Efke IR820 and "subdued" light

[RobertV]

I have loaded/unloaded Efke IR 35mm film in subdued light with, at worst, just a little bit of fogging on the first frame but sometimes no fogging at all.

Efke 120 film is even safer in my experience, once the film is wound tightly then its fine, even in sun light.

I think Efke are just covering themselves as someone mentioned already.

That's exactly my experiences too.

Tri-acetate or Polyester? (35mm)

Yes, we switched to PE base, but two years ago.

Regards,

Fotokemika

(e-mail: 30-06-2010)

 

[Dave Krueger]

Thanks for the info about the film base, RobertV. I suspect polyester might be more of a pipe for light than acetate, so that may add to the potential for some leakage.

Also good to know that there are others who manage to load 35mm without being in total darkness.

 

[RobertV]

It (Efke) has now a little bit more "light piping" effect but the new PET base is colored Blue.

So the sensitivity for this will be in the margin. It's not good at all to load any film in full sun. With a bit creativity you can always load in a bit subdue light.
I like the Orthopan iso 25 version. Rodinal, Beutler A+B, Neofin Blue or FX-1 are terrific developers for this type of film.

About IR films: All actual IR films can be loaded in subdue light. Even Rollei IR 820/400 or SFX (200) is not really a problem. Neither for the IR detection diodes in a more automatic camera. Also the regular standard developer tanks, Jobo (15xx, 25xx) or Paterson (Super system IV) is not a problem.

The biggest problem is finding the right exposure due to the fact you depend on the actual amount of IR light in the atmosphere. So it can vary.

When not used, keep the films in the freezer. Take a few hours before loading them out on room temperature. Shoot, and develop as soon as possible. Shooting IR is no rocket science.....

Just compensate a bit for the different focus point, IR mark on the lens but when shooting W.A. it's always in the DOF.

Important of all Polyester type roll films is when taking them out, keep them straight and firm while folding the backing paper and put the self adhesive strip to seal the film. The (roll) film must be tight. Polyester is tending to unroll but it's just a matter of a little excercise. In fact not difficult at all.

 

[Dave Krueger]

In the Maco IR820c data sheet it says that polyester tends to curl and recommends hanging a weight on the bottom of "up to several kilograms"! :eek: I wonder what the clamp would look like that could attach that to the end of the film. Maybe a C-clamp or a pair of vice grips. haha!

 

[RobertV]

Better to put them in a sleeve and put some weight on it.

A modern Polyester film has a double non-curling layer. If you look at the (latest) Rollei-Maco Retro 100 TONAL, equipped with this layers, it's laying perfectly flat. It's a product made by (Agfa) Gevaert in Belgium. A new Orthopan iso 100 film. Clear Polyester, flat and nice for scanning too. 100 micron in 35mm and roll film, 175 micron in sheet film so technically it's possible to make a flat Polyester base film.

 

[Dave Krueger]

Well, here it is.

The plan is to hide it behind something and just use the light reflected from a white surface. If you let your eyes get accustomed to the darkness, it seems quite sufficient to see what you're doing.

 

[Dave Krueger]

Results

It looks like the light (bounced from a white surface) didn't even completely expose the leader that was outside the cassette. I loaded the film and wound enough of it onto the take up spool to ensure that it was secure, which means about 1.5 revolutions.

The light green leader was cut off prior to development. The second piece was cut off with the clamp. The increasingly lighter levels of fog are apparently due to my pulling the film out of the cassette incrementally as I loaded it into the camera. Also, there are no sprocket hole shadows, so the fogging happened outside the cassette.

Also, just for the record, the best exposure was the one at the exposed according to the recommendations in the instructions (meter set to ISO 3) which is the third frame. I used a 720nm filter that I got from ebay for $18. Development was 14 minutes in Xtol 1:1 at 73F. And there was practically no curl. I am quite pleased with the film.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

If you intend to shoot a lot of IR film then consider buying a changing bag. They have other uses and are a good investment for any photographer.

 

[olwick]

I use IR820 all the time in my Holga and I've never loaded it in subdued light. Just normal light. If I'm outside, I just put my back to the sun, that's it. No problems at all.

In fact, last time I did some shots outside and was finished. Came inside (stilll normal daylight, lots of windows) put the camera on the counter and was going to pull out my roll. I took off the back and they realized that I hadn't wound the film on. After swearing briefly, I put the back on and wound it fully onto the spool. When I got the film back, I was pleasantly surprised that only that one frame plus a portion of the one on each side of it was fogged, just as I would have expected with any film.

I think this film is a lot heartier than people think. I don't treat it any differently than any other film.