B/W slide film

[johnshiell]

It's probably been said before and I've scrolled this forum for an answer, but to no avail. Can anybody tell me after the demise of Agfa and Scala film is there an alternative in 5x4 format? John.

[Peter K]

Hi John,
most b&w films can be developed with a reversal process. This is a common method with b&w reversal cine films. And only a little bit more work as negative developement. There are many formulas aviable. The film to choose should be one with a clear base.

Peter K

[Don Hutton]

Tmax100 works very well with Kodak's Tmax Reversal chemistry - rate it at 50 or 40...

[Ron Marshall]

It's probably been said before and I've scrolled this forum for an answer, but to no avail. Can anybody tell me after the demise of Agfa and Scala film is there an alternative in 5x4 format? John.

Dr5 process most b/w films to generate a positive.

Their site has recommendations for EI and examples of the results possible from different films:

http://www.dr5.com/

[David A. Goldfarb]

When dr5 was in New York, I had the chance to visit the lab and see actual examples of various films in the process on a large lightbox in the reception area. Tri-X sheet film was really beautiful in this process, but the film I saw would have been the older TXT, rather than the current TXP. That said, if I had a need for B&W transparencies, that's where I would start. I think he offers a discount for testing various films to see which you like best and to determine exposure conditions. The examples on the website are pretty good representations of what different films look like in dr5.

Before shooting, you should definitely e-mail or call the lab for exposure recommendations for the film you are using, since the speed will be different from the normal speed, and high-speed exposure may require more careful handling since a little base fog (from loading or unloading in a less than completely dark environment) that might not matter with a negative will matter with a transparency.

[Daniel_Buck]

Hey wow, I would love to have my tri-x 320 as positives! I may have to give this a shot! I'm currently using HC-110 1:31 at 10 minutes (inversion agitation) how much different would DR5 be? Can TF-4 be used to fix the film?

[Peter K]

Here is a formula for film reversal development (metric)

first developer 6 min 20°C
normal paper developer + 4 g pottasiumrhodanide

rinse 1 min

bleach 1 min
water 1000 ml
pottasiumbichromate 9,4 g
sulphuric acid conc. 12 ml.

rinse 1 min

clearing-bath 1 min
sodiumsulphite sicc. 90 g
water up to 1000 ml

rinse 1 min

second exposure 1 min with a 60 Watt bulb


second-developer 5 min 20°C
paper-developer without addition

rinse 1 min

fixer 3 min 20°C

rinse 15 min

dry as usual

Photo-Flo 15 sec

You have to test the speed of your film!

With a film like Tri-X the grain is much finer as with negative developement, because the big grains will be removed after the first developer and the fine but more insensitive grains will be developed in the second developer.

Good luck
Peter K

[David A. Goldfarb]

Hey wow, I would love to have my tri-x 320 as positives! I may have to give this a shot! I'm currently using HC-110 1:31 at 10 minutes (inversion agitation) how much different would DR5 be? Can TF-4 be used to fix the film?

dr5 is proprietary, so you have to send it to them. Info at www.dr5.com. I gather it's not conceptually different from other reversal processes, but he's just calibrated it very carefully and tweaked it for optimal results with various films.

[Gordon Moat]

Another recommendation for DR5 (http://www.dr5.com) processing. One caution is to watch the shipping charges; I missed telling them not to rush send my film back to me, and it cost me much more than I expected. I think 120 roll film is more economical to shoot and process this way than sheet films, though it depends upon what set-up you have for your camera. Last film I sent through DR5 was Ilford HP5+, and the results (http://www.gordonmoat.com/life_04.html) were quite good.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography (http://www.gordonmoat.com)

[jimi-the-jive]

hey, i've been looking at this myself, the problem is there are problems for most shops to ship the chemicals for positive processing. however, someone suggested contact printing one negative onto another, i haven't tried it so i don't know what kind of results you'd get.

ps if anyone now what kind of exposure you'd be using, could you let me know

[JPlomley]

Just thought I would update this thread. I just received 70 sheets of Ilford Delta-100 Pro reverse processed by dr5 from my trip to Yosemite and Sequoia NP. All I can say is WOW! Delta-100 is warm in the dr5 process, but easily corrected (if desired) once scanned. Compared to RVP-50, I found the dr5 process on delta-100 gave me an extra ~ 1.3 stops in shadow detail. Very impressive. I'll likely send a few out for scanning, since this was the reason for generating B&W transparencies in the first place.