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Wednesday, 22 June 2005 |
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Page 4 of 6
The Film
Film to make these large negatives is another
consideration. Kodak and Ilford no longer supply any of their popular sheet
films in sizes larger than 8x10 except as large and costly special orders. However,
the recent increased interest in ultra-large format cameras has encouraged a
few dealers to put together special orders for some of the most desirable Kodak
and Ilford black & white film stocks in exotic sizes (see resources list). Bergger,
a French film maker with a direct US distribution arm, supplies its BPF-200
film in just about every imaginable size but again you won’t find it stocked
at the local camera store.
Processing large sheets of film can be done in a
number of ways, and in conversations with ultra-large format users I get the
impression that there are as many specific techniques as photographers. A few
examples: Michael A. Smith, who uses a wide range of oversize formats, processes
batches of film in trays by inspection using ABC Pyro. Patrick Alt who also
uses several formats up to 18x22 inches does batches in trays by time and temperature,
with replenished HC-110 as the soup. Dick Arentz uses rigorous BTZS densitometric
technique to make 7x17 and 12x20 negatives for platinum printing. He develops
the negatives two at a time in trays of D-76. Kerik Kouklis who works mainly
in 7x17 for platinum printing develops FP-4 Plus in home-made ABS tubes spun
on motorized print roller bases, three at a time, souping in PMK or ABC+ pyro
formulas.
AWB Enterprises and The View Camera Store sell light-tight tubes for
manual rotary processing of ultra-large negatives. Expert Drums for film processing
in the popular Jobo semi-automatic processors only come in sizes up to 8x10.
Print drums modified with special Expert inserts are available, but this means
developing just one sheet at a time. Using print drums without inserts allows
two-sheet processing with some sizes—two 7x17 or 8x20 sheets in a 16 by 20 drum,
or two 12x20’s in a 20 by 24 drum—but with most film/developer combinations
there’s a strong risk of streaking and uneven development from bromide drag.
With pyro developers I’ve even encountered streaks apparently caused by the
print drum ribs that only show up when printing by UV light in platinum. The
streaks are invisible on a lightbox and don’t print in silver. Fred Newman and
Tillman Crane told me they’d had success with giant films developed in Jobo
print and film drums using D-76 or Ilford ID-11 developer. I tried it and had
good results using D-76 to process several sizes of large sheet film in print
drums on the Jobo processor, with no sign of streaking. Still, the idea of developing
one or even two sheets of film at a time doesn’t thrill me. My preference is
to develop batches of four to eight sheets in trays, using PMK pyro, HC110,
or replenished TMaxRS developer. Be sure to use trays larger than the film size.
For 12x20 or 16x20 film this means 20x24 trays and that means even an eight
foot sink won’t hold a set of four. That could be another inducement to work
with a rotary system.
Film Holders
If it’s impossible to be too rich or too
thin, it’s even more unlikely that you can have too many film holders, or afford
them. Standard Fidelity holders are available in 11x14, but for all other trans-8x10
formats the only choice is between vintage holders or those made by modern craftsmen.
Wisner, Lotus, and AWB Enterprises all make beautifully crafted wooden holders
on a semi-custom basis. It really has to be semi-custom because, unlike the
usual sizes, oversize cameras have a variety of holder designs. A Folmer & Schwing
12x20 banquet film holder won’t fit a Lotus or Wisner 12x20 camera. Korona holders
have still another design. Take a close look at a film holder and imagine making
a big one of wood and you won’t be surprised to learn that oversize holders
cost anywhere from $300 to $500 apiece. If you’re lucky you may find very clean
old holders, or acquire some along with a vintage camera, and AWB offers reasonably
priced (around $125 depending on condition) holder restoration service. But
in general you’ll have to figure on spending over a thousand dollars to get
a starting set of three holders for an oversize camera. The up side is that
six mammoth negatives is a pretty good day’s work.
Owning only a few big film holders used to present a hurdle to
field work, because there were no changing bags for holders and films
in these sizes. When traveling cross country on shooting expeditions,
if I had found good subjects and used up my film holders I would get a
motel room, less for the luxury of a night’s rest in a real bed than to
be able to utilize the bathroom as a makeshift darkroom to reload my
holders. Most chain motels have windowless bathrooms. With the outer
room curtains drawn, the extra barrier of the bathroom door provides
sufficient darkness for safe film handling. Recently really big
changing tents have come on the market. These are made of high-tech
synthetic materials that do not present the dust problems of older
cloth changing bags. Harrison changing tents are available up to a huge
4x5 foot model with side pockets. I can easily change 12x20 holders in
mine and even 20x24 should be possible. A high quality changing tent
this size is expensive, but only about the price of a single big custom
film-holder. That's a bargain.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 23 June 2005 )
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