Use of X-ray film: technical discussion with example images

[LF_Alex]

Double-sided? I was hoping to avoid that. How are you dealing with this? Are you bleaching one side?

[pepeguitarra]

Double-sided? I was hoping to avoid that. How are you dealing with this? Are you bleaching one side?

Just be careful with it. Most of the times, I don't get scratches.

[Corran]

Double-sided? I was hoping to avoid that. How are you dealing with this? Are you bleaching one side?

I used to, but it's a pain in the butt and takes a while, so now if I shoot x-ray film I develop it in tray carefully so as to avoid scratching.

[LF_Alex]

I used to, but it's a pain in the butt and takes a while, so now if I shoot x-ray film I develop it in tray carefully so as to avoid scratching.

Does the second emulsion interfere with printing? Contact or enlarger prints on B&W paper.

[Corran]

Supposedly slightly less sharp than "one-sided" due to having that layer, but unnoticeable in general use IMO, at least in the 8x10 film I've printed from. Still, don't expect it to resolve or look like "real" film.

[koraks]

YMMV, but I find double-sided film noticeably less sharp than single sided. The scratching issue is what eventually turned me off double-sided film altogether; I'm not wasting money on it anymore. Too much hassle with very little benefit in return, if any at all.

[Tin Can]

X-Ray of any type is excellent for learning how to load film holders.
Make the many mistakes everybody does at first on the cheap 2 sided.

If it’s too expensive cut it down to 4x5.

2X is great for learning how to process film.

It is real film!

When ready switch to 1X or any ‘better’ film with confidence.

All film was much cheaper in the past.


X-Ray is much closer in image quality to any film 100 years oid and glass plates.

Some like old emulsion qualities.

[pepeguitarra]

I have read and I think, I have understood how the X-ray film works. I will mention what I know hoping that someone may correct me if I am wrong. Regular current film is panchromatic and has light sensitive silver emulsion on one side. They also place another emulsion (anti-halation) in the reverse. This is the layer that many remove by washing the film prior to development.

The X-ray film does not need to be panchromatic, so it is orthochromatic (like the old original films). They (Kodak and Fuji) place a light sensitive silver emulsion on one side, and maybe an anti-halation emulsion in the other side. However, the x-rays do not produce light to impress the sensitive emulsion. That is when the manufacturers, place another emulsion on the back of the film that react to the x-rays by ignition producing light during the reaction. That light is the one that is going to create the image on the silver emulsion. My thought is that that emulsion that reacts with the x-rays to produce light is also mixed with anti-halation. I am not sure if this emulsion gets washed with the pre-washed, it may be. I am pre-washing for 5 minutes the x-ray film. I have heard that some photographers scrap or remove the not needed emulsion. The problem for me would be identifying which one is the side holding the image. Any comments or enlightenment?

[Jim Noel]

AS i have stated previously,I learned photography using ortho films. I developed in a tray with a red safe light to guide me. X-ray film is so similar to many films of the 30's I even use the same developers,fixers, etc. on occasion. The most important thing to me is the scale of the negative, and x-ray films meet that need.

[Mark Crabtree]

I like the x-ray film because it is orthochromatic, because its slow speed is good for lens cap exposures, and because it is cheap.

The double sided is a nuisance, but manageable. I always treat these like single sided sheet film, so the side of the film that faces the lens is treated as the emulsion side and is kept up in throughout development. You could notch it, but if you are used to darkroom work it should be simple to keep track since that side always stays up. As I learned from this thread, but worth repeating once in a while, develop in smooth bottomed trays - no ribs or troughs of any kind. Lift the film a few times during development to avoid blotchiness in the backside emulsion. If you have the space, you can run two developer trays side by side to speed things up. I've done three developer trays at a time with 11x14, but that was a handful.

I believe these are just two identical emulsions; the sides aren't marked and you can put it in the holder either way. As has been explained in this thread, the blue and green designations refer to the way x-rays are exposed, but for our purpose it is just an indicator of the color sensitivity, with green being most like traditional orho film, and what most people use as far as I know. Somebody had posted links to charts of color sensitivity at one point.