brian_quinn2

<p>They stopped making it in sheet film sizes. The rumor of a films demise seems to start this way. One size is cut and then someone says it is all gone.</p>

<p>I started out with a Pentax SLR over 20 years ago. I chose Pentax then because they were top quality and still are today. Over the years I have purchased many Pentax bodies and lenses. I have looked at other systems as new features were introduced to SLR cameras over the years (auto wind, auto focus, digital etc). A always decided to stay with Pentax because I feel that Pentax concentrated on the basics. The things that really mattered and not the bells and whistles that I would never need or use. For instance I bought a ZX-5 just because it had an easy and fast shutter speed DIAL, not some silly combination of buttons to push. Pentax didn’t abandon logic or build quality (weather resistant bodies) when they went digital so I bought a digital SLR from them as well.<br>

I know that if I buy a new Pentax equipment it will not be obsolete in a few years. Pentax bends over backward to insure compatibility with their old equipment (think shake reduction). I really love the fact that as I added new lenses and bodies I could use any items I owned in any combination. I have may Pentax items that are almost 40 years old and they work like new. Pentax equipment can be a lifetime purchase. Minolta, Canon, Olympus, etc owners can’t say that.</p>

<p>I just looked at the Fromex Photo web site. Their prices were quite high. I called to confirm that this was not a typo and was told the price was correct. They consider 110 film to be custom work now and charge that way. Looks Like Blue Moon with get my next roll. Please keep the suggestions coming. I will post results as I try out labs.</p>

<p>Just go my prints back from Rapid Photo Imaging.<br /> Some good and some bad news.<br /> The good news is the prints were 4x5 size and on Fuji Crystal archive paper. They also made a CD with 2200x2790 scans.<br /> The Bad news is the prints and scans were not top quality, it took 4 weeks, it was the most expensive developing I have used for 110 yet and the CD scan looks to be <em>interpolated from a lower resolution.</em> <br /> <em>Here is an image form the CD. Overall OK but not as good as the numbers suggest.<br /> </em></p><div></div>

<p>John, as far a waiting at least an hour after exposure before developing the film. I am not sure why you were told this but will guess. I am a scientist and photographer. This is a guess based on my experience and reading but I may be totally wrong. There is a technique I have used for film and paper called pre-flashing. In short you give the emulsion a brief WEAK non-image forming burst of light. If done properly it will increase the sensitivity (ISO if you will) of the emulsion but have little if any effect on the base fog. This effect is shot lived. The emulsion must be pre-flashed and exposed to image forming light in a short period of time or it will behave like regular film. The theory (explained in easy speak) goes like this. When a photosensitive molecule absorbs a photon of light its electrons are excited. If there was enough energy absorbed a permanent chemical change occurs. If not enough energy was in the photon then the electron is only half way to where it needs to be. If nothing further happens in the near future it will fall back to its low energy state and no permanent change will occur. If however the molecule absorbs another photon there is enough energy for permanent change (latent image) to form. It may be there is a similar effect in developing film just after exposure. Tri-x may behave as 800 speed (I don’t know this it is just and example). If this were so and you developed too soon you would get overexposed film. So that is why you may have been told to wait and hour. Where I get this idea is Polaroid film. It is usually fast 600 to 3200 speed. It is always developed seconds after exposure. Perhaps this high speed comes from rapid development after exposure. This is not a problem if you designed the film for this.</p>

<p>Come on Kodak.<br /> Stop this film name B.S.<br /> We all know what Tri-X is and Plus-X is.<br /> Lets keep it simple with color film too.<br /> You can add a # for each reformulation.<br /> IE GC-6, GC-7, GC-8 etc.........</p>

<p>Still no luck finding my print article but I did find this one online about the stability of B&W paper when it is exposed and developed at once or after a wait of up to 4 hours. See here for results.<br>

http://www.apug.org/forums/forum41/65780-expose-develop-delay-time.html</p>

<p>The % numbers I gave were just made up by me as I don't have the source in front of me and I haven't been able to find it in the last few minutes of looking. Still I said "in general" and it was just meaning to set an example.<br>

The idea is there is a an exponential and rapid decline in the first few days after shooting the film. BUT this decline is SMALL. It can be seen in controlled side by side test but WILL NOT be noticed in general use.<br>

