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

[photoevangelist]

Wow, this single sheet 8x10 tray development is for the birds. I was in the darkroom from 1pm-11pm, 10 hours, developing 18 sheets (roughly 2 sheets an hour) of film. I'd love to get an 8x10 tank, but I've really stretched my budget for large format lately.

Thanks for the information on the 7x17 sizes, Randy! Looks like I might not do 7x17 x-ray film, I'll just shoot Ilford films. I don't know if I can trim that slight bit off 17 inches without a good cutter.

[SergeiR]

Wow, this single sheet 8x10 tray development is for the birds. I was in the darkroom from 1pm-11pm, 10 hours, developing 18 sheets (roughly 2 sheets an hour) of film. I'd love to get an 8x10 tank, but I've really stretched my budget for large format lately.

Thanks for the information on the 7x17 sizes, Randy! Looks like I might not do 7x17 x-ray film, I'll just shoot Ilford films. I don't know if I can trim that slight bit off 17 inches without a good cutter.

Motorize it 10 hours i just a bit too horrible..

[photoevangelist]

Motorize it 10 hours i just a bit too horrible..

How would I motorize it?

The fact that we don't have a good negative washer and warm water slows me down too. Tap water is around 12-13 degrees Celsius. I have to mix hot water from a drinking water filter with the cold tap water to get it to 20 degrees. I'm considering ordering single sided emulsion xray so I can do it in BTZS tubes or the Jobo CPP-2, but I was trying to work with what is available in Korea. No single emulsions are available that I can find.

[photoevangelist]

I've got something that works and since it involves so many of my students and have already started and put over 40 hours into this, I'm going to keep working this way. Once the project is complete, I might try some more tests in BTZSZ tubes and stripping the back. That way I could reduce my times by half if I'm doing two at a time. But I won't be doing any crazy portrait projects like this again. Any other day I could handle spending 10 hours processing film, but this is going to be a twice a week deal for me for the next few months.

I'm also getting some odd uneven development/exposure lines that sometimes are in the middle of the frame. This is why I do two identical portraits of the same person. There's usually a scratch or this sort of uneven development mark so far 1 out of two is usually imperfect. Still cheaper that regular film.

[Jim Noel]

My old 7x17 Korona holders have no problem with the film. They have slightly more width,and more depth under the side rails than my newer holders.

[Tin Can]

Don't we love that ULF has no standards...

My old 7x17 Korona holders have no problem with the film. They have slightly more width,and more depth under the side rails than my newer holders.

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Don't we love that ULF has no standards...

That is why I built the 14x17. It is a standard size in the medical x-ray division. For once I was thinking. Great image size as well and very manageable.

[Tin Can]

Jim,

Might take me a couple years to get to anything bigger than 7X11, but I always work slow, i'm retired!

[SergeiR]

That is why I built the 14x17. It is a standard size in the medical x-ray division. For once I was thinking. Great image size as well and very manageable.

Jim, where you got bellows for it? If its not a secret

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Jim, where you got bellows for it? If its not a secret

Sergi, no secret. I had Custom Bellows in England build the 36" bellows for me. Shipped to California it was right around $500.00 USD. I printed a 14x17 carbon portrait I did of my girlfriend a while ago. Shot it with the Voigtlander Portrait Euryscop III #6. The lens is about 8 1/2 lbs with the Packard built on the back. Love the print but no way to scan something that big.