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View Full Version : TMY in 5x7 ?



Tyler Boley
27-Mar-2014, 11:36
So are we now out of options for TMY in sheets? I use 5x7, the last custom order nearly used up, and now I see there is no 8x10 to cut down any longer...
Looks like I'm finally going back to 3x, unless anyone else has any other recommendations for a 5x7 film that's faster than rated 100? No HP5 please...
Thanks,
Tyler

vinny
27-Mar-2014, 12:05
I'm sure keith at canham will start another order for 8x10 since it seems that b&h and adorama seem to be out and b&h had it on sale for a while before listing it as discontinued. Seems they may not have been selling enough of it to justify making the minimum order from kodak.

There's nothing like tmy if you want a 400asa sheet film so I won't recommend something else.

Larry Gebhardt
27-Mar-2014, 18:48
I find FP4+ has the closest look, but obviously it's not as fast as you want. I still have some 5x7 TMY from the Canham order. I extend it's life by shooting mostly 4x5. Using a 4x5 back on your camera might be a good alternative.

StoneNYC
27-Mar-2014, 22:21
What's wrong with HP5+ or if you have to Foma400? Not the same as TMY2 of course...

Sorry man :(

Drew Wiley
28-Mar-2014, 08:18
Getting TMY-2 has been no problem at all in 8x10. Lots of it is getting cut, but in volume batches. Keith Canham routinely offers this, and B&H has has it done. Keith
has even been getting routine cuts of 8x10 TMX, which is far less popular than TMY at the moment. I think there was also a recent cut of 5x7 TMY, though this is
done far less frequently. What you want to do is buy a few extra boxes to tide you thru the occasional lean time, between the cuts. Lots of us are using TMY 8x10,
so its not likely to disappear anytime soon.

ROL
28-Mar-2014, 08:43
I'm deducing that you're only interested in tabular grain films. No? There are plenty of straight grain offerings still out there for 5x7 – Kodak, Ilford, Foma. Perhaps if you can describe what you do not feel you can achieve with those films, we can help you get closer to your goals by moving forward with what is available. FWIW, I'm saving my opened, barely used, boxes and rolls of TMAX and Tech Pan to sell to desperates on eBay so that I can fund my retirement dreams of taking workshops instructing me how to photograph in Yosemite and Death Valley.

StoneNYC
28-Mar-2014, 09:14
I'm deducing that you're only interested in tabular grain films. No? There are plenty of straight grain offerings still out there for 5x7 – Kodak, Ilford, Foma. Perhaps if you can describe what you do not feel you can achieve with those films, we can help you get closer to your goals by moving forward with what is available. FWIW, I'm saving my opened, barely used, boxes and rolls of TMAX and Tech Pan to sell to desperates on eBay so that I can fund my retirement dreams of taking workshops instructing me how to photograph in Yosemite and Death Valley.

Boxes of TechPan!! ;)

Can I trade you my 70mm tech pan for a 4x5 box? Hah!

Drew Wiley
28-Mar-2014, 09:16
There's nothing else out there equivalent to TMY - a relatively long straight line at fast speed. Fomapan 200 will give you a long straight line, but at realistically one fourth the speed, and with terrible recip characteristics. HP5 has quite a bit of toe to it, and can't begin to resolve deep shadows in the same manner. ... I could go on and on. I'd really hate to lose a film like TMY in the redwoods here, or up in the mtns or desert, all where the lighting ratios can often be extreme. But it seems to be a very popular film, and I can buy at least 4x5 sheets even locally. I worked with just about every other mainstream film you could mention under these conditions - and yes, while they can be made to work, I find them a lot less versatile and reliable for the extremes I tend to encounter. I do have a soft spot for ACROS up in the high country, due to its lovely orthopan sensitivity; but it's simply too slow for typical 8x10 use other than extremely long exposures where it does have the upper hand. Can't get it here in 5x7 or 8x10 anyway. In softer lighting, many of the other films do superbly. I've got a bunch of 8x10 Tech Pan,
but never intended it for general shooting, but only for true pan highlight masking during color printing.

