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christer_almqvist2

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Posts posted by christer_almqvist2

    Safelight

    in Black & White Practice

    Posted

    <p>Red LEDs give much brighter light than old type darkroom lamps and are much safer.</p>

    <p>But why build something, just purchase a red LED lamp with as few LEDs as possible (about a dozen or so) and put it in just any lamp holder. A desk lamp will do fine, even better if it can be turned towards the ceiling to give indirect light.</p>

    <p>You may even want to try a rear light for bicycles, no wiring needed.</p>

    Kodak Pensioners; how do they fare?

    in Casual Photo Conversations

    Posted

    <p>Sorry for the off topic question, but I do not know who could provide an answer except somebody on this list. Perhaps there is even a Kodak pensioner here to fill me in with personal experience. </p>

    <p>I assume Kodak had an employee pension plan. With a workforce now substantially smaller than it was for decades, the current work force obviously cannot support the pensioners. Thus my question: how are Kodak pensions financed? Have they been reduced?</p>

    <p> </p>

    tmax 400 equivalents

    in Black & White Practice

    Posted

    <p>Bruce: several years ago I went though the same exercise as you plan now. Then it looked like Ilford was going to disappear. At that time I used Ilford 35 mm exclusively, mainly Delta 100 but also some Delta 400 and HP5.</p>

    <p>I tried all the brands out there, but it was TMY that made me change to Kodak. When Ilford managed to continue, I had come to appreciate TMY so much that I never regretted switching. And now Ilford prices are double what Kodak charges (at least in parts of Europe).</p>

    <p>To answer your question, and without knowing what size film you shoot, I would say HP5. This is a film with character; nice sharp grain. Depends on what you like.</p>

    <p>Anyway, there is more in a film than one thinks. It takes quite bit of fiddling all the way from developing the film to making enlargement until one arrives at the optimum. But you are starting early, so that will not be a problem for you.</p>

    <p> </p>

    Whats the diff.?

    in Black & White Practice

    Posted

    <p>One is the old one and one is the new one. Production of the old one was ceased at least five years ago.</p>

    <p>I think all Kodak films are now "Kodak Professional something". The old version would thus be the "T-Max 100 professional".</p>

    <p>I have established my own optimal exposure index/development time combination, so I don't need to know what development times in Kodak's tables refer to which film version.</p>

    Push and Pull processing -

    in Black & White Practice

    Posted

    <p>For pushing I would shoot people outdoors on a grey foggy day to show that pushing can put some sparkle into that grey.</p>

    <p>For pulling I would shoot people outdoors on a bright sunny day to show that pulling can put some detail in washed out skin areas.</p>

    <p>With 35 mm film available at a few dollars a cartridge I cannot understand the argument that pulling and pushing is better suited to sheet film. (How much is a sheet these days?). Mostly one shoots a series of pictures that need similar treatment anyway. And if not, use a pair of scissors to cut the film in half - or even thirds.</p>

    about hc110

    in Black & White Practice

    Posted

    <p ><a href="../photodb/user?user_id=502260">Jeff Adler</a> <a href="../member-status-icons"><img title="Frequent poster" src="../v3graphics/member-status-icons/1roll.gif" alt="" /></a>, Dec 01, 2011; 08:50 a.m.</p>

     

    <p>Does it matter which film you develop for 45 minutes at 1: 119? UNQUOTE</p>

     

    <p>Probably not.<br>

    And it doesn't matter if you use Rodinal either. <br>

    With Rodinal, either 1:100 or 1:150 is OK, so 1+119 should be fine.<br>

    Fine, yes. But not better than 1:25 or 1:50............... And, I'm dead serious.</p>

    High Speed Film and Street Photography

    in Black & White Practice

    Posted

    <p>Mah: the exposure time mentioned by you (30+ secs) does not tell us a lot as we don't know what size print it relates to.</p>

    <p>OTH, except for shortening the exposure time, why do you print at 2.8? That can't be the optimum aperture for an enlarger lens.</p>

    <p>The film development time depends on the enlarger type you use. Most "recommended" times are for condenser type enlarges; other types of enlargers need longer film development times. I agree with what Allens say with regard to Ilford's times being too short and his suggestion for amending the times. </p>

    <p>As Allen says, long paper exposure times are most often due to overexposure. And too little contrast is due to too short film development.</p>

    <p>Otherwise I agree with all who have said that TMY (box speed 400) exposed and developed for 1600 is much better than TMZ where the box speed of 3200 is based on push development. The true speed of TMZ is in the region of 800-1000.</p>

    Two-bath fixing - trying to be more rigorous

    in Black & White Practice

    Posted

    <p>Chris,</p>

    <p>I think you overdo it.</p>

    <p>Like BG I have old negatives, mine are from the 50s, and there has been no damage to them although I then reused developers and fix until the limit prescribed by the manufacturer. And I had no running water in my study that doubled as a darkroom.</p>

    <p>Not that long ago I made simple check on the effect of agitation on print development. I exposed a sheet and then cut it into two pieces, developed one with more or less continuous agitation and the other half with agitation for the first ten seconds, and then once half a minute later. At the end of the process I put the two parts together using sticky tape on the back. I could not see any difference between the two parts.</p>

    <p>I too use the Ilford method for washing films. I am careful to avoid unnecessary carry over from one bath to the other and for the last few baths I let the film rest for a minute or so in the wash water to allow time for the diffusion. With Kodak film, the last wash water is then complete free from anti halo color.</p>

    <p>BTW, I am much more careful with film developer, scared as I have been about the rumors of developer sudden death. The first thing I do in the development process is to develop the film leader in full light, and then fix. By the time that is finished, I am set up to do the real development. I have never had a blank leader, but as the extra work and time involved is minimal, I think it is worthwhile to be sure that the developer is OK - before developing the film.</p>

    How to replace ISO100 film with Trix or Tmax when in journey

    in Black & White Practice

    Posted

    <p>Jim wrote: ".....If you've not used TMax100 before (most people rate it at 80), you should also run plenty of testing. I found the best results for this fussy, inherently contrasty film, are from TMax RS developer used on a one-shot basis."</p>

    <p>I would disagree with every word. I expose TMX at 160, develop in Xtol 1+1, never found it fussy or incoherent.</p>

    <p>Well, I agree with one thing: do plenty of testing at least before developing important films. Before exposing is even better.</p>

    Stop Bath Chemical

    in Black & White Practice

    Posted

    <p>You can use white vinegar available from many grocery shops. It usually comes in 8% or 10% strength. I dilute this 1 part vinegar + 9 parts water. That gives more or less a 1% working solution. The generally accepted working strength is 2% and then you can reuse the solution. I do not reuse, and then 1% works fine.</p>

    <p>You can also use citric acid in powder form. This you can find in the cleaning department of many supermarkets. Use one table spoon in one liter of water. Dissolves easily.</p>

    <p>Or use plain water.</p>

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