zone processing
Moderator: Keith Tapscott.
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zone processing
I need a suggestion for a 120 roll film with fairly long development times in HC-110. I am trying to do some zone system processing in the N-2 area and find much of the roll film has such short development times that it is very difficult to reduce.
My current favorite, Fortepan 400, had a nice long nine minute normal development time giving me plenty of room to reduce development. I understand Forte is now out of the business.
Thanks
My current favorite, Fortepan 400, had a nice long nine minute normal development time giving me plenty of room to reduce development. I understand Forte is now out of the business.
Thanks
I have used Foma 100 repackaged as Arista.edu 100 which goes for 10 minutes.
Another possibility is using the "unofficial" H dilution, which is half of the B dilution, and double the time. In other words: Ilford FP4, which (if memory serves me correctly) has a development time of 6 minutes in B can be developed for 12 minutes in H.
--Gary
Another possibility is using the "unofficial" H dilution, which is half of the B dilution, and double the time. In other words: Ilford FP4, which (if memory serves me correctly) has a development time of 6 minutes in B can be developed for 12 minutes in H.
--Gary
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Re: zone processing
Don't do it at all. You'll end up with a crappy print no matter what you do to the negative in development. You should never vary negative development to suit scene contrast. The zs is wrong and unscientific.Benet Pols wrote:I need a suggestion for a 120 roll film with fairly long development times in HC-110. I am trying to do some zone system processing in the N-2 area and find much of the roll film has such short development times that it is very difficult to reduce.
My current favorite, Fortepan 400, had a nice long nine minute normal development time giving me plenty of room to reduce development. I understand Forte is now out of the business.
Thanks
Re: zone processing
You might consider using dilution H. It is not one of Kodak's published dilutions, but it is fairly widely used. Dilution B is mixed 1:31. Dilution H is made by diluting dilution B 1:1 with water. A good place to start for the developing time is just simply twice the time for dilution B. I haven't done quantitative testing yet, but it seems to work.Benet Pols wrote:I need a suggestion for a 120 roll film with fairly long development times in HC-110. I am trying to do some zone system processing in the N-2 area and find much of the roll film has such short development times that it is very difficult to reduce.
My current favorite, Fortepan 400, had a nice long nine minute normal development time giving me plenty of room to reduce development. I understand Forte is now out of the business.
Thanks
I'm dealing with students, so with short times uneven development happens a lot. We went to dilution H for anything that has a 5 minute time or less in dilution B.
HC 110 is a great developer for this sort of thing; you can choose from a wide variety of dilutions, or you could even come up with one of your own if you needed to. I know someone who worked out a system for expansion/contraction using a single time, varying the +&- with the dilution alone.
You may find N-2 disappointing. While you can reduce the overall contrast to fit the paper, the local contrast between adjacent values can get pretty uninteresting.[/i]
Re: zone processing
Precisely the reason the zone system does not work.bowzart wrote:You might consider using dilution H. It is not one of Kodak's published dilutions, but it is fairly widely used. Dilution B is mixed 1:31. Dilution H is made by diluting dilution B 1:1 with water. A good place to start for the developing time is just simply twice the time for dilution B. I haven't done quantitative testing yet, but it seems to work.Benet Pols wrote:I need a suggestion for a 120 roll film with fairly long development times in HC-110. I am trying to do some zone system processing in the N-2 area and find much of the roll film has such short development times that it is very difficult to reduce.
My current favorite, Fortepan 400, had a nice long nine minute normal development time giving me plenty of room to reduce development. I understand Forte is now out of the business.
Thanks
I'm dealing with students, so with short times uneven development happens a lot. We went to dilution H for anything that has a 5 minute time or less in dilution B.
HC 110 is a great developer for this sort of thing; you can choose from a wide variety of dilutions, or you could even come up with one of your own if you needed to. I know someone who worked out a system for expansion/contraction using a single time, varying the +&- with the dilution alone.
You may find N-2 disappointing. While you can reduce the overall contrast to fit the paper, the local contrast between adjacent values can get pretty uninteresting.[/i]
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Contrast should approximate normal or else the photographs don't look right. It's elementary. Extreme compression or expansion of tonal range looks fake, and I can always tell. I hardly ever manipulate the contrast except within a very narrow range, and always only with paper contrast, NEVER with negative development.Jim Appleyard wrote:It works for countless other photographers. Can you explain why it doesn't work instead of saying so?Ornello wrote:The ZS is fundamentally flawed, is not technically sound at all. Waste of time.Pim wrote:Zone system rules!!!
What the original poster asked about ('N-2') is hopeless. It will not produce a good negative.
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These points of view are not necessarily unreconcilable.
While from a technical perspective there is only one "correct" negative, the zone system offers the ability to exercise control of a negative through a combination of understanding the contrast of a scene and manipulating exposure and development to compensate for limitations of the material. For artistic reasons, producing a "correct" negative may not always be the intention. Equally, for scenes which have a greater or lesser contrast range than can be shown proportionately in the final print, the zone system can be used to manipulate the negative so that certain tones can be given preference, even if the resulting negative is not perfectly optimized.
While from a technical perspective there is only one "correct" negative, the zone system offers the ability to exercise control of a negative through a combination of understanding the contrast of a scene and manipulating exposure and development to compensate for limitations of the material. For artistic reasons, producing a "correct" negative may not always be the intention. Equally, for scenes which have a greater or lesser contrast range than can be shown proportionately in the final print, the zone system can be used to manipulate the negative so that certain tones can be given preference, even if the resulting negative is not perfectly optimized.
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