infrared viewers - any suggestions?

[Bill Burk]

I use an ATN Viper, and I did a fog test.

Here's what an ATN Viper does when aimed at a sheet of TMY-2 for an hour...

Now if you only work for 15 minutes... and if you further cut the light by two stops... This graph shows a theoretical worst-case result of possibly 0.04 of additional density versus working entirely in the dark. In practice, I have never detected any fog effect on my film that could be due to the infrared emitter. Despite using it much of the time, I always have the same low base + fog as when I work in total darkness.

[loonatic45414]

What kind of densitometer do you have? I had access to one but not anymore and I'm in the market. Thanks for sharing your results.

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[Bill Burk]

I've got two, one's electronic... a Macbeth TR524 and the other is much simpler, a Marshall Studios densitometer. I'm lucky I got them both for fair prices and they are both serviceable and working. I thought nothing could go wrong with it but I spoke with one person who got a Marshall Studios densitometer with a bad field mirror. I can replace the bulb in the Macbeth at a local hardware store, I've read about some which have special bulbs that are extremely expensive... and when I saw that model on eBay, I could tell many of the available ones have had the pushbutton removed - a clue that someone tried to replace that rare bulb... So good luck.

You could always make your own.

[dpn]

I use a toy set of goggles. I think I paid $25 for them. They work great, and I have yet to notice any fogging during tray development.

http://www.nightvisionreport.com/eye...oggles-review/

[Ken Lee]

I use an ATN Viper, and I did a fog test.

Here's what an ATN Viper does when aimed at a sheet of TMY-2 for an hour...

In your test, the device was placed 15 inches from the film for 1 hour's time. That's a serious test

Ordinarily, the film is at arm's length: 30 inches or more, twice the distance. Given that intensity drops with the square of distance, would your test correspond to 4 hours exposure at arm's length ?

When I develop sheet film, the sheets are face down in the tray because it's easier to gauge development. When shuffling, if we develop N sheets for M minutes, each sheet is at the top for M/N minutes. For example, if we develop 10 sheets for 10 minutes, each sheet is at the top for a total of 1 minute: a modest fraction of 4 hours.

If others follow a similar approach, perhaps that's why fogging has not been reported.

[loonatic45414]

But why develop by inspection? Isn't the process supposed to be repeatable for a certain time, temp and developer strength? Why risk fogging at all, visible or not?

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[loonatic45414]

If I were developing a difficult shot and had no idea whatsoever, I'd probably develop in the dark and just use the goggles for a few seconds at a time at intervals.

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[Bill Burk]

Ken's right... all those factors serve to reduce the risk of fog.

TMAX 400 has such a sharp drop-off in the near-infrared... confirmed by my tests... that there is no risk of fog with that film and the ATN-Viper (I reduced the light by 2 stops)...

Now if I were using a film with extended red sensitivity, I'd test to make sure it is as safe with that film (I definitely would not use it with an "almost infrared" film like SFX-200). Anecdotally, Tri-X is safe... for example I did develop some 320 Tri-X with the viewer and it didn't ruin my shots... but I haven't confirmed Tri-X with an "hour long test".

The pleasure of seeing the pictures come up is part of the benefit. Like when making prints... it's fun. But another benefit is reduced "fumbling" and the result is cleaner negatives with fewer scratches when tray processing. (Granted, this might also be a side effect of experience).

[loonatic45414]

Kodak publication F-4043 speaks of reduced blue sensitivity at the very end, to closely approximate the human eye. No mention is made of reduced red sensitivity. Where did you see this?

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[N Dhananjay]

But why develop by inspection? Isn't the process supposed to be repeatable for a certain time, temp and developer strength? Why risk fogging at all, visible or not?

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I have used IR goggles but went back to developing by inspection with a dark green safelight. Given DBI with visible light 'works', IR is probably even safer if you do not mind looking like the bad guy in 'Silence of the Lambs'.

As to why DBI, there are many good reasons in my opinion. First off, DBI is best used, and probably has always been used, in conjunction with time and temperature. Probably the best reason is that it is one final check before the point of no return i.e., fixing bath. Just in case something is off - maybe developer was a little colder, maybe exposure judgments were off a bit, maybe you angered the gods of photography, maybe you dropped film into the stop bath instead of the developer by mistake, maybe your developing soup has aged a bit etc. And for anyone who is muttering that they never make those kinds of mistakes, I apologize but I would also urge you to honestly think about process variability - it is there in any process, even in a completely automated setup. Second, metering (even spotmetering) is a lot less precise than we imagine - primarily to do with our decisions of where to meter and the fact that the meter is still averaging the range of luminances in the spot. Third, our judgments about local contrast are just that - judgments and not measurements. Finally, there is just the flow of the process - some of us like to keep the whole thing visual, hands-on and old-school. That may sound like sentimentalism or romanticism, but it is worth paying attention to your needs - in the long run, it affects the work you do.

You do not need to develop by inspection. But many people do and it is not inherently any better or worse than other development methods. It is not dancing on thin ice - the risk of fog and fear is overstated. It might be instructive to develop one sheet of fresh, unexposed film handled completely in the darkness and one older sheet that has spent some time in the real world, maybe sitting around for a while, maybe in a hot car. As we all know, LF requires good work habits because we do not have the fail-safe, one-size-fits all approach that is arguably necessary in the world of consumer products. That hands-on approach should also inform us about the limits and flexibility of the process. And it is always worth remembering that we are probably always dealing with low levels of fog that we just 'print through' most of the time.

I enjoy DBI but it also serves to constantly remind me of the fact that this whole business is a lot less precise than we pretend. We walk around with electronic light meters and electronic timers but our judgments are still judgments. Metering technique, shutter speed variability, aperture setting variability, development variability - there is huge scope for process variability and I would argue that therein lies the charm of the process. It also helps to keep me focused on where my energies have the most impact - on my vision and on reasonably good habits.

Cheers, DJ