Think about it this way. With roll film it is VERY common to take a week or more to shoot the roll. If there was a big difference we would see a difference in the first negatives vs the last negatives shot.</p>

<p>The latent image on film begins to degrade as soon as the photo is taken. Films differ in how long after they are exposed before the image is in poor shape. In general it goes like this.<br>

For best quality (100%) develop within an hour.<br>

For (99%) develop within 8 hours.<br>

For (97%) develop with a day.<br>

For (96%) develop with a week.<br>

For (95%) develop within a month.<br>

For (90%) develop within 6 months.<br>

etc.<br>

You get the idea. There is not a big change after the first few days as long as the film is stored away from excessive heat and humidity. Normally all of us take a few days to develop our film so you will probally see no problems as long as the car stays cool. You could always mail the exposed sheets every few days for someone to store in their fridge till you get home.<br>

PS I recently developed a roll of Panatomic-X exposed in 1983 with OK results. See my post on Photo Net.</p>

<p>I have done this a lot. The main issue is that the old cameras don't adjust for different lighting. All the exposures are the same in many box cameras. Some do let you change the F stop a bit.<br />I shoot Plus-X. I devleop in Stock Xtol. I do 4 minutes with 30 seconds of inversion at the start then 3 inversions at each 30 second mark. I then pour off the developer during the last 10 seconds of the 4 minutes. I refill the tank with water and do 2 inversions and let it sit for 2 minutes. I then do 2 more inversions and wait 2 minutes more. I then stop and fix as usual.<br />Removing the concentrated developer at 4 minutes prevents over development of the hightlights. There is still developer in the emusion that will work on the shadows during the water step. That is why you keep the inversions to a minimum here so as not to wash out the developer.<br />I get very good results with Plus-X with this technique. I have also tried Fp4+, Acros and Foma 100 but Plus-X is the best.</p>

<p>see<br>

http://www.photo.net/black-and-white-photo-printing-finishing-forum/00URFd</p>

 

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<td align="left" valign="top"> <a href="http://porters.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=090892&Category_Code=C4K&Product_Count=2"><img src="http://porters.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/090892.gif" border="0" alt="" /> </a> </td>

<td colspan="2" align="left" valign="top"> <a href="http://porters.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=090892&Category_Code=C4K&Product_Count=2">Pentax-DA Zoom 16-45mm f4 ED/AL Lens</a> </td>

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<p>When I worked in a lab our policy was to return the negatives if the customer was unhappy. The copyright to the images on them belong to the photographer and he also did purchase the film in the past. Yes they will be getting free developing but it is a one shot deal. If they kept saying they were unhappy and wanted to keep dropping off film we would refuse to take it.<br>

The prints however are on paper that belong to our lab since he has not paid for them. We would destroy them in front of the customer after saying why we were doing this and give them ripped up prints if they had to retain them.<br>

But most of the time there were poor prints it was the customers fault. Working in the lab you see the roll before and after their came out fine so you knew there was no processing fault. Also with any expirence <em></em> <strong><em><em></em> </em> </strong> you can see if a roll was underexposed, underdeveloped, out of focus etc.</p>

<p>Here is Koadak's comparison of the films.<br /> http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/products/films/portra/innovation.jhtml?pq-path=13319/1230/2985/13331<br>

and where Ektar fits in<br>

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/products/films/ektar/qAndA.jhtml?pq-path=13319/1230/13328/13344</p>

<p>Glacial Acetic Acid is >99%. It freezes at 62 degrees F. IE it looks like it is turning to ice. This only happens with very pure acetic acid hence it shows it is at least 99% pure.</p>

<p>There is nothing outstanding about this lens to me in terms of image quality. I feel that you can do just as well with a modern 100-300mm f4.5-5.6 auto focus zoom. But this Takumar is really really a fun lens to use. Also since it it an all manual lens it makes you think about the shot before you click the shutter. It is well built and a Joy to focus and set the F stop. Most good photos are taken by good photographers. The camera and lens used has much less to do with the end result then most people think.<br /> PS I like your shots. The first one I thought was a B&W until I looked at it better. It shows a good shot does not even need color OR proper focus to be a good shot. The second shot is just so-so in my opinion but thanks for posting it.</p>

