Attn. 12x20" 5x12" shooters: 12x20" Portra 160NC color film

[R.B. Armstrong]

For those who are 12x20" or 5x12" shooters, there's an effort to pool resources to place a special order w/ Kodak for 12x20" Portra 160NC color neg. film. Kodak's minimum order requires 46 boxes, 10 shts ea. box. At $318/box it's very expensive, but it's ULF...Obviously we need a number of people to fulfill this order. 5x12" shooters can cut the 12x20" sheets to get (4) shts. @ 5x12".

I've committed to purchasing 5 boxes. Anyone interested can go to Google Group "Large Format Photography" to see more about the price and indicate one's interest in being part of the order.

Thanks.

[Scott Davis]

That sounds very tempting. Please do continue to post here about this as well!

[R.B. Armstrong]

The ball is rolling. As of today (05/12/08), we have a request for at least 11 boxes. 35 more boxes to go. Thanks for stepping forward.

[Robert Hall]

How would one process the film?

[Mark Sampson]

processing... at one time, part of my job was operating a 20" wide Kreonite roller-transport C-41 processor. That machine would have taken 12x20 sheets, no problem. There must be a lab somewhere that uses one like it, or something similar. Or it might be possible to make a custom rack for a dip-n-dunk machine. You'd best be on good terms with a lab owner.

[R.B. Armstrong]

Below is a partial quote from the lab in San Francisco (Light Waves) that can process the film. You can look at the entire discussion at the Google Group "Large Format Photography". I've also spoken to my own lab in Hartford, CT, and they expect no problem handling the film processing (dip-and-dunk). I did read some concern some place about possible uneven developing on the large sheet, because, to some degree, the bottom portion of the film is processed longer than the upper portion of the sheet (The bottom of the sheet hits the developer first and comes out last.). However, this would also be the case if one were having a roll of 120 film processed, i.e. the bottom frames on the roll would be more processed than the upper frames. I'm not sure if this is a reality or not; I've never seen it on my c41 rolls or 8x10" sheets. My lab technician said that with their dip-and-dunk processor, the film becomes fully submerged in a matter of a few seconds and comes out quickly too.

The other possibility for processing may be a lab that processes aerial film, whch is typically 9.5 inches wide. I'm not sure if they could handle 12" film.

From Light Waves: "Before we run a customers film we run a control strip to check the process, do a visual inspection of bubble size and intensity and process a mottling test which is a sheet of lightly and evenly exposed film of the type that we'll be running that day (4x5, 5x7, 8x10 or 12x20). The mottling test is then contacted to allow us to see if there is any mottling or uneven development. If the tests all look
good we can move on to actually processing your film. If not we usually have to adjust the nitrogen pressure and the placement of the sparger line and then run another test. While all this is happening, no other film can be run. All of these steps and tests are what account for our extended turn-around and minimum order price."

[Oren Grad]

The other other possibility is to process it yourself in a drum, ideally on a Jobo for the precise temperature control that's desirable for C-41. There's no problem doing 12x20 B&W in a drum, so color ought to be possible as well.

[R.B. Armstrong]

Someone just committed to at least 25 boxes, so we may be close to filling the minimum order, and it may happen quickly. This is all being posted at the Google Group "Large Format Photography."

Thanks.

[R.B. Armstrong]

The good news is that the price has dropped a bit to $300.55 per box. We've got a commitment of 43 boxes so far. We need another 17 boxes to be committed to as Kodak is requiring a minimum order of 60 boxes. So please put your name in at the Google Group if you're interested. 12x20" sheets can be cut down into 7x17 and 5x12 sheets too.

[R.B. Armstrong]

Just learned that the minimum commitment to buy 60 boxes has been fulfilled, and the buyer of the largest number of boxes of film (by far) needs to have the order placed ASAP through Light Waves. So, if you are interested in ordering any boxes, I would contact Dirk at Light Waves dirk at lightwavesimaging dot com.