I'm definitely going to try the stripping, along with a few other wild ideas I have. Thanks for the tips. I'll let you know if I learn anything useful.
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I'm definitely going to try the stripping, along with a few other wild ideas I have. Thanks for the tips. I'll let you know if I learn anything useful.
Thanks for your comments!
@Jay
Exposure was between a few seconds in sunlight and a few minutes on cloudy days. The camera has an f/300 pinhole and i usually add some exposure for reciprocity effects.
@Dann
Yes, the stripping works just fine. A few seconds and all that is left on the backside is a nice clean film base.
@Jim
It depends on how you develop the film. I use Jobo Expert drums when i have more than one sheet to develop, or a Jobo 1520-1530 combo for single sheets. When the wet films are taken out of the drums, I get big scratches on the back almost every time. I never got to like tray or tank processing and don't have a permanent darkroom.
So there is the problem. If you are going to shoot x-ray film you need to use flat bottomed trays or tanks. I use tanks for the 8x10 and trays for my ULF stuff. Remember you can scratch the film loading and unloading. It amazes my how people scratch film, but they do.
I don't see it as a problem much, it's just two minutes more work with every sheet and soon becomes routine. I don't need the extra density from the second emulsion either, so for me there's no need keeping it. :)
I know many people prefer tanks or trays, but I really like the expert drums for anything 4x5" or larger.
Besides that, I use it only for pinhole imaging and do my normal 8x10" work on Efke.
And for the stripping, you tape the negative, good side down, to a sheet of glass and paint on the bleach mix, then rinse off, right? Or has the protocol evolved?
Think it's time I pull the trigger on some green 10x12...
Danke, herr Geiss! I only tried drum development of X-Ray film once, with exactly the results you describe- I got a perfectly developed negative with huge scratches on the back. Now I wish I hadn't thrown that negative away!
If you intend to use xray film for alternative processes such as carbon, you should not strip the backside emulsion as you will end up with a negative with half the density range. No problem if you are printing on VC or graded papers silver papers.
Dann,
I didn't use anything but pure bleach (Danklorix brand here in Germany) yet. I tape the sheet to a piece of glass and keep it horizontally. I haven't experienced any problems with this method and just use a soft 2" brush to apply the bleach, wait a few seconds to let the bleach work and give it a short rinse. Most of the time, there will be some spots left, where the emulsion didn't go away, so I do a second run. After that, I rinse again and wipe everything with a soft, damp and lint-free cloth.
Jim, I work with a hybrid workflow (for now), so scan my negatives. Also, I do daylight drum developing, and have no facilities for tray developing, so a scratched back emulsion is going to happen. So stripping looks like it might be the way to go for me. I might try carbon one day, and have a proper darkroom to develop in, but today ain't the day...Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Fitzgerald
Dann,Quote:
Originally Posted by Dann
I'm not sure how much you are already compensating for the stripped emulsion.
Once I found the film's speed, in my case ISO 320, I treated it like regular film, at least with regards to exposure.