Arista Ortho Litho Help

[Jim Noel]

Good job, Paul.

[Pritcher]

Are you after normal pictorial contrast?
If yes then maybe you should try 3 ASA, yes that low and develope for 3 minutes.
How much of that Dektol do you have? As our friends have said it is not ideal.

The nearest stuff I used to that Arista film is some stuff re-sold by Hans Mahn of Germany (Maco).
Rodinal 1:50 5 min at 20 C with agitation for 30 seconds of every minute, 1st minute being continuous agitation. Stronger agitation is to reduce incidence of bubble holes (with 'Yankee' type tank). Meter reading 3ASA.
The attachment is what you are aiming for with this film.This is the colour sensitivity you will have. The building in the left foreground has orange roof tiles, but the chimney stack is red brick.
At least Rodinal is a very economical developer for your experiments.

BTW: How much of the Arista film do you have?
At least try a more conventional developer like Rodinal before you buy a more conventional film.

I am looking for normal contrast in this film, to be honest, that picture you posted is pretty much exactly what I am after. As for the amount of film I have, I think I have 16 some odd sheets left, I only bought a 25 pack to get started. I bought the smallest amount of Dektol as I could, but that was still enough to make a gallon of stock solution.

[Pritcher]

Pre-exposing this Ortho Lith film with white light helps a lot in crafting manageable "pictorial" negatives.
I made the following image on Arista Ortho Lith by pre-exposing the film to white light (using my enlarger, estimating the duration of exposure by test strip) and developing it for 4 minutes in D-23 diluted 1:2 I chose D-23 for its ability to produce fairly low contrast, soft-toned negatives. Film rated at 3ASA, using a Voigtlander Petzval lens, wide open.

I have heard of flashing the film before exposure, but I personally do not have an enlarger to do it with. But that is a fantastic photo there, what Fstop is wide open for that lens?

[paulbarden]

I have heard of flashing the film before exposure, but I personally do not have an enlarger to do it with. But that is a fantastic photo there, what Fstop is wide open for that lens?

I believe that Voigtlander Petzval is an f3.5 lens

You can always figure out pre-exposure in-camera. Put something semi-translucent and white (paper, or plastic maybe) over the lens and figure out how much time you need to give to barely register some density. Use the dark slide to make a kind of test strip. Should be pretty easy.

[Neil Purling]

Try the Rodinal and the development time in my post with a sheet of the Arista film for 3 ASA. Then let me know the results.
Try on a overcast day, if you can, so the overall contrast is less.
The Maco film I was using I believe to be the equivalent of printing paper coated on a clear base.
If yours behaves more violently then perhaps it might be better to get a pack of a conventional film & get to know that better before venturing into making your own developers.

I'm having some fun with (industrial) X-ray film which has been a bit of a trial.

If you are a beginner then it might be best to bite the bullet and buy a pack of Fomapan 4x5 or even the Chinese Shanghai. At least that is meant to be for making normal photographs.