one shot was with xray film the other shot with delta 100

[ImSoNegative]

How did you process the x ray film? Thanks!
Nik

i do it exactly they way i do conventional sheet film. the cool thing about xray film is that you can develope by inspection using a safelight, if i do d76 1:1 i find that my neg is ready in about 7 or 8 minutes, stop bath for about 30 sec then fixer for about 3 minutes, it really helps if you have glass in the bottom of your trays unless you have smooth bottom trays which i dont. i agitate for the first 30 sec, then agitate for 10 sec every half minute after that. after about 5 minutes i will pull the neg out and check it to see whats going on (make sure i have something) usually after about 7 or 8 min like i said its usually ready. so far this process has worked well for me.

[ImSoNegative]

Yeah, first is x-ray film. Interesting that both are acceptable to my eyes. I think if I can control the scratches I'm going to use x-ray for portraits, still life, and such. Then use normal film when I need maximimum sharpness.

How are you developing your x-ray film to avoid scratches?

I did the same thing over the weekend. Same shot with Tri-X 320 and green sensitive x-ray film. I thought that there would be a big difference in a high contrast scene.


Shake Shack, NYC, 8x10 Kodak Tri-X 320 by Shawn Hoke, on Flickr


Shake Shack at Night, 8x10 Fuji HR-T X-Ray Film by Shawn Hoke, on Flickr

Both tray developed, but the Tri-X was developed inHC110 and x-ray in Rodinal 1:100. Not that big of a inference really.

I keep going back to those, very nice images, what do you expose your xray film at?

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Nice to see the comparison. I agree that x-ray film is not for everything. I think it is great for soft focus work and portraits as well. I'll try to find some examples and post them.

[ShawnHoke]

I keep going back to those, very nice images, what do you expose your xray film at?

I metered this shot at 200 ISO (because I forgot to change the ISO from the Tri-X, doh!), but had exposed some earlier shots at 80 per advice found on these forums. The meter called for 30 seconds, but I exposed for 1 minute.

I'm halfway there with your excellent glass in tray bottom advice. I use a glass insert in my Dev tray, but didn't have one for my ridged fix tray. I think that's where my scratches one from. I've also been flipping my negative over every thirty seconds as agitation, which I think increases the scratch potential. Do you flip the negative or just rock the tray every 30 secs?

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Searching the hard drive I came up with these of my son's. Shot on x-ray film and printed in carbon transfer. Also an interior shot of a staircase shot on x-ray film.

[ImSoNegative]

just rock back and forth, i pick them up like i said to inspect against the safelight, i might do that 2 times before they are finished, but i do wear gloves the whole time i handle the film that seems to help too, my first xray film i processed looked like a cat had gotten hold of it lol, but thanks to several people that told me different things to try, i just put all there advice together and now no scratches. last bit of advice i had gotten was dont squeegie the neg. just let it drip dry. so far so good.

[ImSoNegative]

Jim those carbon transfers you have are awsome, ive still yet to try it, i do have all the things i need though, you will be hearing from me when i start this process trust me lol

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Jim those carbon transfers you have are awsome, ive still yet to try it, i do have all the things i need though, you will be hearing from me when i start this process trust me lol

no problem

[ShawnHoke]

just rock back and forth, i pick them up like i said to inspect against the safelight, i might do that 2 times before they are finished, but i do wear gloves the whole time i handle the film that seems to help too, my first xray film i processed looked like a cat had gotten hold of it lol...

Good to know, that should cut down on my scratches big time. Thanks for the tip!

And Jim, your portraits are fantastic, just how I hoped the x-ray film would behave for that subject matter.

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Good to know, that should cut down on my scratches big time. Thanks for the tip!

And Jim, your portraits are fantastic, just how I hoped the x-ray film would behave for that subject matter.

Thanks. They are all shot on 8x10 green and I have always developed in tanks. No scratches ever!. For my 11x14 and 14x17 I use a flat bottom tray for the developer only. The other trays are regular ones. The great thing is you watch it happen! Once you mess up a few by over development you will know what to look for in the dark.

Here is a high contrast portrait of my youngest son shot on blue sensitive. Again this is the carbon print. Shot with my 14" Darlot stopped down a bit from F-4.