Arista Edu and converting it to different low contrast peaceful film by development

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Jun 13, 2014

I have 30 meters of Arista Edu 400 and its in freezer for two years.
I have D76, Moersch Tanol and Rodinal.
I will develop film after 15 years.

I read some members reports , its possible to develop any film in to any look.

What makes that film extremelly sharp and low contrast. I looked many examples from that film and it has a harsh contrast and highlights are pure white.

I want to completely reverse that. I want peaceful , elegant look , any lost of highlights , no steel black but smooth transition, great smooth tones like diffused light.

Thank you for reading,

Umut

jp498 · Jun 13, 2014

Probably the wrong film... If you must use what you've got, d76 1:3. Branching out a little, I'd suggest some PMK developer.

Rick A · Jun 13, 2014

Contrast is a result of subject brightness when you include deep shadows and brightly lighted areas in the same photo. To reduce contrast, shoot in one type of lighting condition, trying to eliminate deep shadow and bright areas, one or the other, or shoot in subdued(flat) light. If a scene is contrasty, reduce developing time, this is usually only done with sheet film, or shoot the entire roll in the same lighting situation. I usually shoot one stop over exposed when I plan on developing in Rodinal, full speed in D-76, I hav not used Tanol so I can't help you with that one. You will have to experiment to get the look you want, and don't forget to do a personal ISO test to verify what speed you actually need to get that.

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Jun 14, 2014

Hello jp498

What do you mean with branching ? Thank you.

Hi Rick,

You are right but where will I find diffused light here , sun looks like a projector. But You are completely right , I figured that each of these strong images were 12 AM sunny day shots. My FED 50 mm and Elmar 35 mm are exceptionally high contrast lenses. I have 100 ASA cartridges for 400 ASA hand spooled film. Does it help to reduce the contrast ? I will experiment with reduced development time. I saw your arista edu shot at gallery and white tree was like marble. I dont want this. How will I do personal iso test ?

Thank you ,

Umut

StoneNYC · Jun 14, 2014

Shoot it at 25 and pull it accordingly...

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Jun 14, 2014

Thank you Stone.

timor · Jun 14, 2014

Use two bath developer or use water bath after regular developer. You just have to experiment by how much you have to shorten the time of normal development. Shooting ISO 400 at ISO 25 maybe a bit extreme, but pulling by 1.5 stop will give good results.

Rick A · Jun 14, 2014

Shoot in open shade.

ritternathan · Jun 14, 2014

I have used the Arista Edu 400 in 120. First I tried Xtol 1+3, then dilute Pyrocat-MC 4:2:600 and minimal agitation with little luck for what you are aiming for. Finally, one day I ran out of Xtol and mixed up some DS-10, (the recipe is on the Digital Truth website), I don't know if it is still here. Anyway, this is what has worked for me: DS-10 1+3 at 75F/24C EI 400 for 20min with 5 agitations. Initial 30 sec, then one a min after, and then one agitation at 15, 10, and 5 min. The grain is controlled, the highlights aren't impossible to print, and the shadows didn't drop out. In anything but direct sun I can get away with 400, but when it is sunny, I would still shoot it at 200 and shorten the dev. time. YMMV.

removed account4 · Jun 14, 2014

umut

roll small rolls of this film, 12 exposures .. bracket and develop in different developers
personally i would overexpose it by 4 maybe 5 stops and process it in caffenol
and if i couldn't find the ingredients, in DEKTOL print DEVELOPER dilute 1:10
and stand develop it for 30mins

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Jun 15, 2014

Hello all,

Rick, I see your point, personally I dont like heat and bright sun, I sit all the day and when the heat loses it strenght at 1 AM , I start to think , surf , read. My eyes are sensitive to direct light and I cant do anything at heat. I am living 300 meters diameter area around my home and I dont leave that zone. I know few open shade subjects and been shot and put in to the gallery.

I have only tanol, rodinal and d 76. For each one of them , only advise came 1/3 dilute it.

John , I know DK 50 - Dektol developer but I spent lot for above.

timor , I can go 400 to 50 maximum. With no dx 100 asa cartridges , +1 ev mode action at leica mini 2 and mini zoom , 400 to 50 and I can climb from there 50 to 100 only. No more action on these cameras.

Nathan , if you have experience with pyro developers , I have catechol and 100 asa film loses speed to 33 asa with that developer. I shoot everything at 50 for tanol.

In few weeks time , I will try everything you all advised me and put to the gallery or article.

Thank you for reading and answers,

Umut

ic-racer · Jun 15, 2014

I looked many examples from that film and it has a harsh contrast and highlights are pure white.

And if the images were blurry you'd also blame the film? Those characteristics you mention are due to poor processing and printing technique.

Develop your film to a gamma around 0.7 using D76.

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Jun 15, 2014

ic racer ,

Images - I saw 30 or more - were damn sharp but contrast were ugly , I cant describe in other word , they were like 20 flashes worked together. I did not buy that film and may be I should use for toy cameras. I dont think anything could not control it. As someone said wrong film. But I will experiment as you said also , I am waiting the mail , may be next week.

