X-Ray Film

htmlguru4242 · Aug 18, 2005

Has anyone ever tried using X-Ray film for visible light photography? I know that it comes in either blue - sensitive or orthochromatic, so it might be fun to work with.

Any ideas - will this work?

htmlguru4242 · Aug 18, 2005

hmmm - double coating would be interesting - i wonder if the base layer prevents light from passing through and exposing both emulsions simultaneously...

From my research X-Ray film is pretty cheap (some companies will even ship free samples of four or five 11" x 14" sheets). It might be interesting to grab a bit and see what we can do with it.

Since my first post, I took a look at some old dental X-Rays, and the only problem that I can see is that the film bas is quite foggy, but not complely white. This would be difficult to print, or maybe you could just reversal - process it and have a [huge] transparency??

If anybody has any information about this, let us know!!

Gerald Koch · Aug 18, 2005

The emulsion is quite thick. In addition there is no antihalation coating or base.

reellis67 · Aug 18, 2005

I once had access to virtualy unlimited amounts of 35mm Vari-X film when I worked for a hospital back in the 80's. It had an interesting look, but not interesting in a positive way. I don't have anything on hand to show as an example, and all I can really remember about it was that I didn't care overly for it. I didn't spend much time playing around with it at the time and I never saved the results... The only thing I can remember is a vague feeling that it was REALLY flat. There's no telling what kind of film it was now, nor if current x-ray films are anything like it. Try it out and see what happens!

- Randy

John Cook · Aug 18, 2005

I was always under the impression that orthochromatic meant blue-sensitive.

I also believe both sides of the film are exposed at once. But by x-rays instead of visible light. Yet the film holders used indicate sensitivity to white visible room light.

Having worked wirh a fair number of x-rays, my impression is that they are rather coarse-grained. Not a problem for medical staff as the films are not enlarged.

Since everyone is nutty about reducing exposure to radiation, I'll bet these films are coarse because they have the maximum speed possible with a silver emulsion.

The two layers of emulsion together should produce a density range greater than that of normal camera films. This could be useful with alternative processes which require high-contrast/density negatives.

Not sure why, but my impression is that these films have the conrast of Lith materials. If so, they will require a soft-working developer for pictorial subjects.

htmlguru4242 · Aug 18, 2005

Interesting info. guys, I'll see what I can do here.

I'm not familiar with lith. films, so I don't exactly know what a "soft working developer" is, so could somebody please explain?

And to John Cook, blue sensitive films are sensitive to UV and blue light, while orthochromatic fils are sensitive to UV, Blue and Green...

Gerald Koch · Aug 18, 2005

John Cook said:
I was always under the impression that orthochromatic meant blue-sensitive.

An emulsion which does not contain any sensitizing dyes is only blue sensitive. Orthochromatic films are sensitive to blue and green light.

Paul Howell · Aug 18, 2005

I have not worked with X ray film, but I did some repair work to a X ray film processor when one broke down and needed a very quick repair and a medical equipment repair person was not available. The machine was very similar to a versamat, but the developer was held at 90 degrees and the developer was very strong. I ran a roll of Plux X and TriX though it just to see what would happen, the grain was visible on the negative, contrast like lith film. I don't know if X ray film will even develop in anything but X ray film developer. Good luck.

htmlguru4242 · Aug 18, 2005

You say that the grain was visible on the negatives, was it so pronnounced as to be unprintable?? The grain on X-Ray films certainly seems noticeable, but it would be fun to try anyway

Any idea what the deveopler in the processor was?

Paul Howell · Aug 18, 2005

htmlguru4242 said:
You say that the grain was visible on the negatives, was it so pronnounced as to be unprintable??

It was 35MM, I didn't try to print it, the developer was for X ray film only, may have been related to dektol, just a guess. If you go to the Kodak web site you may be able to find information on X ray film and developer. In terms of 8X10 or larger, I have no clue.

TracyStorer · Aug 18, 2005

re; X-Ray film

It's sensitive to visible light. XRay film holders have an "intensification screen" in them that fluoresces when bombarded with XRays, that fluorescence (visible light) is what exposes the film. The XRay films I've worked with are double coated with no anti-halation layer, so both sides expose at once.(a speed enhancer?) Back in the day, Freestyle sold "Aristo" Rare Earth Blue XRay film which was cheap and fast, it was very popular with pinhole photographers. (after Freestyle got out of the XRay film business, I ended up with a box of Fuji XRay film, slower, but finer grained) I experimented and got good results with D-76 and HC-110.
Good Luck, Have fun, Tracy

Helen B · Aug 18, 2005

"The XRay films I've worked with are double coated with no anti-halation layer, so both sides expose at once.(a speed enhancer?)"

In the case of the fluorescent material (intensifying screen) being in close proximity to the sensitive plate rather than projected onto it by a very fast lens (eg a 90 mm f/1), the sensitive plate is sandwiched between two layers of fluorescent material to get the maximum amount of exposure without degrading the resolution too much - the maximum distance between the fluorescent material and the light sensitive emulsion is kept low by having two thin layers instead of one thick one.

The dispersion of the light as it travels through the thickness of the intensifying screen limits the resolution to around 4-10 lp/mm, so fine-grained high resolution film isn't necessary.

Best,
Helen

htmlguru4242 · Aug 19, 2005

TracyStorer - do you remember the approximate exposure settings you used when exposing the Fuji film? Or can you give an approximate speed? I'd like to do some testing but I have no idea where to start in terms of exposure.

It's good news that D-76 works as a developer, as that's what I normally use. Did you use normal temperature / dilution or something different?

Also, if you have any of hte negatives, could you provide some scanned examples?

TracyStorer · Aug 20, 2005

They(Fuji XRay film negs and contact prints) are 14"x17" and too big for my scanner. Try exposing at ISO 50 or 100 as a starting point.

X-Ray Film

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