Producing B/W slides

[jamais]

Please share your experience producing bw slides.
What film would you suggest? Scala, Fomapan R or some clear based Rollei? At what speed to expose this film?
How to develop the film? Which equipment is needed? Developer? Process?
Any idea or link to other resources would be much appreciated!
Thank you!

 

[slidesandthecity]

Ilford have a guide on reversal processing on their website.
http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/20061291034093.pdf

 

[donkee]

In a couple weeks I am going to start experimenting with PolyPanF and the Ilford B&W reversdal guide. I have a bunch of PolyPanF so might as well start there. I'll treat it like PanF and see what happens.

I'll let you know what I run into once the first tests are done. You can also check Flickr, they have a group devoted to B&W reversal.

 

[rollinade]

Today I made my first attempt at developing black and white slides. I've had it professionally developed in the past (both Photostudio 13 and dr5 have done excellent work) but it has always been something I've wanted to try myself. I lack any confidence in mixing chemicals myself, so I opted for Foma's processing kit. As this was a first attempt I went completely by the book, shooting Foma R100 at ISO 100 and following the kit's instructions---no substitutions or shortcuts.

For me the two most intimidating aspects of this process are loading onto metal reels and the re-exposure step. The first may be no big deal to most, but for this plastic-reel-user it's akin to asking someone used to automatic transmission to try stick shift. So, I practiced with an old roll of Fuji Superia and watched a YouTube tutorial. The re-exposure step is just disturbing, not difficult. I set up a lamp, minus shade, with a 100 watt bulb. I dunked the loaded reel in a clear plastic tub with water (I used the container from a 100 pack of DVD-Rs) and circled it around the bulb for thirty seconds. Then I flipped the reel and circled for thirty seconds more. The instructions say to be about a meter away from the light, I was much closer. At this point you can see the image forming on the film. From what I've read, the timing of this step is not super critical. It's just essential that the entirety of the film be hit with light. For obvious reasons be careful not to drip water on the naked bulb.

Pulling out the film and seeing a positive black and white image is a thrill! Go for it. Here's a shot of my lightbox:

 

[Roger Hicks]

I've done it, more than once, and I think the only reason to try is because you can. I haven't, for years. If you do, use a clear-base film: the 1-stop base on most films is simply depressing.

Cheers,

R.

 

[rollinade]

I think the only reason to try is because you can.

I love projecting photos, even more than printing.

 

[bonatto]

This is very cool, didn't know it was possible. Is there any considerable difference in sharpness/grain?

 

[htimsdj]

Has anyone tried dr5? I've heard about it over the years but never gave it a shot.

 

[rollinade]

This is very cool, didn't know it was possible. Is there any considerable difference in sharpness/grain?

I don't think so. As Roger mentioned above, a clear-based film produces the best reversal. Agfa Scala is probably the best known, and it was marketed as a slide film. It's still available in 35mm (sadly not in 120 anymore). Foma R100 is available in 35mm as well as 8mm and 16mm cine rolls. I had dr5, a lab in the U.S., develop Ilford Delta 100 (shot at ISO 80, if I remember correctly) as reversal and it came out beautifully. All of these films would produce sharp, minimally grained negatives if developed as such.

The main reason to develop as reversal is projection or looking at on a lightbox. They are really, really cool looking in person.

 

[farlymac]

Way back when Polaroid came out with their reversal slide film, I was ecstatic. I always liked the look of the filmstrips we used to get to see in school (mostly in history class), and wanted to emulate that look on a budget.

However, it was an exercise in frustration, as the developing was uneven, longevity of the slides was suspect, and it was not economical. And after I got away from doing my own developing, the urge to shoot B&W reversal kind of fell to the wayside. But I'll keep this in mind, as I plan on learning the craft all over again this year.

PF

 

[KansanTim]

Has anyone tried dr5? I've heard about it over the years but never gave it a shot.

I tried dr5 a few years back, and have no complaints. A big advantage there is you can use a lot of different b/w films in the process. Some work better than others, but it was fun to see the various looks one could get. What worked best for me were HP5, Rollei Infrared, Scala, and Delta 100. I liked the sepia toning (their developer 2 option) quite a bit more than the straight version, preferring the sepia on all but Delta 100 of the films I mentioned (I don't think I ever had Delta 100 processed sepia, just neutral).

The two drawbacks are that I found I needed to bracket a lot to work out what exposure worked best for me (my tastes didn't align with their recommended exposures), but afterwards I got consistent results, and the prices are not cheap. On the pricing, I don't think they are unfair or anything, as it's a rather unique service and was in fact cheaper than the Scala-process I had done in Paris. The pricing is reasonable for a single lab offering a unique service, but expensive compared to hand-processing your own negatives (not reversal, which I've never tried). Oh, and if you want faster turnaround, you have to pay for that. I was willing to pay the lowest price where they just run my film when quantities dictate, which can be weeks. It was a neat experiment, but I couldn't do that as my standard processing or anything, even though I love projecting slides.

 

[rollinade]

Just developed my second roll of Foma R100 today. I went ahead and used my regular white plastic reels with no problems. I guess I had gotten bad information previously about only using metal reels. This is a great relief, as I am absolutely inept at loading onto steel.

Now that I have a bit more confidence in this process, I think I will try a different type of film. Stay tuned...

 

[doolittle]

Adox Silvermax can be used to product superb black and white slides. I looked at some samples under a loupe at Photokina 2012 and they should great details and tonal range.