MF3D-group
Conversations
Photos
Files
All groups
About Subject: B&W TransparenciesDate: 2010-02-07 10:07:50From: David W. Kesner
Here is an old post from Mike Davis about B&W medium format
transparencies that will give you a lot more insight and choices:
___________________________________
I researched the dr5 process extensively about four years ago and have
continued to use David Wood's services since then. I just shot four
rolls of Delta 100 for the dr5 process last weekend.
About four years ago, I set up my tripod in front of an abandoned farm
house in St. Jo, Texas, about 50 miles north of where I live and made 220
exposures (110 stereo views, 22 rolls of 120-format) of that one subject,
using 5 different B&W films for dr5 processing, totalling 200 exposures
and two rolls of Provia 100F to have as a color reference. Bracketing
exposures at -1, -1/2, 0, +1/2 and +1, with the light alternating between
harsh and diffuse as clouds passed by overhead all day long, by the end
of the day, for each film, I had managed to shoot all five brackets in
both types of light for each film type for two different dr5 processing
times.
These are the B&W films I tested under dr5:
Kodak Tech Pan
Ilford PanF+
Iford Delta 100
Ilford FP4+
Kodak TXP
Here's the result of that initial testing, with some refinements applied
over the past four years:
My preference is to shoot Delta-100 when the subject will mask its barely
detectable grain. If grain will be a problem, shoot with TechPan, but
only if the ambient light and subject motion will support the slow speed.
Use Pan-F otherwise.
Ilford Delta-100:
Process dr5 Pushing to ISO 80 from dr5's Normal rating of 64, but shoot
it at ISO 100.
Kodak TechPan:
Process dr5 Pulling to ISO 12 from dr5's Normal rating of 25, but shoot
it at ISO 16.
Ilford Pan-F:
Process dr5 Normal at ISO 32 and shoot it at ISO 32.
Ilford Delta-100 has tremendous tonality. This is what David Wood
sometimes calls "smoothness": lots of intermediate greys between pure
black and pure white, instead of just a few greys that leave the image
looking "stepped".) Getting this right, means seeing detail in the
shadows - something you don't get with Tech Pan, until you pull it down
to very low ISO settings. Delta-100 has a spectacular image latitude of
9-stops, in addition to tremendous exposure latitude. (Image latitude is
the luminance range seen in the final image - in this case, within the
reversal chrome. Exposure latitude is a measure of the film's tolerance
for incorrect exposure relative to an intended development time.) In
short, I have found that it's nearly impossible to overexpose Delta-100
for the dr5 process. This doesn't mean you should be sloppy with it -
that would be a travesty, because the shadow detail in properly exposed
Delta-100 under dr5 processing is stunning. Bring on the harshest light -
Delta-100 in dr5 can handle it. The shadows are completely unlocked -
you can see plenty of texture and detail everywhere. An incident meter
is ideal for use with this film, by the way. Just hold the meter (set to
ISO 100) out in front of the camera and aim the dome toward the front of
the lens (not at the light source).
Kodak Tech-Pan is unavailable, but some people still have stockpiles. I
have to pull it all the way down to 16 to get the contrast lowered
sufficiently to open the shadows. If you like deep, rich blacks, and
that famous lack of grain, look for subjects that are perfectly
motionless in good light. Unlike Delta-100, Tech-Pan has very little
exposure latitude - much more like Velvia than a black and white negative
film, in this regard.
Iflord Pan-F's grain is finer than Delta-100's, though certainly not as
good as Tech-Pan's, but to my eyes, Pan-F just doesn't have the "punch"
of Delta 100. It's tones just look kind of "flat" to me. I've never
bothered to experiment with pushing it, to bring up the contrast, because
doing so would only increase the grain and I'm already getting what I
want with Delta-100, shooting it at ISO 100. So, for me, Pan-F remains
the finer-grained, slower, "flatter-looking" alternative to Delta-100
when there's a lot of open sky (where a finer grain is wanted) or super
harsh light (where a low-contrast film like Pan-F can shine).
Here is his somewhat confusing order sheet that you must print, fill out,
and enclose when you mail him your unprocessed film:
http://www.dr5.com/writeup.pdf
I specify the following on his order form:
Number of rolls (to the left of "Film Type"
Film type: Delta 100
Exposed ISO: 80 (even though I shoot at 100)
DEV-1 Neutral (not the Sepia toning he offers)
Check marks for "No Clip", "120", and "Sleeved-uncut"
I would dearly like to see David Wood's business prosper, as he is the
only guy out there offering this service. David also offers contact
dupes made with the same film type as your originals. (He probably can't
do this for TechPan unless we can provide him with the unexposed film.)
