Re: Kodak High Speed IR film

George L Smyth (GLSmyth@ari.net)
Tue, 07 Oct 1997 22:38:10 -0400

You will find a lot of information on IR on my Web page (below, in the signature).

Chris Fox wrote:
>
> I really like the look of IR photos, but I've had much more success with 35mm
> than with larger formats.
>
> I bought a box of larger format film, and found that
> a) I had no way of working out where to focus (on 35mm I can use the red dot for
> IR on the lens). With large format cameras with long lenses, the focussing can
> be very critical

Extend the bellows "slightly." If you are stopping down, chances are real good that
depth of field will take care of everything.

> b) With a 35mm camera you can shoot off a range of exposures to make sure that
> you've got the right exposure for IR. This is less easy with large format,
> although I'm sure that with experience you start to know what the correct
> exposure will probably be

Everyone is looking for their own results. The images on my Web page are examples of
shooting between about EI 50 and 400, metered through a #25 filter. The low
contrast, "ethereal" images are shot at the slower speeds. I used D76 (1+1), but
have switched to Rodinal for HSI (HIE works very nicely with Xtol). Needless to say,
you'll need to do your own experiments. Remember, however, that we are falling out
of "IR season." This doesn't mean to stop shooting (I continue shooting IR through
the winter), but next year between about April and September much more IR will be
available, so you'll need to consider that when determining exposure.

george

-- 
 Handmade Photographic Images     
  http://www2.ari.net/glsmyth/