<p>I own one but have ony used it with my spotmatic. Mine is the preset type of lens. As far as I know all of the 300mmm F6.3 were preset lenses. So yours is probally identical to mine. Mine is also close to mint and I always keep it in the hard case it came in.<br>

What did you want ot know?</p>

<p>B&H has MANY MANY times listed items as discontinued when in fact they are still in production. Until I hear something direct from Pentax I will assume it is still available. After all if B&H really thought it was gone for good you would not even find it listed on their web site. Note how the *istD is no longer listed on B&H.</p>

<p>I placed an order for 50 rolls of Kodachrome on June 22nd. It arrived September 1st 2009. It's emulsion number is 1563 with an expiration date of 11/2010. Since Kodak has said they will stop processing Kodachrome in December 2010 that looks like it will be the last expiration date and batch number.</p>

<p>Just a word of caution. I ordered 20 rolls of E100GX from them a month ago. They billed my credit card $150 but never shipped anything. Unique never sent me a back order notice. Unique never responded the the couple of emails I sent. Unique never returned the phone messages I left. I have open a disputed charge with my credit card company as a result.<br /> In the past I have had VERY good service from Unique so it may just be my bad luck this time. Still I think unless you place a special order for a non-regular stock item you should not be billed until the item ships.</p>

<p>I also tried the non-Aura Efke IR820 with a 072 and #29 red filter. I got no IR effect with the #29 filter but strong IR with the 072.</p>

<p>I have used Kodak Fixer and Developers that were had dates that were 40 YEARS old. They worked just fine. They were powders that were not clumped. I also don't know how to test hypo clear but it should be more stable then developer. So don't worry.<br>

Most companies that put date on their packages pick the time they are good for at random. Have you ever noticed that a bottle of water will have an expiration date of December 18, 2010. Do you really think it is good on the 17th and bad on the 19th? Sometimes they set the date other ways. For example a Vitamin C pill may be labeled as 500mg but made with 525mg actually in it. They test it and find that after 2 years it has only 499mg. Therefore they give their bottle a 2 year date. But what is special about 500mg. For you 400 should work just as well as 500. When it comes to photo chemicals each time you use it you use up some and it is no longer as good as new. If you put several sheet of paper or film through a tray each one will see a little different concentration. So new 2009 fixer may be good for the say 40 sheet per tray but your expired one may only last 38 sheets.</p>

<p>Kodachrome is a great but tricky film. By that I mean there are times when it is just fantastic but if you shot in under different lighting conditions your result will be so-so at best. You need a little time to get to know it. I realize that is time you may not have. Still you shoot shoot only one roll and take note of the kind of lighting filters you use etc. Then send it off and wait the 10 days it takes to get it processed before you shoot another. That way you will see what works and what does not.<br>

This 10 day wait may seem like a PINTA but it is worth it. I have many Kodachrome slides that are just crap and many that are so good they take me right back to the instant they were shot years ago and almost make me cry they are so good.<br>

Some short advice. Shoot within an hour or two of dawn or dusk in the warmer months (in the winter it may be possible to shoot all day due to the angle of the sun), use a Polarizer often, use and 81A or 812 when in the shade, interior photos taken of subjects inside when lighted by morning or afternoon sun can be wonderful. On camera flash is a no-no with this film. Shots at noon in the summer often flop with this film. I know this is standard advice if you have been shooting a while but with a film like Kodachrome it really matters. Kodachrome can give you perfect slides of just images that nobody will be impressed by. Kodachrome is not a snap shot film, it is a film for thinking photographers.</p>

<p>I used to send my prints out for Kodak Perfect touch processing at a local Grocery store. Kodak send out service is now gone and they have repaced it with HP injet prints. <a href="http://www.hp.com/united-states/consumer/retail-photo-services/#/prints/">http://www.hp.com/united-states/consumer/retail-photo-services/#/prints/</a><br>

I only used them once and was not impressed. All of the prints were hyper color. Way over saturated. Everything look like a cartoon with eveyone sunburned too.</p>

 

<p>Ted,<br>

I really don't think the reply you got from Kodak is true. I can find no sellers of Kodak 110 film even online. If Kodak does have those stock numbers in a warehouse I would love to place an order. The problem is all my local shops were I live have shut down. If anyone can place an order I would be glad to spit it with you if the minimum order is too large.</p>