shooting a pattern to check development

[pierods]

Hi,

how good an idea is to shoot some kind of b/w pattern, also with a bunch of greys, to check if my lab is processing film right? and where to find such a pattern?

 

[Ray Heath]

g'day pie

gee i don't know, out in the real world, a grey card, a softly lit human face, an evenly lit landscape in soft diffused overcast

why do you suspect the lab, how is your exposure technique?

Ray

 

[haris]

pierods, processing of b/w film is so easy and cheap, and as I was also read your other post about lab ruined your films, I would recommend to you to buy stuff needed for b/w film processing and to do it yourself. Read yours other post, there you have got list of equipment and material needed for b/w processing.

Good luck.

 

[pierods]

g'day pie

gee i don't know, out in the real world, a grey card, a softly lit human face, an evenly lit landscape in soft diffused overcast

why do you suspect the lab, how is your exposure technique?

Ray

my expousre skills are far from perfect, but this is why I suspect my lab:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

 

[Ray Heath]

my expousre skills are far from perfect, but this is why I suspect my lab:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

yeh, i saw that some days ago, still doesn't explain anything

why repost re: the same issue?

look at your negs, the edge markings, the density/tonal range, the print quality possible from them

it doesn't have to be complicated or high tech

 

[CBG]

A very good test is to shoot an average subject under consistent light with both your B&W film, and also with some E6 transparency film.

Send the E6 to some other lab that has impeccable processing and your B&W to the lab you are testing. The E6 will serve as your verification that the exposure is correct. Make sure you compensate accurately for any difference in film speed. Use fresh film that has been properly stored. If you shoot under daylight - sunny sixteen rule - you have a very solid standard for judging exposure.

If your E6 comes back bad, you need to recalibrate your camera / meter / self. If the E6 comes back good, and the B&W bad, you need a new B&W lab.

C

 

[Lee L]

Hi,

how good an idea is to shoot some kind of b/w pattern, also with a bunch of greys, to check if my lab is processing film right? and where to find such a pattern?

There are calibrated grey scales that you can use. Photowand sells them. Don't know a European dealer, but the are at phone number 04247-1521 in Sudwalde, Germany. Kodak also grey scales them in a couple of sizes. Gretag-MacBeth also sells a color chart with a grey scale, but it's relatively expensive.

A decent substitute, but not calibrated, would be a grey scale made from paint "chips", sample cards that show paint colors, available in neutral tones. If all you need to do is check that film is being developed to consistent and useful contrast, you could use them for that. If you can print the negatives yourself, even better, as you could establish whether different films are developed by the lab to consistently fit your printing paper with similar scales using similar contrast. If the grey scale on one film fits the paper with grade 2 settings and other films need grade 0 or grade 4 to print well, then the lab is not giving you your money's worth.

Another target to use would be to a long board painted white. You light it from one end in a dark room, and get a continuous grey scale as the light falls off along the length of the board. A meter used close up or in spot mode will tell you where the reflectance hits one stop or half-stop steps along the board, which you can mark. If you use the same setup each time, including the same light in the same position relative to the board, you results should be reasonably consistent. Again printing this will tell you a lot about the negatives.

If the lab is printing, they can make adjustments to contrast in doing so, and unless you tell them to print everything at the same contrast grade, their prints may not tell you a lot. Many labs now use scan and print machines, where the film is scanned, digitally "corrected", and then printed on paper. That kind of print won't tell you much at all about the negatives.

None of this is critically calibrated, but it will let you know if the films are being developed to a consistent contrast, which seems to be your main concern.

Lee

 

[pierods]

thanks for the answers!