Arista APHS as Film and a Thank You.

I know how it is. I'm a starving unemployed photographer....

Do I assume correctly that this is an ortho or litho or graphic arts film? If so, it's not panchromatic, so you can load it under a red safelight.

If I recall correctly from my graphic arts/process camera days (awhile ago now), the antihalation side is shinier under the safelight. The emulsion side is duller but will probably appear a lighter shade under the safelight, tending more to medium to light "grey" (if anything's grey under a safelight).

By the way, Freestyle now has an Arista.edu line of films, made in Hungary. Regular pan film. 8x10 ISO 200, 25 sheets for 33.99; ISO 400 for 34.99. They also carry 4x5 and 5x7.

You might also try J&C photo, who sell Efke film, made I think in Croatia, at quite a discount from Ilford, Kodak, et al. www.jandcphotography.com is the address. They've got it in all different sizes including 8x10. Their "J&C" 8x10 films are about the same price as the arista.edu.

By the way, I'm not affiliated with either of these companies, but I do live within walking distance of Freestyle and am a long-term satisfied customer.

Oh, meanwhile, I've had good luck enlarging onto graphics film and developing in Dektol, so I know it'll hold contrast pretty well.

If I were you, I'd try diluting the developer some more, maybe go to 1:3 or even more. Doing this will give you longer developing time, but more control. You could try different development times to find the right one for something close to normal contrast. If you end up with high dilution, just remember to use more in the tray so as to have enough volume of developing agent present to give consistent results.

Remember also though that you're dealing with a blue-sensitive film. Things at the red part of the spectrum are going to be pretty close to black, depending on how red they are.

By example, remember all those old black and white promo shots of stars in the 20s and 30s? And the movies from that time? Ever notice that women's lipstick looked black? That's ortho film for you.

But shadow detail should be pretty good, as it tends to have a lot of reflected sky light (blue) in it.

Hope this helps, and good luck.

I just checked what Freestyle says about this film. (Found it in a google search.) They say that Dektol diluted 1:7 or 1:9 is a popular mix for getting continuous tone out of this film.

At this dilution, it would be important to use fresh developer and plenty of it in the tray to make sure you have enough actual developer in there to do the job without dying on you midway.

http://members.aol.com/fotodave/Articles/LC-1.html

Read this. Good luck.

you might also try to use paper rather than film. if you use fiber paper and expose it at about asa 6 you will get a good negative for contact printing. i don't use dektol very often, but have my share of 2 year old ansco 130 which has a HUGE shelf life, even dilute. i tend to use a developer black ( oxidized ) as coca cola dilute 1:5. it too is blue sensitive/orthochromatic. you could probably do the same thing with olde oxidized dektol, just leave it in an uncovered tray until it starts to get dark, and mix it into some of your fresh + diluted developer to give you a little more control. even though ortho film is cheap, i tend to use paper because it is cheaper :).

to get a positive print, you can put the paper neg onto a sheet of photo paper with a piece of glass above it or scan + invert it if you are lazy :)

good luck!

I'm currently using the Arista APHS film in 8x10. I did an exposure/developer dilution test matrix, using various dilutions of HC110 and rating the film at EI 50.

My "best" results - meaning good tonal range and contrast that's controllable - came with dilution "D" of HC110.

Dilution "G" looked like it may have been even better in regards to controlling contrast, but the anti-reflection coating did not fully clear off the back, leaving a yellow, mottled appearance. When I retest this film using this dilution, I will use a water presoak to clear the ARC prior to develop.

The resulting contrast is still a bit high compared to panchromatic film optimally exposed and developed, but yields controllable contrast with a grade "0" filter on the printing light source.

Regarding print contrast - I just purchased a 1941 US Army Air Corps manual of photography. It recommends for lowering the print contrast from extreme negatives to give the print "a bit more exposure, and a 1 - 2 minute water presoak, prior to development". I'll have to try this, and see if any positive effect is gained.

Yeah, regarding paper negatives vs. ortho film: I find when comparing the APHS ortho with Arista grade 2 RC (glossy) paper that the contrast is better with the graded paper, the ease of processing is the same as ortho, and the cost is cheaper with paper. And the effective film speed, when exposed in pinhole cameras, are the same for both (~1 minute in bright daylight).

Perhaps the ortho would yield sharper contact prints if I were exposing the images through a good glass lens, but with pinhole its a wash.

Bottom line, I would only continue to use the ortho film if it was 4x5 format, as I just setup a Beseler 4x5 in my darkroom. But, I generally don't like the look of enlarged pinhole images. Maybe from my Speed Graphic, however.

Graded paper seems better as a cheap LF ortho "film".