Gast
Hello everyone,
I’ve reached the point where I want to start making my own prints. However, as I mainly shoot on transparency film and intend to continue doing so (it’s cheaper, and better for presentations), I wanted to try the transparency-to-print process using a Kaiser colour enlarger. Now, a major mail-order company in Berlin has told me that chemicals for tray development of slides are no longer available. And that’s been the case for years. Well, in my book, this information seems to have been carried over from edition to edition, as the Tetenal Mono UK 3 chemistry kit is still described in detail there. The book was published in 2000...
Does anyone know of an alternative? I want to stick with tray development.
I had also considered using a slide copier and bellows to photograph the slides onto colour negative film and then make prints that way. That should work, shouldn’t it? (I don’t yet have a bellows with a slide copier attachment...)
Best regards from Göttingen
Boris Hillmann
Gast
Hi Boris
I’m now a big fan of Duka… but to be honest… I gave up on colour a long time ago.
It’s time-consuming, expensive and, at least in the early stages, comes with more than its fair share of frustrations.
You can’t just whip up colour prints like you do with a black-and-white print…
My tip: find a good print lab, get your slides printed there; the higher price at a good lab
is guaranteed not to be higher than doing it yourself.
Well, and then there’s the whole digital thing... not really my cup of tea, but definitely
the better choice, at least when it comes to colour; for black and white, of course, nothing beats good old Duka!
Regards,
Maik
MirkoBoeddecker
Maik, Boris,
Ilfochrome prints from high-quality transparency film are the pinnacle of photographic evolution.
Analogue perfection, so to speak.
Better than any digital process – the ultimate in imaging quality on this planet.
However: it’s bloody expensive. Really bloody expensive. The absolute peak of expensiveness, so to speak...
The process isn’t carried out in a tray (theoretically it could be, but it doesn’t make sense because of the cost) but in a drum that’s rolled on the table; yet it’s extremely temperature-tolerant for a colour process.
Deliveries have been sporadic over the last few weeks, but now that the new Ilford has been launched, let’s hope we can place an order again soon.
In other words: what you’re looking for does exist, and it’s easy to use too, but it’s relatively very expensive.
Best regards,
Mirko
PS Do you remember who from our company gave you the above information? It’s a rather specialised area of application – it’s quite possible that not all staff are familiar with it – so I’d like to ‘enlighten’ the person who thought Ilfochrome only works in a machine.
Renate
I have to disagree with Maik. The negative colour process isn’t that complicated. Since RA4 became available, it’s just as easy as black and white. I can’t say that the work is particularly frustrating. After a few test strips, the colour correction is spot on. With black and white, it takes me about the same amount of time to find the right contrast. I don’t just do black and white on the side either. A well-crafted image always takes a lot of time, whether in black and white or colour. The results are definitely better than what you get from an average lab. They are also more expensive, of course. I don’t go to all that trouble for photos from a birthday party.
Regards, Renate
Gast
Hello,
Mirko: Sorry, I can’t remember the name anymore. I only realised afterwards that this forum is also run by FOTOIMPEX; otherwise I wouldn’t have described it in such general terms... Anyway, he was a man...
I’d phoned Tetenal and they’d already given me the info about Ilford. But I thought Ilford was insolvent and therefore not a (long-term) alternative...? And what does ‘bloody expensive’ mean? No tray development? Tetenal said it should work in a tray as well...
What paper do you need for this process then?
Maik: You’re right, in principle. But it’s precisely the work involved, combined with the (hopefully) successful result, that makes it fun. It’s supposed to be a hobby, after all. Besides, I don’t want to print every slide onto paper, just a select few.
Even a good lab makes mistakes or can’t cater to my specific requirements as well as would be necessary in the case of slides.
Digital hasn’t won me over yet, or rather, the stuff that has is still too expensive. I do a lot of macro photography and I’m a real slide fetishist, so to speak. It’s no coincidence that Nikon has brought out a new analogue camera (the F6).
Renate: I agree about the birthday party, but I’m specifically talking about slides here, not colour negatives.
Gast
Hi Boris,
Just have a look in Fotoneckermann (Fotobrenner) under Ilfochrome.
Then you’ll see what Mirko means by ‘bloody expensive’.
He won’t be able to get it much cheaper either.
A tray will do, but it costs a fortune and makes the process unreliable. You can’t check whether everything is submerged.
Regards
Martin
MirkoBoeddecker
The old price in 2004 for the 2-litre XP30 kit (DEV + BX + FX, 2 litres each) was €29.15 plus VAT.
50 sheets of 24x30 cost €65.
10 sheets of 30x40 cost €21 (all prices excluding VAT).
However, Ilford has announced that it will be increasing prices by at least 11%.
At the moment, nobody knows what the actual prices are :-(
We are still waiting for a new price list.
Just intended as a guide.
Mirko
MirkoBoeddecker
By the way, there’s a note in the shop: Jobo colour processor to give away.
I spotted it earlier whilst having a coffee outside the shop door because it was 20 degrees and sunny.
That would be perfect for something like this.
It’s a simple piece of kit – not designed for film development, but good for Cibachrome (sorry, I mean Ilfochrome, of course ;-)
Mirko
Gast
Hello Mirko,
Is the processor the unit that rolls the drum back and forth inside a water or air jacket?
So, if drum processing is simpler anyway, as it’s light-proof (being enclosed), I’d be grateful if you could put me in touch with the Jobo processor supplier. My email address is: borishillmann@web.de
Is the paper not also available in 18 x 24?
I couldn’t find anything like that (chemicals and paper) in your catalogue....
All that’s missing now is a drum...
MirkoBoeddecker
The bloke wants you to pick it up from him in Berlin.
It’s free, though. Is that OK?
It has a water bath – though that’s not really needed with Ciba –
The smallest paper size is 8x10 inches (20x25cm).
Regards,
Mirko
Gast
Mirko,
I live in Göttingen and didn’t really want to make a special trip to Berlin for this. But I know a few people in Berlin who could sort it out for me. So if you could give me the phone number of the ‘Schenker’...?
What’s the quickest way for me to find out when you’ll have the Ilfochrome films in stock?
Best regards,
Boris
MirkoBoeddecker
I'll email you the phone number.
Ilfochrome: I'll be ordering something again today and I'll try to remember to post about it when it arrives.
Best regards,
Mirko