Mike Davis
__________________________________
Thanks,
David W. Kesner
Boise, Idaho, USA
transparencies that will give you a lot more insight and choices:
___________________________________
I researched the dr5 process extensively about four years ago and have
continued to use David Wood's services since then. I just shot four
rolls of Delta 100 for the dr5 process last weekend.
About four years ago, I set up my tripod in front of an abandoned farm
house in St. Jo, Texas, about 50 miles north of where I live and made 220
exposures (110 stereo views, 22 rolls of 120-format) of that one subject,
using 5 different B&W films for dr5 processing, totalling 200 exposures
and two rolls of Provia 100F to have as a color reference. Bracketing
exposures at -1, -1/2, 0, +1/2 and +1, with the light alternating between
harsh and diffuse as clouds passed by overhead all day long, by the end
of the day, for each film, I had managed to shoot all five brackets in
both types of light for each film type for two different dr5 processing
times.
These are the B&W films I tested under dr5:
Kodak Tech Pan
Ilford PanF+
Iford Delta 100
Ilford FP4+
Kodak TXP
Here's the result of that initial testing, with some refinements applied
over the past four years:
My preference is to shoot Delta-100 when the subject will mask its barely
detectable grain. If grain will be a problem, shoot with TechPan, but
only if the ambient light and subject motion will support the slow speed.
Use Pan-F otherwise.
Ilford Delta-100:
Process dr5 Pushing to ISO 80 from dr5's Normal rating of 64, but shoot
it at ISO 100.
Kodak TechPan:
Process dr5 Pulling to ISO 12 from dr5's Normal rating of 25, but shoot
it at ISO 16.
Ilford Pan-F:
Process dr5 Normal at ISO 32 and shoot it at ISO 32.
Ilford Delta-100 has tremendous tonality. This is what David Wood
sometimes calls "smoothness": lots of intermediate greys between pure
black and pure white, instead of just a few greys that leave the image
looking "stepped".) Getting this right, means seeing detail in the
shadows - something you don't get with Tech Pan, until you pull it down
to very low ISO settings. Delta-100 has a spectacular image latitude of
9-stops, in addition to tremendous exposure latitude. (Image latitude is
the luminance range seen in the final image - in this case, within the
reversal chrome. Exposure latitude is a measure of the film's tolerance
for incorrect exposure relative to an intended development time.) In
short, I have found that it's nearly impossible to overexpose Delta-100
for the dr5 process. This doesn't mean you should be sloppy with it -
that would be a travesty, because the shadow detail in properly exposed
Delta-100 under dr5 processing is stunning. Bring on the harshest light -
Delta-100 in dr5 can handle it. The shadows are completely unlocked -
you can see plenty of texture and detail everywhere. An incident meter
is ideal for use with this film, by the way. Just hold the meter (set to
ISO 100) out in front of the camera and aim the dome toward the front of
the lens (not at the light source).
Kodak Tech-Pan is unavailable, but some people still have stockpiles. I
have to pull it all the way down to 16 to get the contrast lowered
sufficiently to open the shadows. If you like deep, rich blacks, and
that famous lack of grain, look for subjects that are perfectly
motionless in good light. Unlike Delta-100, Tech-Pan has very little
exposure latitude - much more like Velvia than a black and white negative
film, in this regard.
Iflord Pan-F's grain is finer than Delta-100's, though certainly not as
good as Tech-Pan's, but to my eyes, Pan-F just doesn't have the "punch"
of Delta 100. It's tones just look kind of "flat" to me. I've never
bothered to experiment with pushing it, to bring up the contrast, because
doing so would only increase the grain and I'm already getting what I
want with Delta-100, shooting it at ISO 100. So, for me, Pan-F remains
the finer-grained, slower, "flatter-looking" alternative to Delta-100
when there's a lot of open sky (where a finer grain is wanted) or super
harsh light (where a low-contrast film like Pan-F can shine).
Here is his somewhat confusing order sheet that you must print, fill out,
and enclose when you mail him your unprocessed film:
http://www.dr5.com/writeup.pdf
I specify the following on his order form:
Number of rolls (to the left of "Film Type"
Film type: Delta 100
Exposed ISO: 80 (even though I shoot at 100)
DEV-1 Neutral (not the Sepia toning he offers)
Check marks for "No Clip", "120", and "Sleeved-uncut"
I would dearly like to see David Wood's business prosper, as he is the
only guy out there offering this service. David also offers contact
dupes made with the same film type as your originals. (He probably can't
do this for TechPan unless we can provide him with the unexposed film.)
Mike Davis
__________________________________
Thanks,
David W. Kesner
Boise, Idaho, USA