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Re: Kodak SO-339 Direct Duplicating Film



I agree that Jeffrey's opinion is probably right on, but I've used SO339 for
a couple years which i think used to be SO132 and had for my purposes of
gum, palladium, quick print and cyanotype very acceptable images.  The film
is slow to expose; some of my negs took 6 min to expose in the enlarger.  It
is backwards, so the clearer the neg is, the less exposure you need.  It is
very contrasty, too.  I developed it in stronger dilutions than Carole did,
so maybe I should try her 1:12 method.  I used Dektol 1:1 at the time, 2 min
development.  It is usable under red safelight and fun to watch the neg come
up milky and then clear.  I used a plain water stop, no acetic because I was
told, perhaps in error, that it may pinhole.  Fix 5 minutes and wash.It is
expensive; a box of 25 8x10 was about $125.  But other than those drawbacks
it was a great way to get large negs and I was very satisfied.  I'm not a
perfectionist, tho, so maybe you need to listen to Jeffrey and not me.
Chris

If one wishes the subtle qualities of the original when printing Pt/Pd,
> they should consider: enlarging to a positive and shadow mask(s),
> contact printing to a negative and highlight mask(s), then contact
> printing.  This method provides for the transfer of subtle nuances
> contained within the original which help provide presence and luminosity
> of tonal values, tactile quality, and substance.  With the masks, this
> method can create a new negative beyond and superior to the original
> that can control internal ranges, local contrasts, and edge of tone
> effects.  This method can produce more sharpness (not resolution),
> diffuse artifacts such as grain, and provide control not possible with
> camera and film alone.
> However one must devote the time and effort to get results.  Skipping a
> step, taking a shortcut, going the quick and easy, lazy route only
> provides disaster (i.e. crap).  A better shortcut would be to just go to
> one-hour-photo at the drug store.
> Enlighten yourself by studying prints side by side.  This is the key:
> study the prints side by side.  If the photo-mart print is what you
> want, there should be no need to waste platinum or palladium.  The same
> should hold for any other process.  Why put in the effort of any hand
> crafted process if some shortcut restricts the qualities of that
> process.  Some processes may not be influenced by the use of direct
> duplicating film, Pt/Pd is not one of them.
>
> A method for producing enlarged negatives is contained in my Guide to
> Pt/Pd Photographic Printingmaking on my web site (link below).
>
> --
> Jeffrey D. Mathias
> http://home.att.net/~jeffrey.d.mathias/
>