How do you handle RA-4 test strips?

[BenJammin]

I've done some b/w darkroom printing, and am about to embark on a journey into color printing. I've got a 11x17 print drum, and wondering what is the best way to make and process exposure and filtration tests while being economical with paper and chemistry. The videos and books I've seen gloss over this step, which seems especially important since its all one-shot chemistry use.

 

[MattKing]

Some people seek out small print drums just for this purpose. For example, there is a Cibachrome drum designed for 4"x5" prints.

 

[koraks]

since its all one-shot chemistry use.

But it doesn't have to be. It's just one way of doing it. There's nothing inherently wrong with replenishing chemistry and IMO it's a very valid option also when developing in drums.

while being economical with paper

RA4 paper is ridiculously cheap, so personally I generally don't bother with test strips because I print small (5x7 - 8x10 or thereabouts) and instead of using strips, I just do test sheets. It doesn't take all that much paper to dial in a particular roll of film and from there on it's just straightforward printing with only small adjustments. With color I typically do only a fraction of the test strips I need for B&W.

 

[btaylor]

What koraks says, yes.
When I was using print drums I would sometimes print 4 4x5s on an 8x10 sheet of paper to dial in density/filtration and run it through the drum. Using a 2 blade easel and masking off the other 3 4x5s with a piece of black cardboard. I also did one shot chemistry with drums, they use so little chemistry cost wasn’t much of a factor. The suggestion for a smaller drum (less chemistry) is a good one as well.

 

[Mick Fagan]

For somewhere around 30 years, I used the Jobo Varioformat easel, brilliant and with the exposure steps using the test strip printer which was included with the units when they were available new, very accurate.

I mainly used it with colour, but many a time I have used it with B&W. Also a popular way to make 4 x 4x5" different prints on a single sheet of 8x10" colour paper.

 

[halfaman]

Except the scene has a color temperature very different from the film calibration or you are trying to get it, you will be moving around the same filtering package. I bought a Minolta colorimeter for around €100 to check color temperature when I have doubts and carry with me three filters for color correction (normally Skylight, 81B, 82A). The idea is to have more or less the same color temperature than film calibration so the filtering package is about the same and only small corrections are needed.

Another way is to shot the scene twice, first with a grey card in it, and use later a color analyzer in the enlarger. Color analyzer calibration is for an specific film-paper combination and requires a densitometer or a very good eye, but in principle you could get an almost "good" filtering (and also exposure in some models) on the first attempt.

RA4 developer on Jobo-like rotary processors is one-shot unless you use a very high ammount (800ml instead on 100ml). I find it is a more predictable and repetitive process to use small quantities of fresh chemistry as one-shot than reusing large ammounts.

 

[koraks]

RA4 developer on Jobo-like rotary processors is one-shot unless you use a very high ammount (800ml instead on 100ml).

You could use e.g. 1000ml working stock and then use 50-100ml for each print out of that, returning it to the 1000ml batch after each print/strip, while keeping the 1000ml volume replenished. That way you can run the Jobo with only a small volume while enjoying the stability and economy of a larger, replenished volume.

 

[Fangzhou]

I use jobo 1520 to process the test trip

 

[DREW WILEY]

I use inexpensive DevTech 8x10 drums for my test strips. That requires less than 3/4 oz each RA4 chem (Dev, Blix) per test. I just extract that small amount of volume from the larger bottle in the tempering bath awaiting the full sized large print. I rarely make RA4 prints smaller than 20X24 inch, and often even bigger.
My roller device is customized; and for sake of optimal color purity and predictability, I mix only enough chem for a single day's project at a time. Easy enough.