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Thursday, 24 March 2022

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Ilford recommends that Pan F is developed within 3 months of exposure (says so in the datasheet). Does not have the same requirement for Delta 400. So there's probably something to do with different films too.

Ya lost me after the 2nd paragraph, Mike. What? :-0

"...some custom, perhaps—that would allow a man to pair up with—does this sound crazy?—a partner of some sort—a woman, maybe..."

From my life experience, you get married, the next thing you know, you have a wife. So there's a downside. But I'm not bitter.

KODAK Azo paper was NOT a print-out-paper [P.O.P]. It was a “normal” silver bromide paper. Because of its low sensitifity it was not very useful for enlarging. It was mostly used as a contact-printing paper. History of KODAK Azo paper goes back to the 1880’s.
Michael Smith was using KODAK Azo paper for his contact-printing of his large-format negatives. When production was stopped, he tried to copy the KODAK Azo formula.

Mike, I always really feel the loneliness when you write posts like this. I was thinking you live a monkish life, but monks have their rituals and communal living. Keep eating healthy, and keep engaging with the community, someone will come along.

On the subject of a manufacturer stealthily implementing a change, I recall a few (maybe 5 or so) Kraft announced that they had made a change to their boxed Macaroni and Cheese aka Kraft Dinner, but wary of a backlash to a beloved iconic product held off making the announcement for something like 6 months, so any outrage would be deflated. 'You have been using the new version for half a year and didn't notice!' I think the change was to switch to natural coloring or flavoring. I'm not a frequent consumer of it (though on occasion, it's just the thing) so I couldn't tell. I probably haven't had it in 10 years.

My wife, Mrs Perez, and I, like many couples share a brain in that we don't try to do it all in the arena of running a life together. I'm the one who remembers to pay the bills on time, and she just needs to remember to setup autodeposit to our joint household account. She's the one who remembers birthdays and anniversaries, and I'm the one who shows up.

Patrick

I still shoot film mostly, and since 2020 develop my own b/w. I do it not because I enjoy it, I do it because it's faster and cheaper than sending it to a lab.

So I'm pragmatic about it. My developers are HC-110 and Rodinal because they are one shot and keep for a long time. I shoot only about 2 rolls a month, so long-lasting developers are cost effective.

I'm still discovering the universe of films that look good to me in these developers. Then I will shoot just those films going forward. I hope it is a large enough universe of films that film discontinuations don't amount to life crises for me.

Mike,

You should give the person at Kodak a call. What's the worst that could happen? Kodak's word regarding latent image stability should be as good as gold.

Hey; I remembered the Kodak contact printing paper name before reading it at the end of the post. I don't remember their "P-O-P" paper name though. (I never used it. "Studio Proof" doesn't ring a bell for me.)

I remember reading a story about a couple who sent out party invitations on printing out paper. The people who didn't write down the info on something else found that the invitation had turned black by the time the party day arrived.

"cisbigoted" - had to look it up. Got a rough idea. Will not bother using it ever. (Your post was the fourth search result, so there's not much info out there.)

Regarding "Mastering the Materials", the book Pentax and SLR photography by Robert Fuhring, 1969, (https://www.ebay.com/itm/392897706238?hash=item5b7a8738fe:g:SO0AAOSwkttfKZzT) told of a master printer named Charles Reiche who wouldn't go outside during his lunch time for fear of ruining his eyes for the next hour of printing.

I'm not sure how famous Mr. Reiche was. You would be much more likely than I to have heard his name.

Before I even got to your last paragraphs, I started thinking of the digital equivalent to losing (or being forced to change) a critical part of one's workflow and the first thing that came to mind is the screen built in to my "Late-2015" 21.5-inch Imac. It's the first 4K monitor I've had. It opened up new vistas (sorry about that) for selecting and processing my photos. The computer itself is now frightfully slow and, thanks to Apple, can't really be upgraded. It just barely runs DXO Photolab. But that screen, and a good pair of reading glasses, allow me to get the processing just right so my photos seem to look good (to my eyes, at least) on other people's screens. Sure, maybe one of those new 24" Imacs will be just as good, but what if it isn't?

Lodima paper, based on Azo:
https://www.lodima.org/photographic-paper

For info on Kodak film ask Robert Shanebrook

http://www.makingkodakfilm.com/

I heard him on the Camerosity podcast some time ago. What he doesn't know isn't worth knowing I suspect.

Agfa Lupex was also similar and even older than Convira. The neo-Adox, a brand of the company behind the German photo store Fotoimpex, makes a modern version. These are very slow, predominantly (but not 100%, no matter what Michael Smith said) silver chloride printing papers.

Voltz

Me thinks your fantasy is just that ... but a good one. ;)

From my experience, having someone love you unconditionally is the best partner to have.

If you're not controlling the lighting and using spot metering to determine the exposure needed, maybe it hardly matters how precisely you process the film! On the other hand, piling uncertainties on top of each other does not lead to a stable structure.

What I did was to use the most mainstream processing for my normal exposures (which I thought was D76 1:1), but do it fairly precisely (I used a water-bath to make sure the chemistry was at the same temp, and to keep it stable in the tank); to eliminate variables. Also tried to keep the wash temp matching that, but never had a temperature control valve to automate that part. I did also use other chemistry for pushing, Acu-1 mostly. And I did go through a period of using Autofine instead of D76 for my normal exposures, before I started working in a shared darkroom at college.

I did however have a rather bizarre resistance to the idea of "personal Exposure Indexes". I really probably should have adjusted either my exposures or my processing some. Would have had to be the processing, since I couldn't possibly have tolerated lower EIs.

"leave the off off!"


Should we do it "early on"?

You know, you know, you know, anyways?

Mike,
I, for one, would like to hear about your film experiences. You know, like before we lose you to dating and stuff… 😀

I definitely try to stay in the master-the-materials camp (D76 and HP5+; Dektol and Ilford MGRC), though "master" hardly describes my darkroom product, and mostly I'm trying to limit the number of darkroom variables. Maybe the distinction between master-the-materials and adjust-and-adapt is akin to that between craftsman and artist. In any case, a column where you impart nuggets of darkroom wisdom is much appreciated.

Ah, the offensive offs and of! Off the cuff, I can mention a few of those that put me off.
1. "The ball came off of the bat". Why do we need the of with off? Doesn't "The ball came off the bat" sound better?
2. "The film is based off the novel of the same name". Shouldn't it be "based on"?
3. "The company is based out of Seattle". What? Isn't the correct usage "The company is based in Seattle"?
I will push off for now :-)

Besides ‘Adjust and Adapt’ and ‘Master the Materials’ there is a third way. It could be termed ‘Lowered Expectations’, especially good if you have no one but yourself to please.

And then there’s the changes to film stocks themselves. Agfa APX 100 (my favourite medium speed film) changed before its demise and “rebirth” - at least the new design of the packaging is a clear indicator of what stock you might have. I have not made extensive effort to find the closest match as serendipity led me to Rollei RPX 100 which I’ve only used in 120. Whether it exactly matches or not is irrelevant to me since I really like it.

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