MACO IR film (ASA400) is now on the shelves

lulalake

For all of us IR filmaholics,

Macophot has released their new 400ASA IR B&W film.

Here's an un-cleaned-up shot taken at Aquarina Springs from my first 35mm roll, 1000th @ f22 (Canon AE1-P)





I developed it in diafine which I'm not all that thrilled about. I plan to develop the next roll in Pyro W2D2+ then the next in Acufine, both fine grain developers. The film shows little of the IR "glow" however there are ways around that which I am going to play with.

The film is available in the US from Freestyle Photo in 35 and 120 formats and it's cheaper than the soon to disappear Kodak HIE.

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/sc_main.php?cat_id=405

NOTE: The film is rebadged as Rollei IR 400

I've done business with these folks. Recommended resellers.

I'm pretty excited about the European fim Mfgs, they seem to be taking up the slack that Kodak and Fuji are making.

Cheers

Jules

Art Scott

FREESTYLE has always been great to work with......

NICE PIC ALSO....

lulalake

Art Scott wrote:

FREESTYLE has always been great to work with......

NICE PIC ALSO....

Thanks much Art,
Yeah, Freestyle has become my first hit, even before Adorama or B&H when looking for stuff.

The pic is just the first attempt at this film, I hope to experiment and refine the developing. It is capable of some good shadow detail but I need to bring it out.

Cheers

Jules

gtc

anti-halation?
hi lulaluke,

nice shot-even though i have never shot ir film i have read that the ir film glow comes from reflection from the anti halation screen in the camera behind the film and back through to the front layer.got this from the web,so like many sources must be taken with a grain of salt-like this post!

modern cameras appear to have reduced the space between the film and the back so this may explain things-it might be worth trying it out on an old manual camera,like a pentax spotmatic with a single coated lens ,or similar, to see how it compares.

like always I could be wrong on this but it would be an interesting experiment.

it may also be worth trying out an old uncoated lens to see what effect that has...

i assume that you are using a hoya r72 or have you gone higher?

greg

lulalake

gtc wrote:

hi lulaluke,

nice shot-even though i have never shot ir film i have read that the ir film glow comes from reflection from the anti halation screen in the camera behind the film and back through to the front layer.got this from the web,so like many sources must be taken with a grain of salt-like this post!

modern cameras appear to have reduced the space between the film and the back so this may explain things-it might be worth trying it out on an old manual camera,like a pentax spotmatic with a single coated lens ,or similar, to see how it compares.

like always I could be wrong on this but it would be an interesting experiment.

it may also be worth trying out an old uncoated lens to see what effect that has...

i assume that you are using a hoya r72 or have you gone higher?

greg

Hi Greg,
You wrote, "nice shot-even though i have never shot ir film i have read that the ir film glow comes from reflection from the anti halation screen in the camera behind the film and back through to the front layer.got this from the web,so like many sources must be taken with a grain of salt-like this post!"

Thanks for the comment about the shot Greg, and your info is absolutely right. I’ve shot IR film since to late 60’s and a technique that the few of us who shot it back then to induce even more halation was to put a layer of aluminum foil (a new thing back then) on the pressure plate to really reflect the light. Works great and I am going to do this as #1 technique.

The second more radical method of inducing halation is to remove the film from the cart, wash the film cleaning off the anti-halation layer, dry it then respool the film and shoot. I will try that also.

You wrote , "modern cameras appear to have reduced the space between the film and the back so this may explain things-it might be worth trying it out on an old manual camera,like a pentax spotmatic with a single coated lens ,or similar, to see how it compares.
like always I could be wrong on this but it would be an interesting experiment."

You are on the money. I shot this with a 1981 ish Canon AE1-P completely manually. The "P" has some basic auto stuff but not enough to hurt . Also its film advance is sprocket driven, so no internal IR counter.
(BTW, I use a Canon EOS 1 (1990) for IR as it was the first model that had an internal IR frame counter BUT it’s completely masked).

