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Monday, November 28 2005, 4:38 AM
HP5+ z1/8 same sheet!
Well, the nightmare has happened again. Since Ilford has been under new management after their restructuring, the film is no longer consistent from box to box as it is all over the place. I was told this is a growing pain and it should get back to normal in a year or so; finger crossed. One thing that you can do to avoid re-testing is to buy 4 to 5 boxes of 100 sheets at a time with the exact same emulsion number to save you the hassle of re-testing. Personally I love Ilford film and I am going to keep using their products. I have to say that since they are going to continue to support the analog photographer I am going to support them.
THANKS ILFORD!
On with the story ;)
Since I started using the zone system exclusively about a year ago, I now realize that the 1.3 zones 8 target is not really what you always want to shoot for. The reason is depending on the paper chosen, the paper itself can only print a certain density, so therefore the zone 8 number changes to match your paper speed as well. For example on Oriental Seagull 1.2 is about the max I can print and maintain subtle detail in the white, z1 is the same (09-.11), for now I target for a zone 8 between 1.18-1.24 above base fog.
Easiest way to get your density numbers is zero out on film base then look for a 1.18 ? 1.24. With Forte papers, I have noticed that a 1.25 zone 8 yields excellent results on grade 2 using their semi matt paper.
Another trick I have learned as I got really tired of burning though sheets of z1 and z8 negs it to use 1 sheet of film with both a z1 and z8 by only pulling the slide 1/3 the way out, take a z1 shot then go into the darkroom and turn the film around and take a z8 shot. Now I can get clear base, z1 and z8 on 1 sheet. I have also tested this to make sure it was correct by exposing full sheets and comparing the densities and so far they are the exact same.
A different test I do when starting with a new film to get me close to the actual densities is to pull a slide out ¾ of the way then take the first shot (z1 for example), push the slide in ¼ and close the aperture down 1 stop. This will allow you to get 4 ½ stop increments readings on one sheet of film. Every 1 stop you stop down equal?s ½ in density. So your testing indexes would be for example if you started at 400; 400, 300, 200, 150 with a film base at the top unexposed. This is only used to get you relatively close. Once you get close to your targets you will then do your normal testing with single sheets or z1/z8 single sheets as described above.
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