Printing color slides on Harman Direct Positive paper

[Ironage]

Anyone ever printed color slides on direct positive b&w paper. Seems like it would be easily done, but I can not find any one discussing this anywhere in my internet searches. Any ever tried this?

[koraks]

No, but it does sound like a decent possibility. Two caveats come to mind:
1: The contrast range of a typical slide may not match the paper perfectly - but thinking about it, it might match better than a real-life scene, so it's actually not such a bad idea at all.
2: You'll have to do with ortho instead of panchromatic sensitization, which may or may not be a problem, depending on artistic intent and source material.

Basically...sounds like one of those things worth a try.

[Graeme Hamilton]

I have done this as 4x5 contact prints. It seems like I landed on two Mississippi's from my closet's overhead light. You will need to experiment, expect lots of wasted paper!

[r.e.]

If you haven't seen it, Ilford has a video about Harman Direct Positive paper on its YouTube channel:

Printing Direct Positive Paper


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFUSiRwfOHs

[Ironage]

Yes I saw the video, but it only mentions photograms and in camera use.

[jnantz]

you might look into using a yellow filter to tame the contrast a little bit, and if you have never done a 2 developer routine to develop paper negatives it might be a useful procedure. for years I have used 2 developers ... one is fresh and regular old d72 or ansco 130 type developer. the other. is the same developer but spent / used .. you put the exposed print in the fresh bath until the image peeks out of emulsion then in the spent developer for the mid tones and back and forth... this also works really well with caffenol c with a speck of whatever your fresh print developer happens to be, I usually put in about 20cc / 1L of caffenolc.. doesn't have to be perfectly measured caffenol or mixed any special way, I just use cheep rot gut instant and teaspoons / tablespoons or eyeball it if you are familiar with weights and measures needed...you should be able to make your prints with just a few test strips if you have experience with paper negatives, or want to do this first with regular photo paper to get the hang of the development routine that might be helpful ... ...

good luck !

[Ironage]

Jnantz,

I have tried divided developers and have had decent results with Dr. Beers and graded paper. Also just a water bath without agitation just as the print emerges and then back into the developer can improve an image.

[Tin Can]

I gotta ask

Why?

I think that paper is out of production

If not, it is expensive

Very difficult to obtain a pleasurable image

I have tried it and have some waiting for Godot

[ic-racer]

I think the best way is to enlarge on to 4x5 B&W Negative sheet film. Otherwise, yes, transparencies are very difficult to print and really only good for projection these days, since the demise of Cibachrome.

[r.e.]

I think that paper is out of production

B&H has it in stock in 4x5, 5x7, 8x10, 11x14 and 16x20. A 2'x66' roll is special order.

[Oren Grad]

I think that paper is out of production

The RC version is out of production, the FB version is still offered.

[jnantz]

Jnantz,

I have tried divided developers and have had decent results with Dr. Beers and graded paper. Also just a water bath without agitation just as the print emerges and then back into the developer can improve an image.

Excellent !
hope it works if you try it !
John

[Roger Cole]

I gotta ask

Why?

I think that paper is out of production

If not, it is expensive

Very difficult to obtain a pleasurable image

I have tried it and have some waiting for Godot

Because you want a black and white image from a color positive?

Of course these days you can scan it and convert to grayscale but if you want to do it all analog, there aren't any great options. All other black and white papers, with Panalure long gone, are insensitive to red, and VC papers, the vast majority these days, and at least sensitive to green as well as blue, will give different contrast in areas of different color as well. Of course I think this stuff is orthochromatic as well, but at least you don't have to reversal process it to experiment with it.

I prefer working analog but if I really wanted a black and white image from a color positive I'd do it digitally. But if you can't or don't want to do that, what the heck, this might be worth a shot.

[Tin Can]

Best answer!

I may try that myself, as I have the paper


Because you want a black and white image from a color positive?

Of course these days you can scan it and convert to grayscale but if you want to do it all analog, there aren't any great options. All other black and white papers, with Panalure long gone, are insensitive to red, and VC papers, the vast majority these days, and at least sensitive to green as well as blue, will give different contrast in areas of different color as well. Of course I think this stuff is orthochromatic as well, but at least you don't have to reversal process it to experiment with it.

I prefer working analog but if I really wanted a black and white image from a color positive I'd do it digitally. But if you can't or don't want to do that, what the heck, this might be worth a shot.

[Ironage]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20221128/56d837afe19d8eb8fc6d7f1f907b7f6c.jpg

Now that I have dark in my darkroom I tried making a direct positive print from a slide. I had some success with an Ektachrome 100 slide. Discovered I needed a red filter for my safelight, which I don’t have. I had less success with a Kodachrome flash picture of my kids, and I think my brown safelight was fogging the paper.


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[Drew Wiley]

I prefer to make b&w internegs from chromes by contact on pan b&w films like FP4 or TMax. That way, I can not only apply selective colored contrast filters just like when shooting in nature, but also control the resultant interneg contrast just the way I want it relative to my regular b&w papers of choice. Sometimes a supplementary unsharp contrast mask is necessary for the best results, registered to the original chrome.

[Ironage]

Drew, I agree. If I were serious about this I would make internegatives, or even enlarged trichromes. Hmm…now that I have the time, I might make this an item on my bucket list.


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[Drew Wiley]

Well, some of the best color repro I've ever gotten was from Portra 160 contact internegs from masked old sheet chromes, mostly 8X10's, enlarged onto current Fuji RA4 papers. A lot of fussy work, but nothing like old dye transfer printing or even certain multi-masked Ciba images. The biggest issue is the sheer cost of 8X10 color film these day, including Portra. Not quite as painful if 4x5 is involved instead.

But since this thread has black and white prints as the endpoint, I vastly prefer to generate an interneg for that application too, onto a long-scale pan film like TMX, so I have complete control over the contrast gamma, as well as the option of using selective b&w contrast filters just like shooting in nature. And that way I can use any b&w printing paper of choice.