Harman Direct Positive Paper

Anyone working with Harman Direct Positive Paper? How does it compare to the Efke product? Developing minds want to know.

...and how will you use it?

Inquiring minds (and otherwise nosy people) want to know.

I'm very curious as well! It'd be cool to print some positive slides onto it if the contrast were high enough... From the sounds of it though, it may be too slow a paper, optimized for pinhole only.

I've bought some but have yet to find time to play with it. . .

I have played with it a bit, but i grew tired quickly.

A LOT of contrast, but I have read that it is possible to reduce this by preflashing the paper.

Very slow, I think around ISO4-6.

The smallest version is not really 4x5, so a pair of scissors is neccesary in order to squeze it into a film holder.

Anyway, could be a cool paper for dramatic scenes etc.. or perhaps portraits if you can get enough light.

I think i developed the paper for 2 mins on Kodak Polymax.

If you need to decrease the contrast use a softer working developer and/or flash the paper.

I've used quite a bit of Harman Direct Positive Paper RC Lustre, 8x10 size, in my Tachihara 810HD field view camera.

Contrast is very high but preflashing controls it a bit. I give sheets 1 second at f16 preflash under my 4x5 enlarger set fairly high. In the darkroom this looks like an awful lot of light but it is essential for contrast control. The amount of preflash is finely critical and you have to calibrate your own system. I did it by trying different amounts of preflash, shooting consistent studio lit subject matter, developing, looking, and adjusting for the next exposure. It took me ten sheets to zero in on the exact preflash.

My impression is that the preflash amount changes the effective speed of HDPP so more calibration is needed. Even after preflashing exposure latitude is maybe half a stop. My darkroom is near my studio so I shoot and develop sheet after sheet to get an exact result.

Tonal rendition looks rather orthochromatic so portrait skin tones come out rather coarse (for girls) or dramatic (for guys) unless the lighting is very very flat.

I suspect that HDPP exhibits anomalous reciprocity failure with the stuff getting faster with extended exposure times. I'm fed up with testing so I keep my studio exposure times at 1 second and the reciprocity factor, whatever it is, stays the same.

By the way, pictures come out with a mirror image flip. Portrait subjects like this because it matches the face they see in the bathroom mirror!