mph

Noting that the Arista product line is made in England and consists

only of items which also appear in the Ilford product line (e.g.

papers with the same surfaces and films that have the same development

times and come in very Ilfordesque boxes if you buy them by the 100

feet), I made identical exposures of a step wedge onto Ilford MG IV RC

Pearl and Arista VC RC Pearl. I could not distinguish them.

 

<p>

 

I have some Arista VC FB Glossy, but have not tested it against Ilford

MG IV FB Glossy yet.

I was visiting JT from the 19th-21st of this month. I was mostly around Keys View, Lost Horse Mountain, Fortynine Palms Oasis, and the major roads. I didn't see a lot of wildflowers. Some of the cacti were in bloom, giving an occasional patch of red. I'm new to the desert game, but my impression is that it wasn't the sort of display that spring in JT is famous for. I suspect they never got enough rain this winter.

I would expect that labs remove the film by popping off the end cap

rather than pulling it out through the slit. That's how I do it in

the darkroom, and since the felt on the slit can pick up scratchy

particles, the fewer times the film passes through it, the better.

While we're on the subject of slides from chromogenic B&W, I recently

received a <a href="http://www.dalelabs.com/">Dale Labs</a> mailer for

free C-41 processing, 4x6 prints, and slides. I understand that the

slides are corrected (or incorrected, as the case may be) for exposure

and color, like prints are. Has anyone used this service for T400CN?

I'm curious about what color casts are likely to occur on the slides.

Actually, Ilford's got the <a

href="http://www.ilford.com/html/us_english/bw.html">data sheets</a>

for most or all of their products on their web site. The D3200 sheet

gives D-76, 8 minutes, 68 F, for EI 800 and 9.5 minutes for EI 1600.

I've never tried D3200 in D-76, but whenever I've tried John Hicks'

advice it's been spot-on, so I'd pay attention to him.

I shoot D100 in Xtol as my primary film, and process it just like you

do. The only difference is I agitate 10 seconds once a minute, but I

can't imagine that making much of a difference. My negatives look and

print pretty much the same as any other negatives; they aren't

unusually dense and don't take anywhere near 40 s at f/4 to print an

8x10; probably 1 to 2 stops less.

 

<p>

 

I don't know what to suggest, exactly, but you may want to follow the

method in Ansel Adams' "The Negative" for testing film speed and

contrast, so that you know whether you should decrease exposure or

development.

<blockquote>I'm not sure exactly what "all risks" coverage covers. It certainly covers you if you drop the camera overboad. If it slowly degrades due to sea spray and eventually you have to get it repaired, I'm not so sure you'd be covered. Check with your insurance company/agent.</blockquote>

 

Well, sounds like that would be the time to go drop the camera overboard, then.

I'm currently using Kodafix rapid fixer for film and paper. The instructions say you should use the stock solution at full strength for film and diluted 1:1 for paper.

 

<p>

 

I tend to produce few prints in a session, which means I discard a lot of dilute fixer that hasn't been used to its capacity.

 

<p>

 

Can I use Kodafix on paper (Ilford MG IV RC) at stock strength, and re-use it, like I do for film? Why do the directions tell you to dilute it for paper?

Ilford's fact sheet on XP2 Super indicates that the negatives are "usually pink or red-brown and slightly darker than other black and white negatives".

 

<p>

 

The negs from the only XP2 Super roll that I've shot are strongly purple-colored. Does this indicate inadequate fixing? If so, should I fix them in a B/W fixer? I don't have any color chemistry, and don't know if color film uses a different fixer.