Use of X-ray film: technical discussion with example images

[Fr. Mark]

ZZ medical sells 14x17 Ektascan but you have to buy 500 sheets at a time for about $2/sheet.

Internegative: I thought I would make a positive on the way to an internegative. I got massive over exposure with the shortest times and smallest f stop on my enlarger. YMMV.

The base of the Ektascan is blue as is most XRay film. There is a spectral response curve on the Ektascan data sheet. It is not v red sensitive but super bright LEDs are not 100% red and even so they will fog the film if you make the darkroom too bright.

I'm tempted to buy more but also tempted to make my own emulsions. I guess it is a former chemist who wants to play in the lab thing. The 8x10 fits directly into typical 8x10 film holders. It is notched in one corner but the two sides are obvious under dim red light.

[Fr. Mark]

I imagine that the moderators thought they did us a favor combining the XRay film threads but for a new person reading 4382 posts has to be intimidating. Maybe we need a summary of what we've learned on the main page?

[Peter De Smidt]

People have talked about a summary for awhile.... Just get some and jump in.

[Luis-F-S]

I'm still trying to figure developing times in H -110 to tame the contrast!

[Jim Noel]

I'm still trying to figure developing times in H -110 to tame the contrast!

Try HC 110, 1+100, 6-8 minutes @ 75 degrees, in a tray with light agitation.

[Gene McCluney]

It's amazing how many posts there are to my original post on X-ray film, these many years ago. This is quite a popular topic!

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Gene, nice to know what you started a long time ago has taken on a life of it's own. A lot of information here.

Yesterday we developed four sheets of 14x17 single sided x-ray film. I have a workshop student staying with me. I built Matt's 14x17 camera for him and we never got to test it out before we moved north. So we shot some x-ray film and developed it in 1:1:150 Pyrocat HD for about 12 minutes and have some wonderful negatives. I've also used Rodinal 1:100 for 9 minutes with great success. The Pyrocat tames the contrast very well. Now for me because I print carbon transfer I'm not to concerned about to much contrast. Never a problem as there are many controls. I'll go over all of these with Matt when we expose, develop and print some 8x10 negatives. He should leave with a good understanding of the entire process.
X-ray film is a great teaching tool. It is inexpensive so you can shoot many images, easy to develop because you can see it develop and it prints well when doing carbon transfer.
So again Gene, thanks for turning us on to x-ray film.

[Tin Can]

+10

[andrewch59]

May I third that motion. I started with xray as a cheap alternative to bring an old camera back to life. This thread has been a valuable source of information, cant see myself using any other kind of film now. Thanks Gene

[Peter De Smidt]

If you're getting too much contrast, you might try one or more of the following:
1) Expose more and develop less,
2) Use a softer developer. For example, if you like Pyrocat, try the two bath technique.
3) Use David Kachel's SLIMT technique,
4) Pre-expose the film to zone 0, i.e. 1 stop below zone 1,
5) Strip one side with bleach, if using two sided film,
6) Make a contrast reducing mask,
7) Switch from silver gelatin printing to one of the alternatives that likes negatives with a high density range,
8) Add fill light.