Shooting Eastman (Double-X) 5222 in the Leica

I used Kodafix until it became hard to order from Kodak, I then switched to Kodak rapid fix and have been happy with the results. With rapid fix the fixer (part A) and hardner (part B) are in two parts but it's very simple to mix and seems to last about as long as Kodafix.
 
Hmm. a M5 - the ugly stepchild of the M family. I tried them and tried to like it, but never got along with it. However, the metering system is very good and once you get used to its idiosyncracies - bottom rewind is probably the biggest of them - it works fine.
The speed dial is smart - easy to control.
Let Tuulikki know and she can dispatch your chrome softie.
 
Glad to hear the metering system is good. I'm replacing two Bessa R's with this body. Should work out very well, long term. I know they take getting used to, I think I'm going to like it. Always wanted one after handling one in 1975. Prices are down.

I'm mixing more ADOX Borax Developer and Replenisher tonight, so I can get going again with that. Really like it alot, as well as the TD-201. Fixer I will mix from whatever I have around. When I finish the roll of XX in my M-2, I'll make another run, probably back to the ADOX.

Will let Tuulikki know about my order. Thanks!
 
Of corse, you will now need a Rapidwinder for the M5! Shintaro actually made one in the mid-90's. Kind of worked, but it is a complex piece as the baseplate rewind really confused the Rapidwinder. Looked cool though - I haven't asked him whatever happened to it.
 
has anybody "unfrozen" any of the +X movie stock and tried it. The weather report is promising a stretch of sunny weather so I was thinking of going "slow" with some of Plus X. With 80 asa in daylight it could be interesting. Anyone have any suggestions for what to soup it in. I will try it in Pyrocat HD, probably 8-9 min. initially, but I am open to suggestions for other soups.
 
Tom,

Interesting that you should mention +x. I have a roll ready to use in my M2 next after I finish the current roll.

I plan on souping it in TD-201 along with the other rolls i shot. I will let everyone know how if comes out.

You said you might shoot it at 80 I think I will bracket between 80 and 125 and see how it works.

I have 400 feet and this would be a good time to use it with the weather being sunny.

I am going to Portland Wednesday for a few days so I might not get to the processing until I get back.

I recently did a roll of Chinese ERA 100 shot at 100 in the divided Developer Td-201 and the negs look really nice. I still have about 25 rolls of the ERA 100 to use.

I may use the Era film or Plus X in Portland this week with the weather being sunny and warm.

Leo
 
Tom A said:
has anybody "unfrozen" any of the +X movie stock and tried it. The weather report is promising a stretch of sunny weather so I was thinking of going "slow" with some of Plus X. With 80 asa in daylight it could be interesting. Anyone have any suggestions for what to soup it in. I will try it in Pyrocat HD, probably 8-9 min. initially, but I am open to suggestions for other soups.
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Hello Tom,

I love Plus-X in 510-Pyro - wonderful tones. I assume you know about 510-Pyro, if not I will be happy to assist you with more information.
 
Tom A said:
has anybody "unfrozen" any of the +X movie stock and tried it. The weather report is promising a stretch of sunny weather so I was thinking of going "slow" with some of Plus X. With 80 asa in daylight it could be interesting. Anyone have any suggestions for what to soup it in. I will try it in Pyrocat HD, probably 8-9 min. initially, but I am open to suggestions for other soups.
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I'm ready to try a roll of my +X Movie Stock in my new M5!;) Should be fun, I'm just finishing my first roll of Presto 400 in it. I'm going to try the ADOX Borax and Replenisher, again. I had to throw mine out after 45 rolls of XX (and the fixer too!) when some old 70mm film i was developing, had it's emulsion come completely off:bang: Never had that happen before!

THE ADOX Borax and replenisher should work great with the +X. I -know- it's great with XX :D:D:D
 
OK, mine is out of the freezer and in the darkroom now and once it has thawed out - tomorrow possibly, i will start spooling up some cassettes of it. Probably normal reloads so that I can use it in the R4/ZI/MP combinations. Some in IXMOOS too of course.
Plese let us know about the 501 Pyro, Vieri - The more soups w have access to the more film will be used and the happier Kodak will stay!
 
Tom A said:
OK, mine is out of the freezer and in the darkroom now and once it has thawed out - tomorrow possibly, i will start spooling up some cassettes of it. Probably normal reloads so that I can use it in the R4/ZI/MP combinations. Some in IXMOOS too of course.
Plese let us know about the 501 Pyro, Vieri - The more soups w have access to the more film will be used and the happier Kodak will stay!
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Tom, here it is then :D 510-Pyro is a staining & tanning Vit-C & phenidone based pyro developer developed by Jay De Fehr (http://pyrostains.blogspot.com/) its formula is free to use, and goes as follows:

100 ml TEA;
5 gr ascorbic acid;
10 gr pyrogallol;
0.25 gr phenidone;

heat 75 ml of TEA, add the components in sequence stirring until each one dissolve completely before adding the next, add the remaining TEA; wait for it to cool down. It is very easy to do, but if you have troubles you can PM me and I can send you some ready mixed stock solution. Stock solution's helf life is forever; working solution is 1:100 and has to be used within 30 min or so from preparation. For Plus-X I'd suggest 6 min at 24 C, 3 inversions per minute as a starting point; water stop, alkaline fix (TP-4 works fine).

