FEED - BACK
John R. Slater (Area 3)
Some feed-back seems to be required from members, regarding a possible expoundsion of topics covered by the Club. I would quite welcome this.
I have been a member of the Club since 1972 and value greatly the information given in the Newsletters and, by telephone from individual members. Undoubtedly this has lead to my success with processing slides.
For the record, I am interested in most aspects of our hobby. I do quite a lot of B&W slides and tone B&W prints. I develop and print my own colour negative and of course produce many slides. For the latter I use Konicachrome R100, processed in Photocolour E6 chemicals. The Colour Developer is tweeked after each run though, with tiny amounts of 10% solution of Sodium hydroxide. I get quality results with 7 films through 300ml of working strength solutions and occasionally an 8th. The slides are regularly used to give public lectures.
MACRO ON THE CHEAP
By P. N. Roberts.
No doubt many readers will have a 2 x tele-extender, and certainly this is an excellent investment for the occasional long shot. Strictly speaking, such attachments are only at their best when used with the longer focal lengths. When used with the standard lens quite acceptable results can be achieved provided the smaller apertures are used.
It may not be appreciated but this latter combination is, in fact, a 110 mm "semi" macro lens (1 : « reproduction ratio). Obviously not strictly comparable with the custom designed job but for that one off close-up shot of a wierd bug, berry or blossom, its worth trying. Because of the longer focal length, this combination can be more convenient than a `pukka` macro lens with a focal length of 55 mm., allowing a greater distance between camera and subject. With the 55 mm. lens you may be so close up to the subject that (1) there can be lighting problems and (2) the `flutter-by` gets scared off by the heavy breathing!
FILM WASHING
By Glyn Willicombe (Area 20)
I was most interested in what was said in Internews No.7 about green/red/brown shadows due to solarisation, following failure to wash properly after 1st development. This confirms what I have been saying for a long time - years before the Club formulae was published and in the days when many members were having troubles with Moorhouse (Moorhouse was, and still is a popular formula. Ed.) if a stop bath is not used. It is essential to EXTEND THE WASH TIME as any carry-over of developer in the emulsion could result in further development in a partly reversed image, after the film is exposed to light.
For the same reason, I quiried this (when the Club formula was first published, in the Slide Folio note-book and elsewhere) reversal procedure, because I did not like the idea of exposure of film to light when the spiral is removed so that the tank can be rinsed. In any event, I don`t think rinsing of the tank is necessary. I didn`t do this when I first used the E6 process ten years ago with chemical reversal. The reversal brew was poured out, then in went the developer, the tank lid remaining on, and not removed until after completion of the Colour Developer, and I can`t recall any failures due to incomplete reversal. (From Area 20 Local Newsletter).
EKTACHROME DUPE FILM
The two films for reproducing Kodachrome slides are Type K7121 and K8071. They keep the clarity of the Kodachrome allowing the use of E-56 processing and posses scanning characteristics similar to existing Ektachrome Pro films.
The exposure and spectral sensitivity is comparable to the existing Ektachrome 5071 dupe film, though the new film is between one third and one full stop faster than the slide version. Kodak warn you not to use the films to make duplicate slides originally shot in Ektachrome films. The K8071 is available in 35mm cassettes while type K7121 should be used for making larger duplicates from originals on Kodachrome.
OUT DOORS REVERSAL!
By George Sparkes (Area 22 Co-ordinator)
I finally got around to processing seven reels of film which have been accumulating from last October`s holiday. I spent a whole morning making up a complete set of solutions, and discovered that my remaining supply of CD3 (about 15gm) had gone hard and black, despite being in a well stoppered jar. An urgent request to Ron Croad soon brought a fresh supply and I was able to add the CD3 to the Colour Developer. I allowed 48 hours for the solutions to mature and the cassettes were removed from the freezer the day before processing. The pH of the two developers were not exactly as expected but near enough , so I processed the least important film by itself, reversing it suspended from the cloths line in bright sunlight for about eight minutes, and this film seemed to be spot on for colour and exposure.
The other six films were processed as two sets of three, all films reversed outdoors in sunlight. Now this is quite a change for me as it is usually a dull or rainy day when I process and my usual reversal is by photoflood AND flash (Belt & braces) as I well remember the dreaded reversal underexposure of the early days. (Not keen on chemical reversal). And the results - very pleasing, both the shots in the bright sunlight of Rhodes and in the dull conditions when I visited Stourhead Gardens.