Any suggestions for ultrafine grain slow films? I ask with 35mm film in mind. I am keen to try Adox CHS 25 for grain and speed (I have seen some superb examples on Flickr), but I have read it is orthochromatic - and I have never used ortho films of any type. Is it worth learning to use this kind of film, or would I be better off sticking to Pan F or Acros? Any other suggestions?
If you fancy trying it I would go for it. The tonal effects of orthochromatic film may or may not be noticeable depending on subject-basically anything red will appear very dark on the print. If you want to experiment without buying the film exposing panchro film through a deep blue or cyan filter will have a similar effect tonally.
The other thing to watch is processing temperatures-these are films straight from the fifties and as such will be prone to reticulation ("shrinkle grain" on adox's web site!) so ALL processing solutions and washes need to be at the same temperature to prevent this.
I agree, go and try some. I think you should also bear in mind that in general, exposure for slow films needs to be more critical than faster emulsions. I've never used orthochromatic in a camera before (I think) but I would have thought there might be some trial and error in getting the exposure right despite its nominal 25 asa rating. Bracketing would be a good option here. Pan F also requires a degree of care, although it was my film of choice some years ago producing beautifully graded negs in Perceptol 1:3. Anyway, let us know how things go. Regards, T.
Can't be a***d with a signature.
It's not a problem in daylight, though you will need extra exposure in tungsten lighting because of the film's lack of red sensitivity. You will also need much more exposure if using an orange filter, and a deep red filter (Wratten 29) will likely result in a blank negative however much light you let in.I've never used orthochromatic in a camera before (I think) but I would have thought there might be some trial and error in getting the exposure right despite its nominal 25 asa rating.
The tonal effects are not particularly extreme with orthochromatic film, you are only likely to notice when your frame includes something like a union jack when the blue will come out lighter and the red darker than you would normally expect. Note that Victorian & Edwardian monochrome photos were usually made with film that didn't have the "extended" (to yellow) sensitivity of orthochromatic films, and the tonal effects are usually very acceptable.
If you're not living on the edge, you're wasting space
I think I've used the film in question - what I've used was 10 rolls of a Maco-branded ISO 25 ortho film, anyway, and I suspect it might be the same film. Beejaybee is spot on - any exposure variation due to the colour temperature fluctuations of daylight are small, and well within the latitude of the film. I rather liked it, but sadly, the end of my experiments more or less coincided with my original purchase of a DSLR, so I've not got round to repeating it.
Thanks for the input guys. I think my major concern is less with exposure and more with development - I don't have a good means of ensuring exact temperatures (I mix dev, stop and fix and sit in a water bath to get to 21 degrees, start the dev and treat all as 20 degrees, allowing for a small drop). Probably I am developing at 18 or so, but I don't yet have the experience to tell what difference such changes make.
As for developers - I assume that the makers' recommendations are not just attempts to upsell their own products, and a dedicated developer would give best results. Would that be right?
The problem will most likely occur with sudden changes of temperature-a gradual decline like you describe shouldn't affect it. Reticulation tends to appear when people dev at 20 degrees,fix at whatever temp the fixer ended up at when made and stick straight under the cold tap to wash.
I would think to get the best results you will need a fine grain developer, as per pan F, whether you need the Adox own brand would be a matter for experiment.
The most notable example (to me, anyway) are photographs of WW1 aircraft, where the red of the British roundel is reproduced in a near black tone, while the blue comes out a very pale grey-which has foxed plastic kit manufacturers for years! The two colours were very similar to those used for the Union Flag.
The tonal effects are not particularly extreme with orthochromatic film, you are only likely to notice when your frame includes something like a union jack when the blue will come out lighter and the red darker than you would normally expect.
I was going to suggest Panatomic X but remembered it's 2009. Reminded me of the time I went into the local camera shop to stock up for a holiday and my wife said "Do you need any flash bulbs". The (young) assistant's face was a picture. Still, she could have asked for magnesium powder.
Many years ago, I used the 120 version of this film.
http://www.kodak.com/global/en/profe.../p255/p255.pdf
and had an image printed to 40"x40", the grain size is virtually unnoticable too at that size.
MInd you, it does/did need its own developer.
Unfortunately though as the pdf article says, it is now discontinued which is a great shame
Having looked at reviews and the general perception that these films are very high resolution, I'm now wondering whether any of my lenses are decent enough to make the extra hassle worthwhile. I might have to wait until I can afford that ZK mount Distagon T* 3.5/18...Anyone want to talk me out of that viewpoint?
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote