Availability of lith film??

[Bob Farr]

Freestyle no longer has lith film. Are there other sources??

Thanks,
Bob

[BetterSense]

I noticed the same thing. I wanted to buy some 8x10 and was disappointed to find the Arista stuff is gone. I was pointed to ultrafineonline but the price is so high, I could literally buy 8x10 pictorial film cheaper.

[Bob Farr]

The staff at Freestyle referred me to Efke Print Film, also very expensive. Though it can be used with a safelight.

Thanks, I'll look at Ultrafine.

[Bob Farr]

Hi,

Just talked to a salesperson at Photo Warehouse and they do have ortho film. They may also be able to cut it to specific size as required.

Bob

[Jay DeFehr]

http://www.ultrafineonline.com/ulorlifi8x10.html

It doesn't look expensive to me.

[rdenney]

The question has come up recently: Are any of these films being mentioned like the old Kodalith? It's been a long time since I used Kodalith (like 30 years), but it would produce opaque blacks better than any ortho copy film I tried as an alternative. I realize nobody would use it commercially for its intended purpose (with all that stuff being now done by computer), but I'm curious just the same.

Rick "who did a lot of graphic-arts project with Kodalith back in the day" Denney

[Drew Wiley]

The late version of Arista was similar to Kodalith but even better, primarily because it
had a slight texture to facilitate vacuum draw and eliminate Newton rings. I'll have to
check to see how much of the Arista I have left, and after that it's into my expensive
stack of 8X10 TechPan. I use these films for highlight masking.

[Jay DeFehr]

I don't know, Rick, I've never used Kodalith. I use lith film for pictorial use, in-camera, but I plan to test it for making enlarged negatives, too. I use my own low contrast developer with these kinds of films, and can tune the developer to produce the contrast I need for my printing process. I've not had any problems getting enough density for any process I use.

[rdenney]

The late version of Arista was similar to Kodalith but even better, primarily because it
had a slight texture to facilitate vacuum draw and eliminate Newton rings. I'll have to
check to see how much of the Arista I have left, and after that it's into my expensive
stack of 8X10 TechPan. I use these films for highlight masking.

I used them for graphic arts, and went to it after giving up on Kodak High-Contrast Copy film back in the day. But HCC film was still continuous tone, while Kodalith was line film, intended for a curve that was near vertical with extremely short toe and shoulder when used with its developer. Seems a bit extreme for masking, but I know it could be developed for continuous tone. The Photographer's Formulary still has developer for it.

Rick "reliving old times" Denney

[Drew Wiley]

For highlight masking you want either total black or clear, with an almost vertical characteristic curve in lith developer. For contrast masking per se, lith film is a poor choice, and is virtually worthless for contrast masking color film midtones because it is
not panchromatic.