Large Format X-Ray Photo

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Nokton48

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Ashton Pond Norma Handy HRU Mic-X
by Nokton48, on Flickr

Ashton Pond Columbus Ohio Sinar Norma Handy 4x5 Fuji HR-U XRay 65mm F8 at F22 Schneider CF + Sinar Norma Dark Yellow 103mm Glass Disk 1 sec at F22 Legacy Mic-X replenished stock in tray 18 mins at 62F Arista #2 RC 4x 8x10 Multigrade dev
 

Donald Qualls

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Okay, I have to try some X-ray. I can buy it precut to 4x5 by FPP, but after I pay them to cut it, it's almost the same price as .EDU Ultra 100 (any artifacts of the cutting process or safelight fog, no extra charge). Is there another source of x-ray film already in 4x5 format (ideally, factory cut), or will I have to cut it myself to enjoy the economy benefits in a 4x5 camera?
 
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Nokton48

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You have to cut it yourself. Buy a box of Fuji HR-U 8x10 100 sheets $28 or so plus actual shipping on Ebay. And a good trimmer which is another $15 on up. I have a twenty inch Beselar Rototrim and I use it every few days. Good to have around
 

Donald Qualls

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I have a rotary wheel trimmer -- the kind on a track. I'd just need to set up stops for exact dimension. That price is better than 120, though...
 
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Nokton48

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About 8 cents for a 4x5.

I take a piece of old exposed regular B&W film, and stick it in the trimmer tightly. Then I use that wide blue masking tape to set up precision bench stops for 4 inches and five inches. The film is not exactly 8x10 so to quarter it you really need a precision cutter. You can make a dummy sheet in whatever plate size you need and set it up with the tape. Pretty easy actually.
 

Donald Qualls

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Good method. My trimmer, like most of the slide-rotary type, has a very short base (11 inches long, two inches wide, because who'd ever want to trim more than an inch or so off sheets?), so first I need to make up an extender, a board with a slot or rabbet that the trimmer can sit down into.
 

Cholentpot

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You have to cut it yourself. Buy a box of Fuji HR-U 8x10 100 sheets $28 or so plus actual shipping on Ebay. And a good trimmer which is another $15 on up. I have a twenty inch Beselar Rototrim and I use it every few days. Good to have around

Where are you seeing $28? Cheapest is $35 shipped which really isn't that bad.

I've been using a paper slicer for my film. Kodak MIN-R. As of yet I've only developed in Rodinal. It develops pretty fast and with a very dilute amount of developer. Anyone try this stuff with HC-110?
 

Algo después

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The film sheaths in my Zeiss Ikon Ideal plate holders are nice and smooth, and quite black; I might have to get a box of the 18x24 x-ray film just to have cheap stock for those cameras...

So actually I know this test is plenty of deffects but even so I do like it.
Shooting with my Zeiss Ikon Maximar 207/7 and MXG Carestream, box of the18 x24 , cutted in 4 parts ( 0,7 cents for shoot, not bad at all)


Zeiss Ikon Maximar 207/7
F5,6- 1/50
Dev. HC-110 (Dil H). Developed by inspection
 
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Nokton48

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Ashton Pond Norma Handy HRU Mic-X 2
by Nokton48, on Flickr

Ashton Pond Columbus Ohio Sinar Norma Handy 4x5 Fuji HR-U XRay 65mm F8 at F22 Schneider CF + Sinar Norma Dark Yellow 103mm Glass Disk 1 sec at F22 Legacy Mic-X replenished stock in tray 18 mins at 62F Arista #2 RC 4x 8x10 Multigrade dev
 
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Nokton48

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Thank You Photojournaliste
 
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Nokton48

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This morning I am breaking down a gallon of Freestyle Leagcy Pro Mic-X, into three litres of Mic-X replenisher, which will go into three one litre brown glass bottles. All my glass bottles come from Photographer's Formulary and I have many extra at this point. My present stock Mic-X is from June 2020, and in a brown one gallon bottle will last for many years. My first gallon lasted three and a half years. finally dumped it but didn't really want to. About as economical a developer as you can get at it lasts about forever and gets better as it "seasons".

Here is the stuff for XRay:

https://www.freestylephoto.biz/749710-LegacyPro-Mic-X-Film-Developer-(Makes-1-Gallon)
 
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Nokton48

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Kodak has great instructions to make Microdol-X Replenisher, I am listing the steps here it is easy to do.

1. Start with three quarts of 100F water
2. Add the packet of one gallon Legacy Pro Mic-X
3. Add 24 grams of photographic grade Sodium Carbonate, monohydrate
4. Mix until completely dissolved
5. Add water to bring total volume to three liters.
6. Load the replenisher into the three one litre glass bottles.
7. Starting point is 30ml per 80sq" of B&W film

That's it. This stock solution will last for years and years and years.

I have road tested this for the last ten years and it is about as cheap as you can get, since the stock solution lasts so long.

The secret to replenished Mic-X is that it is a sssslllllooooowwww acting developer. I have gone as long as thirty minutes at ambient and that's about it. No fog at all with my new safelights, even with about twenty minutes total exposure.
 
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Cholentpot

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Finally pulled off a shot that I'll throw out here.

Crown Graphic, Kodak Min-R, 135mm, f/11, 1 second, metered at around ISO 50. HC-110 1:100 for 7 minutes. Photo was quite over exposed but I was able to recover via scanning. Turns out my lens does not like cable releases so it takes a few tries to get the thing to trip. I tried without and it was a disaster.

Last harvest of the season.


This film scratches up if I look at it wrong. I'm willing to just accept it and put it down to part of the look.
 

NB23

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How do you guys cut it to 4x5 without scratching it?
 

Cholentpot

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How do you guys cut it to 4x5 without scratching it?

Beats me. If not in the cutting it scratches in the loading or the developing.

So far the kids think the scratched look is quite cool and retro.
 

DWThomas

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I laid a fresh clean sheet of paper -- copier or newsprint -- down on the table of a guillotine style office paper cutter. Lay the film on the paper and position things such that a snippet of paper comes off with cut. It seemed to work reasonably well but is generally enough of a PITA I'd rather buy the size I needed if there were any quantities involved. And obviously the required lighting conditions are less than optimum to see what you are doing.
 
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Nokton48

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Wild Apple Tree Maki II HRU Handheld 1
by Nokton48, on Flickr

Handheld HRU 6.5cmx9cm XRay photography. Plaubel Makina II with Plaubel Makina Yellow Filter 1/50 at F6.0 Exposure determined by guess and experience so far. Replenished Legacy Mic-X 12 minutes at ambient. Neg is overexposed which is not right but very promising as I will decrease exposure by one and two stops next time. Also will reduce developing time to eight minutes which is more like it but this is working OK so far. Arista #2 8x10 Print Omega Dii Diffusion head laser aligned. Multigrade dev
 
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