Kodak 6556

Have recently recieved some of this film having never used it. I downloaded the Kodak pub for this and see that they recommend a EI of 25 for Kodalith (which I also have) but this is for using on a copy stand, which is what it is designed for. My question is for those of you that have used this type of film what did you rate it at? I am using 35mm if that matters.

Thanks,
G

Good Evening, G,

6556 is a very specialized film meant for use in producing half-tone negatives. It is very high contrast and is probably not suitable for most copying purposes.

Konical

Many very high contrast films work very well for pictorial contrast use if exposed and developed appropriately. I'd be inclined to try this film at a very low EI (shoot a test around EI 12, for a start, it shouldn't be more than one stop off that) and develop in highly dilute Rodinal or HC-110 with greatly reduced agitation -- one cycle per five minutse is probably about right, and a developing time that might run from twenty to as much as thirty minutes (even as high as 45 minutes with Rodinal 1:200) -- in order get the best combination of film speed and compensation to tame the contrast.

The above methods work very well for microfilms, which are also high contrast; the 6556 (based on Konical's description) look to be a similar emulsion. It's certainly worth trying if you're not just microfilming text and half-tone illustrations.

Donald,


In Kodak's tech sheet they recommend an EI of 25 with Kodalith, however it seems to me that I had heard someone using an EI of 6 or 12 as you suggested. I am just looking for someone who has either used a film like this or this particular one. Thank you for the starting point.

G