Exposing Eastman (Double-X) 5222 in the Leica

yes, it is color movie film, and it produces negatives. the different types are set for different light sources. 500T is for tungsten. 250D is for daylight or mixed lighting. 50D is for daylight. i'm going to try some myself. the results seem to be less grainy than corresponding 135mm color negative film, and what grain there is sort of smoothed out; the colors are obviously quite appealing; contrast appears on the whole to be lower. but since i use almost exclusively high contrast modern lenses, it might be a nice combo. plus the price is probably close to US$2/roll. The B&W kind of motion picture film being discussed above is much less common here (it seems...), but ERA 100 at $2/roll does a fine job. For the higher ISO films, I still use Fuji Neopan (presto and super presto) and Kodak T3200, but those are around 3-4x the price of the motion picture film.
 
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2nd impressions

2nd impressions

Added selects from the last two rolls to the 5222 pool. D76, still at 8mins. Some major scratches running through one of the rolls - I'm assuming its the canister.

seems like the negative is holding information pretty deep into the highlights, but the mid-range does seem flat to me.

I picked up some Zonal Pro Gamma Plus to try out. Any opinions out there on this developer? Is there another stock you guys have been using as a comparison stock when determining dev. times based on available tables?
 
Some great shots, Sean.. lovely tones, for sure!

I'm no help with the Zonal Pro, but it looks like the D-76 is working nicely for you. My impression is that all of us in the pool are essentially creating the 'available tables' you're referring to. 🙂 I've not seen a whole lot of data for 5222 elsewhere..

--c--
 
I've got a couple bottles of the Zonal Pro stuff that came from a friend's darkroom, haven't touched them yet. I'd suggest splitting the difference between the Tri-X and Plus-X times as a starting point. That's what I've done with the TMAX and Acufine developers so far and it seems to do the 5222 alright.

Finally got around to souping three rolls from my recent incursion into NYC. I rated at about 400 this time and tried 5 min 30 sec in the Acufine. The negs are hanging now, and look pretty good, but it'll be interesting to get them scanned and see what I got. Last time I rated it ~640 and I think that was really asking a little too much in the Acufine.
 
For good mid tones I find that the D76/Adox type MQ developer works best. Pushing to 400 is usually OK, but I find it less than ideal for push processing.
The Pyrocat HD works quite well with the XX, but the stand developing is fraught with problem. Lots of densitity changes at the edges, but sharpness is very good, reinforced by the Mackie line effect in contrasty light. Pyrocat also gives a very distinct grain - not objectionable, but visible. Some more experimentation is obviously required. Next batch will be with normal time (10 min) and standard agitation (2 turns/60 sec) and I will see if that is different from the standard type processing.
 
Some of the last batch - Acufine @ 21degC for 5:30. 5222 rated at 400, or so I told the M2. I loaded up another 50' and will be running it through whatever camera I can for the next couple weeks... Maybe try some HC110, Microdol-X.

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up and running

up and running

Some great shots, Sean.. lovely tones, for sure!
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Cale, thanks for the kind words--

3 more rolls in D-76. I'd been waiting to develop these negs from Nigeria until I felt confident with the results. I'll post several new ones in the 5222 pool. All meter-less, of course, but I was constantly surprised at how much information the 5222 held across the entire range. I think I got the highlights to block only in one shot where I was shooting straight into the sun!

I'm much more used to 35mm cinematography, where we only get 4 perforations per picture! Having twice the negative space to work with makes meter-less shooting almost too easy (granted I have a lot of hours clocked behind my sekonic 608c). With this level of latitude aperture control seems more about contrast control. Some of these shots needed slight level adjustments and subsequently suffered reduced mid-range contrast.

I'll give the gamma plus a shot here in roll or two and see how it does.
 
I just posted five pictures (scanned from 5x7 prints) to the Flickr group that I developed in F09 (Rodinal clone). When develop Plus-X in Rodinal I use minimal agitation (3 inversions every two minutes) to keep the contrast under control. Knowing that 5222 is a low contrast film, I used a more standard agitation plan of 30 seconds + seven inversions every 30 seconds thereafter. I think that I may have too much contrast on these examples so I will cut back on the next roll that I try.

