B&W Printing of color negatives

Does anyone print color negs on B&W paper. If so what results do you get and what materials. I know Kodak used to make a paper just for this but I guess it is gone with all the other papers.
Marvin

I recently printed a thin Fuji Superia 800 neg onto Arista EDU Ultra paper. It worked very well at grade 2.5. The scene was lit with tungsten, which would have made for a very orange color print, so I think that means the negative was rather cyany. Maybe that helped.

I have had the best luck by using litho film to make a 4x5 interpos, then using this to make an enlarged neg for contact printing. It really lets you fine tune the contrast. I usually make the interpos so it holds the full scale of the original neg, then control contrast when enlarging back to a contact negative. I use David Soemarko's LC-1 formula to do this, which I got from the Christopher James alt. processes book.

There was also an Oriental Seagull paper made for just this purpose, and B&H had it available as little as two years ago, to my recollection. You may be able to find it on the 'Bay, or via other sources.

Kodak Panalure was a panchromatic fiber based paper for B&W enlargements from color negatives. Panalure II RC was similar and Resin Coated. You can still see this sometimes on the auction site but it can be a little pricey.

I've printed quite a few C41 negs on regular Kodak Polycontrast over the years. I've found that I needed a pretty stiff filter (4) and a long exposure to get enough contrast in the image. The problem is that the orange mask in in the C41 negative is very close to the color of the OC Amber safe lights we use with the paper so it takes a relatively long time to get enough light of the proper color on the paper to make a satisfactory image.

I have. Didn't like it. But I was also printing 160s (low contrast) and needed to up the contrast to 4 (high contrast) to get through the mask, which created a completely different look. I might try it again someday, though.

I had success only with ilford XP C41 film (it is not a true color film, I know ), all other (fuji superia, kodak gold) gave me very low contrast, and exposure time was very very long.

Tried some c-41 that had been processed in Rodinal, low contrast and looonnnggg exposure time.

SMBooth said:

Tried some c-41 that had been processed in Rodinal, low contrast and looonnnggg exposure time.

Click to expand...

Someone on APUG recently posted some "Colour" images from a colour film processed in Rodinal.

P-aminophenol has slight colour developing agent properties.

Ian

i have students who do it all the time. THe contrast needs a big boost and the times are much longer but some have been very successful.

I print all the time on Kodabrom II grades four and five. Sometimes I have to use a Kodak #5 VC filter as a neutral density filter to get time to do burn-ins on my skies. All in all not the best for art prints, but very pleasing for some home decor hangers and special effect work(sabattier effect). Just get out there and play, keep some notes, and find what works(and is pleasing)for you.

Rick

B&W internegatives

You could make an intermediate positive (a.k.a. an interpositive), from which you will make the final negative. This is the method which I used for years when I used to have to make a quantity of B&W prints from a colour negative. This will also work if your original is a B&W negative.

The first step was a flat, dark interpositive on a panchromatic film. I originally used Super-XX. When it was no longer available, I used T-Max 100.

The next step was an internegative, on Kodak Professional Copy Film, also no longer available. The reason for this film was that contrast was controlled by both development and exposure, it having a compound characteristic curve. You could try a normal panchromatic film, but you may have to develop it it a higher than normal contrast developer, like D-19. You will find that extending the times in a developer like D-76 or HC-110 won't give you the contrast you will need to get a decent negative.

Contact is the way to go, if possible. If you are making this duplicate negative because you want a large negative for contact printing or because you need a large negative for very large enlargements, then you should make the interpositive by contact, and the internegative by projection. The reason for this is that dust will be a major problem, and dust on the original negative will be white on the interpositive, and will ultimately be white on the final print, which is relatively easy to retouch. If you get dust on the interpositive, it will be black on the final print, which can be very difficult to retouch. If you make the internegative via projection, it is somewhat easier to keep clean than a contact internegative.

Or, you could make a B&W internegative directly from the original colour negative. I've done exactly that in the past, when I was working for a large photographic operation. We were given a colour negative and required to make a large volume of B&W prints.

We used two methods: the first was to make an interpositive on panchromatic film, and then an internegative on ortho film, as above. This was time consuming, and dust was a problem. So, I found that one could expose the original colour negative on to Ilford XP-2 sheet film, and then process it in an E-6 line.

The main problem with this is that the contrast will be low; you will almost certainly have to "push" the film in order to get adequate contrast. Also, the resulting negative will have a blue-ish cast to it. Some exposure and development tests are definitely in order.

Also, unless you are doing your own E-6 processing, the lab may refuse to give your film E-6 processing. Have a word with the manager or owner. They may tell you that it will throw their process out of control. It has been my experienece, with more than 27 years in the industry, that that won't happen unless you are running an awful lot of C-41 film through an E-6 line.

Drop me a PM me if you want further details.