Rick A · Jun 15, 2014

Mustafa, you need to shoot in lighting conditions that favor low contrast, and develope for low contrast--with any film you use, if that is the style and look you choose to be yours. The film plays somewhat important role, but lighting and development are critical for desired effect. Some films are more prone to high contrast, but your job is to figure out what is needed to overcome that. You cannot rely on what works for others, you must do your own experiments to find what works for you using the materials you have chosen and have on hand. There are no short cuts with film, be prepared to do the work, or don't do it at all. It's alright to ask for pointers, but that only serves to give some direction, more often serves to confuse. You have good materials, decent film, great developers, now you need to acquire the necessary experience to make them work to your favor. This means, you must do the work.

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Jun 15, 2014

Thank you very much Rick for your wise advice.

Rick A · Jun 15, 2014

One more thought Mustafa, do you think it possible to put some sort of ND filter over the light meter of the Leica to fool the meter into over exposing ((lower ISO setting)?

removed account4 · Jun 15, 2014

Mustafa Umut Sarac said:
I have only tanol, rodinal and d 76. For each one of them , only advise came 1/3 dilute it.

John , I know DK 50 - Dektol developer but I spent lot for above.

Umut

hi umut

is it a bulk roll you have ?

if time, $ and materials allow it, do small roll tests instead of a large roll of film.
bracket your exposures if you can ( meter for whatever ISO you want as your ISO and vary your exposures by 1 stop ...
if you have a tripod this can be done leaving the fstop alone and just change the shutter speed
... for example meter says for iso 200 f8 @ 125thS ... so you do f8 -- 125, 60 and 250 ) and develop ..
look at your film, scan then? print them ? take notes ... see which exposure you like the best
and repeat changing 1 part of the equation ... so you can improve your results to match what you really want

i'd try the developers in their recommended ( by manufacturer ) dilutions
to get a baseline for yourself ... your development style ( way you agitate, the water you use &c )
is different from everyone else's

looking forward to seeing your article + results !
john

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Jun 15, 2014

Thank you John , weather turned to windy , I think there is rain tonight.

Best ,
Umut

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Jun 15, 2014

Hello Rick ,

I just saw your message , Its 400 ASA film in 100 ASA dx coded canisters and I can lower the ASA with mode to 50.
50 100 200 400 , 3 stop slower. Isnt that enough , it would take 1 month to nd filter reach me. Turkish Airport Customs even tasted my maple syrup and broke the ceramics in the package. It takes 3 weeks to leave the customs .

ic-racer · Jun 15, 2014

Mustafa Umut Sarac said:
ic racer ,

Images - I saw 30 or more - were damn sharp but contrast were ugly ,

Where are you viewing these images? Gallery? Museum? Friends prints? Blaming any film for a poor print you may have seen on the internet is ludicrous.

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Jun 15, 2014

ic racer ,

you are looking for trouble and I wont go in this .

Thanks anyway,

Umut

Rick A · Jun 15, 2014

Mustafa Umut Sarac said:
Hello Rick ,

I just saw your message , Its 400 ASA film in 100 ASA dx coded canisters and I can lower the ASA with mode to 50.
50 100 200 400 , 3 stop slower. Isnt that enough , it would take 1 month to nd filter reach me. Turkish Airport Customs even tasted my maple syrup and broke the ceramics in the package. It takes 3 weeks to leave the customs .

Just thinking out loud, just go with what you have.

Pioneer · Jun 15, 2014

Mustafa, I live in the desert but it is not like what you are living in. However, as soon as I get an opportunity, Building on Stone's recommendation I will try a roll of my AEU400 at ISO50 and stand develop in Rodinal to see what comes out. It is overcast and cloudy today so it won't work. I have never tried this before so it might be interesting.

Bill Burk · Jun 15, 2014

Mustafa,

I don't see any reason (other than good experimental ideas) to shoot any lower than 100, especially since your camera limits you there.

I hope you understand that a lot of people take and make contrasty pictures because that's a look they want, I don't blame the film.

Developing less than they do will solve any contrast issue. Shooting the film at 100 gives you the safety to develop a little less without losing detail.

Athiril · Jun 16, 2014

Mix up your own 'standard' developer, use less hydroquinone, or ascorbate, and possibly more metol or phenidone. Also decrease sodium sulfite to half or less. Essentially a lower contrast developer, you could also take an existing developer, such as D-76 or Xtol, and add some metol or phenidone and dilute it 1:1, which will again change the ratio and make it lower contrast.

You can also greatly increase sharpness and fineness of grain in a film using a custom developer and giving up film speed of 2 stops (or more), if that's your goal, I'd start with a 100 speed film for that. Still applies to higher speed films.

I usually do it with C-41 film, the basic premise is to rate the film at 1/4 box speed, use C-41 developer, but add 10g/L of potassium bromide and develop to 4m 15s (which is longer than normal). It is also good for film which is otherwise fogged badly.

I've done similar with B&W, by addition of KBr at around those amounts and extending the time, but don't recall exact details.

Arista Edu and converting it to different low contrast peaceful film by development

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