I would be interested in others' experiences with this combination as well as any comments about these five prints.
 
pschauss said:
I just posted five pictures (scanned from 5x7 prints) to the Flickr group that I developed in F09 (Rodinal clone). When develop Plus-X in Rodinal I use minimal agitation (3 inversions every two minutes) to keep the contrast under control. Knowing that 5222 is a low contrast film, I used a more standard agitation plan of 30 seconds + seven inversions every 30 seconds thereafter. I think that I may have too much contrast on these examples so I will cut back on the next roll that I try.

I would be interested in others' experiences with this combination as well as any comments about these five prints.
Click to expand...

There might be too much contrast in the prints rather than on the scan. The "brights" are a bit burned out and that could be in the prints and the scanner cant cope with it! Good shots otherwise. The Rodinal and its "clones" tend to be very agitation sensitive - even a small increase can blow them out. I tend to fiddle with the dilution and keep a constant agitation instead. (60sec initial and 3 inversions/60 sec).
 
Sean, you are right on the button as how much information the XX can handle! Mid range tones are vastly better than some of the fancy T-grain etc and deep shadows starts to have a bit of their own zone-system!
Great shot from Nigeria - did you get your stuff back though? Never made it there. We were in Niger in 1970 and the Nigerians were having a civil war with the Swedes supporting the other side, so I was advised not to try to cross the border? Hate it when politics interfers with travel plans!

I am continuing the Pyrocat HD and XX sequence. Just souped 5 rolls in Pyrocat and at least hanging on the rack to dry they look fine. I did the usual process with them and shaved 2 minutes from the previous run - 11 min. this time.
I do 5 min. prewash prior to souping and I dont know if it helps or hinders, but so far so good.
Sequence: 5 min prewash with plain water (I let it sit on the Uniroller and slosh about for that time as it gives me a chance to decant fixer, mix the Pyrocat and pick up all the small pieces of film that are cut off when you load the Patterson reels! The cat loves them and chews on them!!!!
Pyrocat in the tank, another minute on the Uniroller and then sit with agitation every 60 sec (three inversions). Wash/fix as per usual.
Apart from having been shooting everything with Sunny f16 - the negs looks OK, Will scan tomorrow and post on Flickr.
 
Finally got around to adding some more to the flickr group, some of what was posted above. I kind of like it in the Acufine, but won't have access to that again until next month... I think next rolls will go through HC110, anyone have a favorite dilution? I think I we used to use dil B in the darkroom at school, but that was a long time ago, and they 'required' us to use the (old) Tri-X.
 
I did some rolls of XX earlier this year with HC 110. I never bother with the various dilutions, just add raw syrup to the final volume.
Best result was with 1 part syrup to 60 parts water. Time was 11 minutes with initial agitation for the first 60 sec and then every minute (three inversions). Film was roughly rated at 250 asa, but as I was shooting according to "sunny f16" rule - there are variations.
 
Nokton48 said:
http://www.tapesuperstore.com/koblandwhned.html

Somebody here needs to grab the stuff at 18 cents and 20 cents a foot. That is a good deal. I'd call them, or it will be -gone-.
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That page is always up, even if they don't have any short ends to sell. I wonder what happens if you put in an online order and they don't have any in stock? I've called and been lucky to score a couple 50' rolls, so that's what I'd recommend -- fast and professional service in every way.
 
I tried another roll of 5222 in F09 (allegedly the old Rodinal formula) this past weekend, this time with minimal agitation (3 inversions to start, 3 inversions every 2 minutes - 10 minutes total time). Contrast was much more manageable. I have posted some examples on the Flicker group.
 
Just posted another batch of XX with the Pyrocat HD. Interestingly enough, a bit more contrast than before, same time, same agitation. Only reaon I can determine is that my chemistry was about 4-5 degrees (F) higher than the previous run. There has been so little sun here that I forgot to compensate for the higher "room" temperature in the darkroom (top floor and black roof).
I will do an other run tonight and see if that was a factor as temperature is back down to 68-70 degrees now.
Tom
 
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