Hello Rffers,
I was introduced to this film in bulk roll
Giant size 240mm x 76m
Anybody knows if this film can be used (in some ways) for normal still photography?
...
Thanks. I also thought about LF but that's not so common medium nowadays I guess.
Any other thoughts?
Hi there,
Realistically, it's not really good news for your friend. Since the decline of commercial and industrial applications of this data monitoring film, many rolls, mammoth sizes have been turning up over the past two decades. It's a post-modern anomaly to hear your friend, with no experience of Aviphot or commercial roll film, ask questions as to what to do after having acquired a rocket launcher talent of 76 metres of Aviphot. Welcome to the brave new internet
🙂
This technical film was used industrially for data and research observation, traffic surveillance and other civil monitoring projects. Rob's findings that the film was developed quickly - within 70 seconds - is typical for line documentary film for these processes.
Typically like any documentary technical film in the hands of a competent photographer, it can be adapted for for full tonal scale development using a low contrast developer: Kodak Technical Pan, Positive Light Emulsion, Spur, Copex RapidFire all have high inherent contrast and use the same low contrast developer principle. Your friend may have to brush up his understanding of film development in order to undertake a primary clip test - no mean feat from a 76 metre roll - to ascertain if the complete roll has been compromised by an untrained handler or sales agent turning on the lights to check out the unexposed roll, therefore destroying it in the process.
If your friend's interest in the film is photographic; fine art, community focussed, he is more likely to get something out of the Aviphot roll. There are many of us large format photographers (like the LF forums, English and French language)- perhaps not in Vietnam - who adapt technical documentary film such as Aviphot, Konica Lithographic, documentary film for fine art or landscape purposes. If he is more interested in the commercial side of the 76 metre roll of Aviphot, he might listen to you and cut his losses by off-loading it to the next adventurer with a small lorry.
About the film: Aviphot has a distinct advantage in being near-infrared sensitised and responds on a par with Ilford SFX with a 715nm cut off filter. The technique for cutting down to popular large format sizes has space and tooling requirements: nibbling at a 76metre roll periodically when hungry only destroys the surface emulsion and increases dust and handling marks. It is a strong polyester coated emulsion, it is is exceptionally thin: thus transparent, as well as having some reversal process potential.
For infrared imaging, experimenting at 750nm infrared cut off works, however the effective ISO falls dramatically and the ISO200 - nominal - is already challenged with the decades old storage conditions - perhaps humid or near 30 degrees in your southern hemisphere? In this respect, it is a very affordable supply of IR sensitised sheet film. Grainy for an ISO200 film, it works fine as a panchromatic emulsion too. The idea of cutting down to sheet sizes is more successful since the grain becomes negligible.
Years ago, David Romano successfully sold 120 roll cut down Kodak HIE (after its discontinuation). He wisely cut down from 70mm aerial film - not from a 76 metre roll - to a 120 roll format's dimension of 56mm and in 35mm format, where even the sprocket holes were exposed. If your friend has the resources of Thomas Mahn (Maco, Germany) or a similar modern film industrial, he may be able to creatively tool this option.
Kind regards,
RJ
