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B&W Neil
29th September 2009, 06:29 PM
Rollei Infrared 400 film

I am on my last roll of Kodak i/r so have been playing about with Rollei I/R 400 and I'm impressed. Deinitely not Kodak but a good infrared film in my opinion and one well worth trying. I resisted the temptation to go for the Efke I/R films as they looked to be very slow, but I will give them a go later.

The Rollei film has a stated ISO of 400 but I reckon it is more like ISO 200 in my hands. An R72 opaque type filter is essential and so is a tripod. I decided to use Rodinal at 1+25 for 7.5 mins just because it was listed on the Big Dev chart.

So using the camera's meter with the filter on 200 IS0 produced the best looking neg. Or metering with my Sekonic at 30 to 50 ISO produced the best neg (NB not metering through the filter). This seems to indicate a loss of approx 5 stops through the R72.

The attched snap is a straight neg scan of my back garden taken mid PM with clouds and sun. I am going to print the neg tomorrow and will post a copy of that later.

To sum up: a useful i/r film with a handy ISO of 200 (400 on the box) that develops well in Rodinal. Can be loaded in the shade with no problems and to my eye is very akin to the old Konica i/r film but much faster.

Neil.

Dave miller
29th September 2009, 07:04 PM
That looks promising. So what is the usable ISO with the filter in place, ISO 12?

StanW
29th September 2009, 10:03 PM
Interesting, but the rendition is not as extreme I had expected.

B&W Neil
29th September 2009, 10:05 PM
Two different results as I tested spot metering and evaluative metering.

Using the hand held Sekonic spot metering from mid toned area: IS0 on Sekonic 30 to 50. Both 30 and 50 made good negs.

Using the meter in the EOS 1n set to evalutaive metering and just pointed at the scene - with plenty of sky: set the camera's ISO to 200, say - 4 to 5 stops for R72 about 6 to 12 ISO.

Mind this was in good i/r conditions and things will no doubt change in the field. I shall be using the above as a starting point and will bracket one stop either side for a few rolls to see how it goes. The negs look good though and very printable from each method.

Neil.

B&W Neil
29th September 2009, 10:10 PM
Interesting, but the rendition is not as extreme I had expected.

Stan, I try to tone down my i/r work a tad so these results are to my taste. One of the more exposed negs I scaned in was very infrared indeed, about two up from the one I posted!


Neil

Dave miller
30th September 2009, 06:05 AM
Two different results as I tested spot metering and evaluative metering.

Using the hand held Sekonic spot metering from mid toned area: IS0 on Sekonic 30 to 50. Both 30 and 50 made good negs.

Using the meter in the EOS 1n set to evalutaive metering and just pointed at the scene - with plenty of sky: set the camera's ISO to 200, say - 4 to 5 stops for R72 about 6 to 12 ISO.

Mind this was in good i/r conditions and things will no doubt change in the field. I shall be using the above as a starting point and will bracket one stop either side for a few rolls to see how it goes. The negs look good though and very printable from each method.

Neil.

If the sun makes an appearance today I shall try again. Please bring you film with you at the weekend, we can compare it with mine.

B&W Neil
30th September 2009, 07:47 AM
If the sun makes an appearance today I shall try again. Please bring you film with you at the weekend, we can compare it with mine.

Will do and I'll bring a couple of proof 10x8s as well if I can get in the drakroom today (grandchildren here!). I will have a go with Efke next as it is nearer to the old Kodak i/r so it will be good to see any results you may have too. If the suin comes out all the best with your test :-)

Neil.

numnutz
30th September 2009, 12:08 PM
I purchased a box of 25 sheets of 5 x 4 Rollie IR film.

I have only used it with an Hoya R72 IR filter rather than a 400 iso standard film.

I rate it at 6 iso being the lowest iso available on my Pentax Spotmeter V.

I develop in Retro Pyro and am happy with the results so far.

I don't like the thin base, I have lost a couple of sheets in my Paterson Orbital when the film escapes from the pegs. Also the IR effect is not as pronounced as I would like.

When I have use up the last few sheets I will probably order some Efke to try that.


nn :)

B&W Neil
30th September 2009, 01:11 PM
Yes the base is thin but you can't tear it and it has to be cut with scissors with 35mm cassettes. I am looking forward to seeing some results from the Efke films.

Neil.