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Thread: Enlarging onto X-ray film

  1. #1

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    Enlarging onto X-ray film

    Anyone ever stuck Xray film under an enlarger with some success?


    I saw a dude make prints on xray film about 8 years ago. Can't remember the name can't find it on the net.

    Figured ya'll might have an idea.

  2. #2
    ic-racer's Avatar
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    Re: Enlarging onto X-ray film

    If you use the 'X-ray copy film' you can make big negatives for UV-light contact printing.

  3. #3
    Roger Cole's Avatar
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    Re: Enlarging onto X-ray film

    Quote Originally Posted by ic-racer View Post
    If you use the 'X-ray copy film' you can make big negatives for UV-light contact printing.
    Well that's one answer to the question I was going to ask of, "why?"

    Enlarged negatives for alternative process contact printing did occur to me, but won't you need two generations to get back to a negative, picking up contrast in both steps? Can the stuff be reversal processed? Or can it be developed to low enough contrast that two stages give a good result? Come to think of it, though I've never dabbled in alternative processes, I think many of them require more contrast and density anyway, don't they?

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    Re: Enlarging onto X-ray film

    IF
    you want big negs from a neg you can try Xray dupe film, also known at Photowarehouse as Direct Duplicating Film
    Back in the threads someplace you will find info.
    But to repeat what I have said
    I use it to dupe negs, by contact and by projection.
    The stuff is slow, at least under my Beslaer 8x10 enlarger
    For contact I take the lens out.
    For projeection , to get a larger neg and to be able to dodfe and burn, I use an appropriate lens stopped down a couple.
    For about 2x- 116 t0 5x7-ish, a reasonable neg takes 6-8 minutes, and you better not move or breathe or vibration will kill it.
    Contrast is usually a problem of "too much" rather than too little, and I've used that to salvage a neg that had nearly faded away. Now I have a printable neg, albeit gritty.
    Higher contrast------print developer.
    More normal contrast, or less hassle to avoid bumping it up, I use Clayton 76 film developer.
    Direct dupe is not a reversal process, it's, well, direct, one step "just like" printing, only you have a new negative.
    Only drawback is very slow speed, but beats the poo out of many alternatives

  5. #5

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    Re: Enlarging onto X-ray film

    I think maybe the OP had in mind a positive , perhaps to display backlit in a window or a lightbox.
    Real cameras are measured in inches...
    Not pixels.

    www.photocollective.org

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    Re: Enlarging onto X-ray film

    Quote Originally Posted by dsphotog View Post
    I think maybe the OP had in mind a positive , perhaps to display backlit in a window or a lightbox.
    bingo.

    though the idea of enlarging a MF or 35mm neg to make a larger contact for alt process sounds fun.

  7. #7

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    Re: Enlarging onto X-ray film

    What you want is duplicating film. Kodak has marketed this under many names. I think the last I used was called something like "Kodak Versalite TDF", where the DF stands for duplicating film, and I presume the T is for Tungsten. You expose this stuff just like paper and develop it in Dektol and you get a negative. You don't need to go through the step of getting an "internegative" positive transparency. I use this stuff when I want to make a copy of a negative from my 11x14 view camera. I then cut out a section and can make enlargements of that in my 8x10 Elwood enlarger.

  8. #8

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    Re: Enlarging onto X-ray film

    Ok, make a positive from a neg
    Same as with ortho - but two sides to the emulsion- dunno how that affects the "look" .
    YOU try it, it's a heck of a lot cheaper than anything else- ortho film, paper, etc.

  9. #9
    jp's Avatar
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    Re: Enlarging onto X-ray film

    Quote Originally Posted by EdWorkman View Post
    IF
    you want big negs from a neg you can try Xray dupe film, also known at Photowarehouse as Direct Duplicating Film
    Back in the threads someplace you will find info.
    But to repeat what I have said
    I use it to dupe negs, by contact and by projection.
    The stuff is slow, at least under my Beslaer 8x10 enlarger
    For contact I take the lens out.
    For projeection , to get a larger neg and to be able to dodfe and burn, I use an appropriate lens stopped down a couple.
    For about 2x- 116 t0 5x7-ish, a reasonable neg takes 6-8 minutes, and you better not move or breathe or vibration will kill it.
    Contrast is usually a problem of "too much" rather than too little, and I've used that to salvage a neg that had nearly faded away. Now I have a printable neg, albeit gritty.
    Higher contrast------print developer.
    More normal contrast, or less hassle to avoid bumping it up, I use Clayton 76 film developer.
    Direct dupe is not a reversal process, it's, well, direct, one step "just like" printing, only you have a new negative.
    Only drawback is very slow speed, but beats the poo out of many alternatives
    This Xray duplicating film can have different contrasts depending on the developer used. Did some tests here: http://www.f64.nu/photo/tmp/lff/xray/_DSC1802.jpg

    Found dektol mixed with Xtol made a nice pleasant positive.

  10. #10

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    Re: Enlarging onto X-ray film

    has anyone ever thought of making a positive image this way and mounting it on top of a nice glossy white surface? I read about using Opal Glass for prints, it seems you could do a poor mans version with ink jet paper and a mat.

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