E.I. for foma/arista.edu 200 in diafine?

[jano]

I've never done EI testing before, and I haven't found much using google on what ei to shoot foma 200 (aka arista.edu 200) with developing in diafine. I found something that suggested "it handles up to iso 800 fine", so.. does that mean I can shoot at anywhere between 200 and 800 and get results on the negative? 😕

 

[T_om]

I really do not want to sound rude or abrupt, but why not just do the test yourself?

Why have someone else tell you what the best ISO for your particular needs is going to be? Film is cheap. Shoot a dozen rolls or so and experiment.

EVERY camera has its little exposure quirks so you will find out if 1000/f-8 really IS 1000/f-8 with your particular camera. You may be shocked to find out it isn't (by the way, I would be willing to bet BIG money it isn't).

Portrait studios were so picky about this they custom ISO'ed EVERY new batch of film. It is dead simple and takes almost no time.

This even applies to digital. Different sensors have different sensitivities. Canon sensors, for example, are almost always 'hot' (give more exposure than actually indicated).

Experiment. Find what give you the results YOU are looking for.

Tom

 

[jano]

You don't sound rude or abrupt at all. I have my reasons for not doing the tests myself, beyond the scope of this thread. Besides, I do need a starting place. But thanks for responding 🙂

 

[Dougg]

I'd agree with Tom, jano... and a good starting point is the box speed. Diafine affects the usable EI differently for different films, so that's not entirely predictable. I'd shoot one roll as a test; pick a subject with a wide contrast range, put the camera on a tripod so the subject framing is consistent, meter as you normally would, and try exposures from 1 stop more than box speed to 2 stops under, with whatever points in between you feel like doing. Keep notes. Develop in Diafine (agitate gently), examine the results under magnification on a light table. Look for highlight detail and shadow detail, pick the three best looking and make prints. From this I think you'll find a film speed setting that suits you and your equipment.

 

[jano]

Hmm, okay. I was kind of hoping someone would have already tried this combo, but guess I just have to hike up my shorts and sing like the duke. Oh, well. Thanks!

Jano

PS: The problem with this particular set of foma is that I'm out of my regular developer (xtol), and when I was bulk loading some of the film the other night, I did not properly close the loader before turning on the light. So I've got to do a quick check to make sure the film is not ruined. Obviously a combination I am most familiar with with let me know whether the film is kaput, which is the primary reason WHY I wanted some place to start from someone who has already tried this out. That, and I really don't like to do blind testing like this, but guess I have no other choice. *shrug*

 

[jano]

Thank you!

I just finished scanning through a test roll 🙄 The good news is that my bulk film is not ruined (yay!). Bad news? Results are inconclusive!

I tried stops from iso 100 through 800. All are usable, and from iso 200 on can be made to look nearly the same with increasing graininess. Two things I noted: at 100, I got what appeared to be very beautiful tones, however, very bright highlights and very dark shadows mudied up past scanner capabilities. Although I could make this one look like the others, a very slight levels adjustment simply looked much better. Very low grain here. The other isos seem to handle it all fine. The grain at 800 is actually kind of yucky, so I know to stay away. Iso 400 was the best looking "straight" scan, however, I'm not liking the grain when compared to a development in xtol or rodinal.

I'm super confused now 😕 and not sure which iso to run with. Should I just adjust accordingly, now that I know they all work? i.e. where to from here? I will need to try and see what it's like when I have people in the shot, and then proceed from there. ???

Jano

 

[jano]

Okay, I decided to use the film at 200 and 100 for my last walk at the beach. The ones at 200 came out pretty good, however, details like hair were lost. The few I shot at 100 came out very a very pleasant tonality (for me, at least). Example from foma 200(arista.edu) at 100 in diafine:

And here it is at 200: