk film at the start. My trix bulk roll will pan out to about 50% savings than factory rolled. I also avoided the cost of loaders by rolling by hand (just be very delicate). I agree, it does seem steep up front. My fiancee said that too, 'cause I kept telling her that I wasn't spending *THAT* much money. Grin.

 

But hey, once you've recooped from this first equipment expense you're set for the next one (which happens to be much bigger).

Oh yeah, is there a minimum amount of developer per roll?

Wow Travis, great response. Not only did you solve Andrew's dilemma for a good push, but you solved my question too. I'm at a point where I want to experiment with pushing TX with HC110, and thats a convincing picture. I assume you used the old emulsion, but is your dilution derived from stock or concentrate?

Grain isn't an issue, I'll be contact printing from these negs. I'm still not made up, but I'll probably buy a cheap roll locally and see how it develops out. And keep the TP in mind if that roll doesn't pan out.

As for a changing bag, I'm told to buy the biggest one you can afford. Space runs out quickly. I use a small closet however. I go in at night and do my loading and stuff. You'll also want some clips to hang your negatives to dry. Al Kaplan made himself a spool dryer, and while I envy him, you don't need to go that far. Photoflo is good to have, and hypo clear is too, IMO. As for reusing chemicals, stop and fixer can be reused no problem, just keep track of how many rolls per liter or half liter (whatever size your tank holds) that you use, and toss when you've hit the capacity. I don't know about D76, but I do one shot with my HC110, I do 4 rolls and dump, same with hypo clear. Graduates really are nice. You can simplify dilutions and its only $5. I'm kinda in the same boat as you, don't really want to do the printing in-house yet, so I just stick to contact prints after the negs are processed. Some kodabrome paper and dektol is all you need to add to your supplies, plus a sheet of glass. I develop this in a used $20 jobo drum that i rotate in daylight. Oh also, I like metal reels for film, but I'm not in the hewes camp. I got by with the kalt reels from adorama ($10 cheaper per reel).

Good luck