JandC 400 film.

Jorge · Jul 6, 2004

Well, the planets aligned correctly, the photo gods were in a good mood and Murphy was out sick so I finally got my two 12x20 envelopes of film without one being ruined by UPS ( I guess they finally got tired of throwing away money). So I am thinking of given JandC a shot and see what their films do. Nothing wrong with the Photowarehouse film or service, I am just thinking that those 2 extra stops in film speed can come in very handy.

So the question is, of those who have used it, how able is the film to take expansion, how was the tonality, etc, etc?. I specially would like to hear from people doing alternative or azo printing.

Thanks all,

Alex Hawley · Jul 6, 2004

Jorge, there's a good discussion on the Azo forum (Film category) about J&C 400. Sandy King has done some testing on it using Pyrocat HD. So far, everyone I've seen writing about says its a winner.

Jorge · Jul 6, 2004

Alex Hawley said:
Jorge, there's a good discussion on the Azo forum (Film category) about J&C 400. Sandy King has done some testing on it using Pyrocat HD. So far, everyone I've seen writing about says its a winner.

Ah, see.....senility is setting in, I forgot about this thread and must have read it 20 times...thanks Alex!

mwtroxell · Jul 6, 2004

J&C 400

Jorge,

I was planning to order some J&C 400 and checked the J&C site earlier today. The J&C 400 is out of stock. I sent them an email asking when they would be in stock again but haven't recieved a reply yet.

Mike

Jorge · Jul 6, 2004

Thanks Mike, but I am in the planning stages right now, my next order should be in a couple of months. Having read Sandy's review as suggested by Alex it seems that it is a winner. I am thinking maybe with a 10% solution of NaOH instead of the carbonate I can squeeze a 10.5 SBR, which is about as good as I am getting with the PW film but I got the extra two stops!

sanking · Jul 6, 2004

Jorge said:
Ah, see.....senility is setting in, I forgot about this thread and must have read it 20 times...thanks Alex!

One of the interesting things I found in testing JandC 400 out was that you can get a higher CI with extreme minimal or semi-stand agitation than with constant agitation. For example, using the 2:2:100 dilution of Pyrocat-HD the CI maxed out at about 0.90 at 17 minutes of development with rotary agitation, whereas with extreme minimal agitation (1:1:150 dilution) the film reached a maximum CI of sligthly over 1.05. But, it also built up quite a bit more general stain with the semi-stand method.

Sandy King

Jorge · Jul 7, 2004

sanking said:
One of the interesting things I found in testing JandC 400 out was that you can get a higher CI with extreme minimal or semi-stand agitation than with constant agitation. For example, using the 2:2:100 dilution of Pyrocat-HD the CI maxed out at about 0.90 at 17 minutes of development with rotary agitation, whereas with extreme minimal agitation (1:1:150 dilution) the film reached a maximum CI of sligthly over 1.05. But, it also built up quite a bit more general stain with the semi-stand method.

Sandy King

Thanks Sandy, I just checked my curves and a CI of .9 is plenty enough for me. I dont have tubes large enough to do semi stand and frankly I am too impatient to sit around for 45 min waiting...

Francesco · Jul 7, 2004

JC 400 is my choice for a 400 to partner Efke PL100. When using AZO I find that it matches better with Grade 3 and has a hard time looking good on Grade 2 (unlike Efke). I would avoid scenes of less than SBR 7 with this film if possible. Should work nicely with scenes up to SBR 10/11.

David A. Goldfarb · Jul 7, 2004

I found the old version to lack sufficient Dmax for good results on Azo, but the new version is much improved. I've tested it with Acufine and PMK for enlarging purposes and next I'll test in ABC pyro targeting for Azo. Here are some scans of the test shots directly from the negs to give a vague idea of what the tonality is like. The Acufine scans are from a better scanner.

Acufine, EI 640 (from 6x6 negs, some cropping):

PMK, EI 250 (from 6x7 neg, full frame):

Jorge · Jul 7, 2004

Thanks David and Francesco, dont know I am starting to think this might not be the film for me. The PW is a good overall film, good expansion, good contraction. I guess I will give it a shot and do some tests....after all cloudy or overcast days here are rare...

mwtroxell · Jul 7, 2004

I had asked J&C when J&C 400 8x10 would be back in stock. I got this email from John today:

"It is being produced this week and cut at the factory next week. We should
see it in about 3-4 weeks"

sanking · Jul 7, 2004

Jorge said:
Thanks David and Francesco, dont know I am starting to think this might not be the film for me. The PW is a good overall film, good expansion, good contraction. I guess I will give it a shot and do some tests....after all cloudy or overcast days here are rare...

There is no question but that the PhotoWarehouse 125 ASA film is better than JancC 400 for expansion and contraction. But the low EFS is quite limiting for me when working with the 12X20. I tend to make most of my negatives in low lighting and often get pushed into reciprocity.

I have found the JandC 400 film to have an effective film speed of a full two stops more than the PW 125 film and with regular processing in Pyrocat-HD it is capable of contraction development up to at least SBR 9 and for expansion down to SBR 6. And if you need lower you can selenium tone down for slightly more CI.

The new HP5+ is slightly better than JandC 400 for both expansion and contraction, but it is also a lot more expensive, at least from the sources with which I am familiar.

In any event if you really need the extra two stops of speed JandC 400 is a very useful film to have on hand.

Sandy King

Jorge · Jul 7, 2004

And if you need lower you can selenium tone down for slightly more CI.

Selenium tonning works with Pyrocat HD?...really!!?? ah men, this is good new for me. Please, please tell me I did not miss understand this.

I agree with you that the 2 stops are very desireable, this is why I want to try it. Ok, I am convinced my next order will be for Jand C 400.....thanks Sandy.

JandC 400 film.

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