The results are really good as far as tones and sharpness, and 510-Pyro has a very nice way of compensating and keeping highlights under control. Here a couple of samples: they are not as good as the prints of course, and suffer as always of the JPG quality loss due to being reduced for the net; however I think they might give you an idea of what this developer can do as far as tonal range and scale.

(btw, a very very good 50 mm that Canon!)

Good luck with your experimenting! :D
 
Thanks Vieri, another developer to add to the ever growing file. results look promising, nice portraits too.
The fact that I have thawed out the Plus X, immideately brought in f250/5.6 (with 400) weather though.
 
Vieri, do you have any experience with the GSD-10 soup? At the moment I have no TEA handy, but for some reason a bag of Glycine.
 
Tom A said:
Vieri, do you have any experience with the GSD-10 soup? At the moment I have no TEA handy, but for some reason a bag of Glycine.
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Tom, indeed I do - I mixed a batch of it and tried it out, and I am happy with what I see; if you give me some time I will post here some samples in a couple of hours :D
 
Thanks Vieri, I have about 20 rolls waiting for processing and I am getting bored with the predictable result from the Pyrocat HD. Time for some excitement in the darkroom - chemically speaking.
 
Tom A said:
Time for some excitement in the darkroom - chemically speaking.
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...or chemically induced? :D err... anyway, here it comes, some GSD-10 examples:

Now, Pan-F+ @ 67 (don't ask), Leica MP, Prague, 35 Cron v. IV & 90 Cron pre-ASPH, 1:10, 7 min, 10 sec per min, 24' C:

By its own nature, and according to Jay, GSD-10 is most suitable for stand development; I knew that agitating it as I did would have brought out some grain, which I don't mind (I was hoping for it, actually); I think the tonal range & acutance aren't too bad at all, TMY seems not to like the treatment as far as grain goes but then again I am not much of a TMY user in the first place :D while Pan-F seems to give very good tones & controlled grain even with my agitation.

Hope this helps! Post some results of your experiments...
 
Vieri, thanks for the shots. I think I am going to mix up some of this stuff and try it with XX and the plus X movie stock.
Love the shot from Praque with the "skull" statue. Somewhere in my files I have one with kids playing in it!
I like stand developing, though with Patterson tanks you can run into problem with uneven density along the edges. I know I should go back to stainless, but I have too many Patterson tanks and reels to bother changing.
 
Tom A said:
Vieri, thanks for the shots. I think I am going to mix up some of this stuff and try it with XX and the plus X movie stock.
Love the shot from Praque with the "skull" statue. Somewhere in my files I have one with kids playing in it!
I like stand developing, though with Patterson tanks you can run into problem with uneven density along the edges. I know I should go back to stainless, but I have too many Patterson tanks and reels to bother changing.
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Sure thing Tom, glad if they helped some - about stand & Patterson, if I am not mistaking Jay used plastic Jobos for stand and he never mentioned edge problems with it; I decided not to go for stand anyway hoping for some grain (I sure got it... :rolleyes: ) and - as you - because I wasn't sure about Patterson + stand (as you, I only use plastic Patterson tanks and as you I have too many tanks & rolls to bother changing now); as well, I think stand would work great for minimizing grain when pushing, rather than for developing at box speed or the likes: maybe is worth trying some stand with not-so-important shots (is there such a thing?) and see what happens.

Semi off-topic: how can I put my grabby hands on some rolls of Double-X? :D I couldn't seem to be able to find it anywhere on the net...
 
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Vieri, go to the beginning of the Double X thread and there is a post on ordering from Kodak N.Y. directly. I have no idea if they ship it outside of the US, but it could be worth a try. At a measly $128/400 ft it is probably not worthwhile buying "short ends" with a chance of fogging due to sloppy unloading and cutting.
I know it is available in Japan for exactly double the US price ($256/400 ft) - somebody is making a bundle on it!
You be surprised how fast you will be going through 70 rolls of it too. Perfect for high contrast light. With the right developer it will handle it very well. I am still on my Pyrocat HD kick, but soon I will switch to something else and I want to run some stuff in D20 and D23 too as that will tame the contrast even further.
 
After much procrastination, I am finally up and running film again. Yesterday I mixed up the ADOX Borax MQ (2000 ml) and this morning, the Replenisher for it (1000 ml). This is my second batch of this stuff, I like it enough to mix it up, a second time. I also have TD-201 mixed up, and have used it for four rolls, so far.

Just finished hanging four XX rolls, souped in the ADOX. Rated the film at 250, 8 min at 20C, agitation 20 secs initally, the 5 secs/inversions per minute. Replenishment at 80cc's/four rolls. It definately has a '60's retro look to it, especially with the old lenses I'm now using. This stuff, with V2 Rigid Summicron, 50 f1.2 Canon, V2 90mm f2 Summicron "Big Bertha". Two rolls are an important getaway weekend trip, plus several important family events, etc. One roll is with my favorite Minolta SRT100, with Rokkor F1.2 lens. There is something, about using this film, with old, ultra high-speed lenses in moderate light. It's like a match made in heaven. I really like the qualities of this film/developer combination alot alot, it's the best film/dev combo I've ever used IMO. And, my new M5 is working just great!
 
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