8x10 contact prints from color negatives?

[todddos]

Hello,

I am considering entering the world of 8x10 for a body of work which I'm currently pursuing. However, I do have serious concerns about be able to financially support shooting on the format.

I'm quite sure that for some time, I will only be able to afford to contact print from my color negatives. And I'm completely comfortable with that... putting together a portfolio of 8x10 contact prints is exciting to me, and i may even produce a personal artist book with the actual prints themselves. However, I'm not sure if I've ever seen an 8x10 contact print from a color negative, although I've certainly seen many in B&W and am always very impressed. Nor have I heard much mention of them at all.

Can anyone share their experiences with making color 8x10 contact prints? Do they leave you with the same sense of awe that some b&w contacts do? Paper suggestions? I'm also interested to hear if anyone is developing their 8x10 color negs at home. If so, what does the process entail? How about the possibility of contact printing these negatives at home with a color enlarger? Is it feasible chemistry wise?

Look forward to hearing your feedback.

 

[Bob-D659]

There are a number of threads here on RA4 colour print processing, chems are available in the US from Adorama, and a couple of the threads even have the kodak product numbers. Process in the DARK at 20C, it is easy to do. All you need is a colour enlarger and a contact printing frame. Negatives are C41 process, and there are lots of threads on that as well.

 

[pgomena]

Determining if you can afford to do this certainly would be a first step. You can get working used camera with a lens and maybe a few film holders for $600 or so if you know what you want and shop wisely. Don't forget you will need a really big tripod with a sturdy head, and a good light meter.

Next, price 8x10 color negative film, then find a lab that can process it for you and the costs. Depending on where you live, you may or may not have such a lab. They are becoming scarce. While you're at it, find out if they can make contact prints, and how much a print will cost. You may have to hunt to find a lab that still makes optical prints as opposed to scanning negatives and producing digital output prints. These are scarcer still, but they are out there.

You certainly can process color negatives at home. There are kits from various manufacturers that will allow you to do this. It is not inexpensive, and maintaining consistent temperatures and other process controls is very important. Expect to ruin a fair amount of film in the learning process, especially if you've never tried it before. The same goes for color print processing. Also be aware that small amounts of color chemicals, if not used fairly quickly, tend to deteriorate once opened. They should be refrigerated or kept in a cool, dark place. It is best to plan a large processing run and use them fairly quickly, say within a couple of months' time.

Home color printing once was a popular hobby, and some pretty serious photographers have owned their own small-scale color darkrooms. Most of the small-scale market has disappeared with the advent of digital desktop printers and scanners. There is a wealth of information on this site in the color printing forum, and though I don't go there often, you can learn a lot just by reading the posts.

I've seen very few color contact prints. Some were "C" prints from color negatives, some were dye transfer prints from color transparencies. As with black-and-white contact prints, they are stunning.

If you want to do the type of project you outlined above, you are in for a long, steep, expensive learning curve. That doesn't mean it won't be fun, exciting and rewarding. My personal advice would be to start with black-and-white film and printing to learn to handle the materials. It's cheaper by far. The next best thing to do would be to get a job in a professional lab that handles color film processing and printing. Some colleges and universities with large art departments still may teach this kind of process, but they are becoming rare as well.

And study the work of Joel Meyerowitz, who worked extensively with 8x10 color negative film for several years and produced stunning work.

Good luck!

Peter Gomena

 

[aluncrockford]

I have just been working on a project shooting portraits on 10x8 and then contacting them ,the process is actually very simple . I dev the film in c41 Tetnal chemicals in a jobo expert then contact them with a contact printer from www.bostick-sullivan.com . I have a durst 705 colour printer and as a starting point set the filters to 40y 40m the paper I use is crystal archive gloss using a nova slot dev unit and fuji hunt chemicals (though I am told any r4 should be fine) printing is a lot easier than black and white and the results are extraordinary and I can honestly say the quality is something I have never seen with any other colour print output ,and as I have been a working advertising photographer for the last 25 years that is praise indeed . The film is not cheap but in the usa much less than the UK , but the high cost tends to focus the mind and you pre edit which means you use a lot less film , and the actual print cost is no more than scanning and inkjet printing ,so my advice is try it , it is actually very easy indeed ,which is more that can be said for keeping an eye in focus with a 480mm lens at F11

 

[DanielStone]

Todddos,

I'm in somewhat of the same "boat" as you. I'm brand new to the world of 8x10, but to me, its an exciting step in creating something unique and rarely seen these days. Especially since digi-photography has taken over much of the pro market, as well as some well-established artists. Many of whom formerly used 8x10.

what are you shooting, to warrant 8x10, just out of curiosity?

I'll be shooting 90% b/w, mostly because I'm a college student(photo major) who is on a serious budget myself, but I enjoy color a lot for certain subjects.

as others have stated, there are endless amounts of threads regarding c-41 processings(film) and ra-4 printing. Most people have been recommended by Photo Engineer(former employee of Kodak), to use the proper materials to get the best results for color materials(this includes SEPARATE bleach and fix steps, instead of BLIX(which is the 2 combined), but you'll see that when you search for c-41 processing. RA-4 is quite easy, at least the process is. Maintaining constant temperature for both the film and paper development is critical, mostly because you're not just working with density(as in b/w), but in color values as well.

so yes, lots to deal with, and as you've already come to find out, can be expensive. But the results IMO are VERY worth it, and it can be very liberating knowing that YOU have control over EVERY step in the process of shooting-->processing-->printing. This for me has been the best part.

just so you know, if you don't feel up to the experience point yet of processing your own film(especially 8x10), you might want to look at labs that can handle it. There are many labs here in the states(you haven't mentioned where you live that I can see), so if you're in Italy, it might be harder to find a suitable lab for 8x10 c-41, than say Los Angeles or New York.

as of right now, since I don't have the luxury of being able to have a fully functional, dedicated space, let alone much storage space at all for chemicals outside those for b/w; I've been using Samy's Camera in Santa Barbara, CA for my c-41 and E-6 developing, both rollfilm AND sheetfilm.

Their prices are targeted at the student market, since they're so close to Brooks Institute, so they want to get a lot of business. check out their website and pricelist here:

Dead Link Removed

they take in mail-order, which is what I've been doing now for almost a year, and so far, my film has been spotless. Better(and much cheaper) than labs here in LA. The only downside that I can see is that they don't have any proofing service for c-41 development outside of lab prints(done on a machine), so optical contact sheets are kinda out of the question, for now(I've kept asking them if they'll add this as a service)

sorry for my rambling on, but I felt it pertinent to let you know that there are still many labs here in the USA, and worldwide(just not as centralized as here in the US), that provide excellent service for developing and proofing. Just what your price range is can determine a lot IMO.

-Dan