Orthochromatic film

[Mainecoonmaniac]

I'm thinking of experimenting with orthochromatic film. Is the film has the same color sensitivity has BW paper? If so, may I soup the film under a safe light similar to BW papers? Do you meter the film just like panochromatic film?

 

[removed account4]

hi there

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)
this thread i started a while back might be of some help

there are different types of non-panchromatic emulsions,
and it all depends on which sort of emulsion you are planning to use ...

have fun !
john

 

[nworth]

Metering is the same, but you have to remember that the film has very different speeds for daylight and tungsten light. You may sometimes need to take into account the film's lack of sensitivity to red light with certain subjects. Filter factors are also quite different.

 

[Vaughn]

Play with some x-ray film -- it is ortho and cheap. I cut to size under a red safe light, load it into my holders and develop it under a red safelight. Though it might pick up extra sensitivity in the developer, so you might want to reduce the safe light once you put the film in the developer.

I did not know one of my boys had many freckles until I did a portrait of him on 8x10 x-ray film! He was wearing red clothes, too.

Calder
Platinum/palladium print
X-ray film

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

Hey thanks for all the great advice. I'm going to have to look for some X-ray film. When film is cheap, it makes it easier to experiment and play.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I use xray film a lot. It is okay under amber coloured safelight as well. I order from cxsonline. Are you going to be contact printing? Please note that this film has emulsion on both sides and that may reduce sharpness a bit when enlarging. Some people remove the rear emulsion with bleach. I contact print so don't bother bleaching.

 

[steven_e007]

Some ortho film is quite fast. Ilford Ortho is about ISO 80 - so WAY faster than paper. It seems to be a bit sensitive to red, too. I have developed it under a deep ruby red safelight at a long distance from the lamp, but my usual, brighter and 'more red' darkroom lights would fog it. To be honest, the deep red light is too dim to see much, though, so why bother? I prefer to use time development, it is what I'm used to.

The kodak lith film I've got is much, much slower and you can play with that under normal red safelights.

 

[winger]

What developer do people use for X-ray film?

I have a few sheets of Arista ortholith left and I guess I can't buy more. I like that I can use my paper developer (Ilford multigrade).

 

[Vaughn]

The portraits I did of my boys was with the blue-sensitive x-ray film. The boys were in open shade. I exposed a set at 400ASA and at 800ASA. The film was processed at the hospital's x-ray lab, so I had no control there. I used the set exposed at 800 ASA as the 400ASA set was very dense. However, get this film into the dense forest, and the working ASA drops like a rock.

The x-ray film scratches very easily during processing, so that has to be watched. I develop x-ray film in the same developer as my conventional films (ilford PQ Universal), some folks use pryo developers, too.

Bryce
8x10 Platinum/palladium Print
x-ray film

And the same again with Alex...

 

[cmo]

If you just want the look of an ortho film you can use any panchromatic film and put a blue filter on the lens, it creates the same effect.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

A blue filter will duplicate the look of an unsensitized emulsion. A green filter will approximate the look of orthochromatic film. But for the best redition you need to use a minus red filter. If you look at the color wheeel you will see that this is a cyan filter.

 

[Jim Noel]

I don't leave the house to photograph w/o both Ilford Ortho and Lith film in addition to the FP4+ which is always present.
For me Ilford EI is 80 in daylight and 50 in tungsten.Lith film is 6 and 4 respectively.
There is nothing like these films for opening up the shadows, particularly in forest scenes. For portraits it is necessary to remember that reds will print as black. I develop by inspection with a red safelight.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

Thanks for all the wonderful tips. The film is cheap enough for me to play. Xray film offers interesting possibilities. I like the idea of souping the film under a dim safelight. No excuse for badly processed ortho film.

 

[AmandaTom]

I've been playing with aerographic duplicating film. I bought a 500 foot roll of the stuff and an 8x9.5 inch sheet costs me about 40 cents. I have rated the film at ISO 5 and meter through a blue filter. Then I develop it under a red safelight (tray) in Ansco 130 for a whole minute. Really quick, really cheap, and so far really interesting, especially with fair-skinned people or at times of low light.