Ghost-islature

Too bad about the emulsion issues. However, I like the juxtaposition of the snow like grass (it rarely snows in Victoria anyway) against the monolithic (in more ways than one) BC Government edifice. Well done.

Superb. I didn't think that HIE was produced in 4x5, only 135. Presumably it was once available in 4x5. Is that the reason for the emulsion problems - simply age?

4x5 allows enlargements that overcome the inherent graininess of HIE so you get a fast emulsion without grain and the unique effect of HIE. Thinking about it, this seems a good reason to have retained it in 120 as well.

All academic now of course

pentaxuser

Yeah pentax, it was 4x5. I got the stuff for free from a LFinfo forum user and my favorite photo was taken on it (will upload it here). The emulsion damage is a consequence of age and uncertain storage. The guy I got it from got it from some other guy who got it from some other guy ad nauseum; probably 15 years old and stored in a hot garage or something.

I have something like 7 or 8 sheets left (four loaded in holders right now just waiting for the right subject).

It really sucks that it's discontinued, because like you said you can overcome the graininess in 4x5... and the high speed lets you tackle windy days and moving clouds and people in the scene (like that ghost baby crawling around the lawn on the right hand side).

I'd be using it all the time if it was still available but I discovered it too late.

walter 23,

What you describe as emulsion damage looks very much what I have observed on fresh sheet film when loading/unloading/shooting in extremely hot (US SW) or cold (sunny winter days in Nova Scotia) (i.e., very low humidity) conditions. I attributed these kinds of patterns (the amoeboid stars in your sky) to discharge of static electricity. I actually noticed sparks one time when I unloaded film in my darkroom. I now routinely wet the air in my darkroom with a spray bottle when it is time to load/unload film. It also seems to help to use wooden film holders. Best, Markus Albertz

Markus, you're not the first to suggest static discharge and I had wondered about that myself. I don't recall seeing any visible sparks or hearing the discharges though I guess it's possible that smaller, less detectable events could have made these patterns.

However this film definitely has its age-related abnormalities. Every negative has had a lot of clear speckles and several larger clear patches. You can see them as the dark spots in the sky. I got lucky in that one which is probably the best photo I've ever taken didn't have any noticable big black spots.