StoneNYC
28-Mar-2014, 09:22
There's nothing else out there equivalent to TMY - a relatively long straight line at fast speed. Fomapan 200 will give you a long straight line, but at realistically one fourth the speed, and with terrible recip characteristics. HP5 has quite a bit of toe to it, and can't begin to resolve deep shadows in the same manner. ... I could go on and on. I'd really hate to lose a film like TMY in the redwoods here, or up in the mtns or desert, all where the lighting ratios can often be extreme. But it seems to be a very popular film, and I can buy at least 4x5 sheets even locally. I worked with just about every other mainstream film you could mention under these conditions - and yes, while they can be made to work, I find them a lot less versatile and reliable for the extremes I tend to encounter. I do have a soft spot for ACROS up in the high country, due to its lovely orthopan sensitivity; but it's simply too slow for typical 8x10 use other than extremely long exposures where it does have the upper hand. Can't get it here in 5x7 or 8x10 anyway. In softer lighting, many of the other films do superbly. I've got a bunch of 8x10 Tech Pan,
but never intended it for general shooting, but only for true pan highlight masking during color printing.

You seriously have 8x10 tech pan??! Dude!

C'mon, share some with a brotha' ;)

EdSawyer
28-Mar-2014, 09:27
It would almost be a crime to use 8x10 tech pan just for masking... ;-)

Drew Wiley
28-Mar-2014, 09:28
It's for my wannabee dye transfer printing reincarnation, after I retire soon, Stone. If I figure out some other way to get the same effect, I'll cut it loose. But this
was the traditional way for getting highlight masks for all three color separations. With ortho lith film, you can obviously only get two (G&B), with only slight sensitivity to G (lith film is mostly blue sensitive).

StoneNYC
28-Mar-2014, 09:31
It's for my wannabee dye transfer printing reincarnation, after I retire soon, Stone. If I figure out some other way to get the same effect, I'll cut it loose. But this
was the traditional way for getting highlight masks for all three color separations. With ortho lith film, you can obviously only get two (G&B), with only slight sensitivity to G (lith film is mostly blue sensitive).

They still make some, doesn't ilford make some and Rollie ? It's probably fogged anyway... You don't want it probably... *waves hands* "these are not the Ortho films you are looking for..."

ROL
28-Mar-2014, 09:50
My box of 8x10 TP has been all cut down to 5x7.:eek:

StoneNYC
28-Mar-2014, 10:10
My box of 8x10 TP has been all cut down to 5x7.:eek:

Noooo!!! Blasphemy!!!!! Burn him at the stake he's a witch!!!!

jnantz
28-Mar-2014, 10:15
My box of 8x10 TP has been all cut down to 5x7.:eek:

lol. and i have 2 or 3 boxes left in 4x5 ...shot a wedding with it way back when ..
and havent used it since

and i still use 810 azp for photograms

Drew Wiley
28-Mar-2014, 11:18
The problem with alleged substitutes for TechPan is both availability and batch to batch consistency. With dye transfer, everything has to be very predictable, or
every other subsequent step in the expensive workflow goes haywire. TechPan seems to be an especially stable emulsion. The way I heard it, the actual coating line had actually been shut down for an entire decade while Kodak themselves were still distributing "new" sheets of it to the dealers. It disappeared because it required a special kind of polyester base different from the other films, which they lost. I also used it for forensic purposes commercially, along with IR film, like trying to save someone a ton of money attempting to detect a fraudulent painting, before investing in the services of the big boys. Using red filters, you could almost see straight thru to the underpainting, and quickly spot a fake. A master forger would, of course, scrub all this off in the first place, and preferably even locate a vintage period canvas and frame. But the garden-variety crook doesn't bother.

Ken Lee
28-Mar-2014, 11:23
I changed the title of the thread to be more specific to the discussion at hand.

Corran
28-Mar-2014, 11:42
A friend of mine has a stash of like 10 boxes of TechPan in 8x10 size. He's promised me a couple at some point in exchange for some notes and development times for x-ray film.

Anyway, if B&H lists it as "discontinued," does that mean they aren't going to do a large order again?

Drew Wiley
28-Mar-2014, 12:37
It doesn't necessarily mean B&H has permanently discontinued it. They probably respond to overall customer demand, but can't just order a box or two whenever. We already know that it has to be batch cut. As long as the sheet film base & emulsion is being run (4x5 users will sustain that) - it can be cut to 8x10. But 5x7
demand is a more dicey proposition, and it's likely that some people will still have to cut their own down from 8x10 sheets. I always admired the proportion of 5x7,
but avoided it due to spotty film availability, esp in color.