COBBLER'S PAGE Now
that the fine weather has arrived, holidays are about to be taken and
the camera used more it is time to check the stock of film. Should I
go for a more prestigious film with a fancy name which no longer has
chrome in it or stick to Konicachrome the club film? Price is
certainly a big factor. A
30 metre length can vary from the club price to £74 for the no chrome
variety. The choice of bulk material is limited in its spread and
availability. The resulting colours are not as obviously different as
some tests would suggest. With a standardised E6 emulsion and process
one would expect results to be similar when using the same ASA. But
with the manufacturers tolerance,the variety of lenses and cameras,
and tolerance in the chemical formula being stretched to the limit by
home brewers, kits and processing houses results from bulk film can
be far from standard or representative of one make against
another. To buy a loaded pre-paid cassette of film works out more
expensive (not much more in some cases) but you probably buying into a
more standardised result. By doing this you are missing out. Doing it
all yourself, though mechanical,can be an enjoyable and satisfying end
to the photographic chain. My own choice is to have bulk lot of Konica
and buy cassettes of pre-paid material as needed for those special
jobs that require faster or slower film etc. Then I favour Agfa
products which have good neutral colours, a fast process turn round,
and are returned mounted in CS type mounts which suit my projector
system. I have always found Konica film satisfactory when processed
properly in kits or home brew but colour rendering can be variable. I
have been asked to test the Rayco E6 kit over the next few months I
intend to do this using three different types of film and my usual
processing routine. Hopefully
the results will justify Rayco's reputation for supplying first rate
kits and materials for the DIY photographer. My
latest venture into the darkroom has been to print some infra¬red
shots on to matt paper. I used Kentmere matt bromide single weight
paper, grade 2 and 4, developed in a PQ developer.
I can recommend this paper it has a good black and is really
matt. There is only one problem - both sides of the paper seem
identical under the safelight, it is impossible to tell by looking at
the surface which is the sensitive side. Even the disgusting habit of
touching the corner with your tongue gives no clue. Looking for the
usual up curve of the paper did not work as it is very flat and in
fact proved to be opposite to the rule. The very slight upward curve
reversing to a definite curve the other way when put into the
developer. If
anyone has a foolproof idea for determining the emulsion side I would
be interested to hear it. THE
LIBRARY. A
duplicated list of all the contents sheets from the magazines DARKROOM
USER and DARKROOM TECHNIQUES that the club holds has been drawn up and
is now available to Area Leaders and anyone else willing to pay the
duplicating and postage costs (approx. £2.00). As an example the
Darkroom Techniques for Sept/Oct.1993 Vol.14 No 5 includes the
following items; Advanced
zone system colour filter use. Product News.
|