Macophot 820c IR film, initial report

[Ralph Barker]

I've been tinkering with IR - specifically Macophot 820c film, which is available in 35mm, 120 4x5 and 8x10. Although mostly interested in the 4x5 and 8x10 sizes, I've been using a Leica M6 TTL as the test bed, as the 35mm film is a lot less expensive. This is the "non-aura" version of the film, which doesn't "bloom" like Kodak IR.

The first is with a Kodak 4"x4" 89B gel filter in a HiTech gel filter holder, adapted down to fit the 39mm filter size of the 35mm Summicron lens on the Leica. Exposure was 1/30 @ f/4, with the scene actually metering 1/125 @ f/16 at around 2 p.m. a couple of days ago.




The second one used a Lee 4"x4" polyester Wratten 87 filter in the same holder arrangement. Exposure was 1/4 @ f/4, with the same lens. The Wratten 87 filter shows a little more "IR effect" than the 89B, but the exposure was 3 stops greater.



The roll of macophot 820c was developed in Ilford DD-X for 10 minutes at about 70° - a guess on my part as neither Ilford nor Cachet list recommended development times for this combination. The contrast range (which would be controlled by development) looks about right, but the negs are about 1/2 stop less dense than "normal". The posted images were scanned from the negs on an Epson 3200, with only minor adjustments in Photoshop.

[Thilo Schmid]

Ralph, do you know that MACO 820c is availiable in two "flavors" now? Maco AURA is essentially a 820c without anti-halation dyes. Although AURA cannot copy HIE, it is worth a try. You may not actually see the difference in this picture, but you may find additional information at http://www.apug.org/site/main/album_page.php?pic_id=162.

[Ralph Barker]

Thanks, Thilo. I was aware of the new "aura" version of 820c, but personally prefer the crisper look without the aura.

[Eric Pederson]

There are various other sites discussing this film. I have one page of test results (with 35mm, though I mostly use the film in 4x5) and some links from there: http://darkwing/~epederso/Photo/IR/Test.html I haven't used or tested the Aura version... Be aware that the emulsion is quite soft and scratches easily in LF development, so handle with more than your usual care.