You wrote , "it may also be worth trying out an old uncoated lens to see what effect that has..."

Dude, you been sneaking round my back door????

I am experimenting with shooting the film in an old folder, a 1910 Kodak 616. (6x12 format hot rodded to fit 120 film)) The challenge is to mask the red window in the back because it puts a lotta light on the film. Also you have to count the twists on the take-up knob, as there is no frame counter. I learned that the hard way.

You wrote , "i assume that you are using a hoya r72 or have you gone higher?"

For B&W IR film all you need is a deep red filter. (Wratten 25 or equivalent) I’m tempted to use a Hoya RM90 as that’s what I normally shoot digital IR with, but it’s nice to be able to actually see what I’m shooting instead of composing, focusing then putting on the filter, plus the ASA of 400 is really cool to use and the ASA drops through the bottom with a high Hoya or something on that order.

Thanks much for the thoughts, as I said you’re on the money with your conjecture.

Jules

gtc

thanks
gee thanks jules

i am not on the money that often,so its good to get some feedback-look forward to seeing your ir glow from various lens camera combos-it looks so fiddly and difficult,yet rewarding once you get your techniques perfected(they sell pretty well in the fine art arena too)-so good luck!

greg

lulalake wrote:

Hi Greg,
You wrote, "nice shot-even though i have never shot ir film i have read that the ir film glow comes from reflection from the anti halation screen in the camera behind the film and back through to the front layer.got this from the web,so like many sources must be taken with a grain of salt-like this post!"

Thanks for the comment about the shot Greg, and your info is absolutely right. I’ve shot IR film since to late 60’s and a technique that the few of us who shot it back then to induce even more halation was to put a layer of aluminum foil (a new thing back then) on the pressure plate to really reflect the light. Works great and I am going to do this as #1 technique.

The second more radical method of inducing halation is to remove the film from the cart, wash the film cleaning off the anti-halation layer, dry it then respool the film and shoot. I will try that also.

You wrote , "modern cameras appear to have reduced the space between the film and the back so this may explain things-it might be worth trying it out on an old manual camera,like a pentax spotmatic with a single coated lens ,or similar, to see how it compares.
like always I could be wrong on this but it would be an interesting experiment."

You are on the money. I shot this with a 1981 ish Canon AE1-P completely manually. The "P" has some basic auto stuff but not enough to hurt . Also its film advance is sprocket driven, so no internal IR counter.
(BTW, I use a Canon EOS 1 (1990) for IR as it was the first model that had an internal IR frame counter BUT it’s completely masked).

You wrote , "it may also be worth trying out an old uncoated lens to see what effect that has..."

Dude, you been sneaking round my back door????

I am experimenting with shooting the film in an old folder, a 1910 Kodak 616. (6x12 format hot rodded to fit 120 film)) The challenge is to mask the red window in the back because it puts a lotta light on the film. Also you have to count the twists on the take-up knob, as there is no frame counter. I learned that the hard way.

You wrote , "i assume that you are using a hoya r72 or have you gone higher?"

For B&W IR film all you need is a deep red filter. (Wratten 25 or equivalent) I’m tempted to use a Hoya RM90 as that’s what I normally shoot digital IR with, but it’s nice to be able to actually see what I’m shooting instead of composing, focusing then putting on the filter, plus the ASA of 400 is really cool to use and the ASA drops through the bottom with a high Hoya or something on that order.

Thanks much for the thoughts, as I said you’re on the money with your conjecture.

Jules

lulalake

gtc wrote:

gee thanks jules

i am not on the money that often,so its good to get some feedback-look forward to seeing your ir glow from various lens camera combos-it looks so fiddly and difficult,yet rewarding once you get your techniques perfected(they sell pretty well in the fine art arena too)-so good luck!

greg

Thanks Greg,
as they say, film at eleven.:):

Jules