Testing Oriental HyperSeagull Paper Negatives

[Michael Heald]

Hello! I've just tried out the Oriental Hyperseagull 8x10 Pro Luster Sepia paper as a negative. This paper is used to print color negatives as sepia B&W, so I thought it would be an interesting alternative to traditional paper, since it is panchromatic.
My initial testing shows a rough ISO of 25.
I thought this paper might be useful for my 16x20 home made camera since the paper is less expenseive than film. 100 8x10 sheets cost $63.00 from B&W. It takes RA-4 developer, so it won't have much push/pull ability. Once I get a handle on it, I'll try the 16x20
I'll post a shot as I continue to test it.
I don't have a densitometer, but I may be able to generate some rough density/exposure information with my spot meter. Best regards.

Mike

[Michael Heald]

Hello! I've started to test this paper with my hyperfocal 8x10 camera, so I'm trying to sort our camera, film, and developer problems at the same time.
I'm using tetanal room temperature developer, which is wonderful. About one minute color developer and one minute blix, five 30 second washes, and it is done. I'm diluting the developer down by 1:3 and using it as a single shot. Also, the unicolor continuous agitation development seems to overdevelop a bit compared to the times in the instructions, so I've got to fine tune it.
Regardless, the paper seems to have a narrow dynamic range. When I tested it today (drizzly and overcast), when I got the exposure right for the shadows, the cloudy sky was overexposed. I don't know if I can control that with development change or not.
The limited dynamic range makes sense, since it is supposed to be used for color negatives which have less dynamic range than B&W negatives. The trade off is that the paper is panchromatic.
I'll post an image when I get a reasonable one. Best regards.

Mike

[false_Aesthetic]

Dude,

This sounds totally dope (that's young kid speak for cool).

I think there are a bunch of undergrads here(MassArt) that would love this info.

T.

[Michael Heald]

Hello! Here's the shot. It is of my backyard, taken late afternoon with blue skies. I exposed for the shadows. The grill behind the back are black and measured EI of 8 on my spot meter. The sky measured about 16 - about 9 stops different. I think about any film would have blown the sky with this difference between highlights and shadows. I'll test some more and see what kind of lattitude I get. Best regards.

Mike

[Michael Heald]

Hello! I have a step wedge. Would taking a picture of that with exposure set for 18% gray give a fairly eaccurate idea of the lattitude of the paper when used as a negative? Best regards.

Mike