Exposing and developing negatives for Lodima G3

pkr1979

Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2019
Messages
515
Location
Oslo
Format
Multi Format
Hi all,

I got some Lodima G3 on the way, and while the instructions on how to develop and deal with the paper is pretty well described… Im not so sure on how to expose and develop the negatives I will be printing, so, I was hoping for som advise.

Film Im using and got is Kodak Tmax 400 and Ilford Ortho Plus. Ive been developing Tmax 400 in Pyrocat HD, and Ortho+ Ive usually got developed at the local lab.

For the Lodima paper I figured Id try one sheet of each film at the local lab (probably exposed at box speed), and one sheet each in Pyrocat (rotary processing) - to see what it gives me.

So, what Im curious about is how would you expose and develop Tmax 400 or Ortho Plus (alternatively FP4+) in Pyrocat to make prints with Lodima G3, or how would you expose and develop any film for Lodima G3 printing?

Ive also been looking at UV bulbs, but I dont know if that makes any sense.

Cheers
Peter
 
Joined
Sep 10, 2002
Messages
3,596
Location
Eugene, Oregon
Format
4x5 Format
Nothing will substitute for your own testing. Lodima, as I understand anyway, is rather contrasty, so you'll likely need a reduced development time (or weaker developer dilution) than you would for good ol' grade 2 filtration on VC paper.

And, since the paper is fixed contrast, you will probably need to look into having different development times for scenes with different subject luminance ranges à la Zone System or even Beyond the Zone System.

I'd start with a scene with a normal contrast range, make sure I gave adequate exposure (i.e., downrate film speed a bit) and make several negative. These, then would be developed at a few different times from my usual "normal" and at, say, 10%, 20% and 30% less. Contact print a perfect proof from these and use the information from that to refine your film speed and development times.

Repeat for scenes with different contrast ranges.

Best,

Doremus
 
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