Kodak HIE IR film - Question

[vincent]

Clearing out my fridge the other day I discovered 4 rolls of 35mm HIE dated 2002. I won't throw them out but I'm wondering what ISO I should set my camera at when using them. I have have used a red 25A filter and always bracket two thirds of a stop either side of my chosen film speed. All opinions welcomed.

[B&W Neil]

Vincent - what a lovely find!

Depending on the time of the year I would expose this film as follows:

Summer: 300 ISO, Winter 100 ISO and Spring / Autumn 200 ISO. And bracket as per your normal practice. Expose one cassette first to see what you get and if needed make an adjustment from there.

I have used this approach a few times with old HIE before and have always obtained a result.

Best of luck :-)

Neil.

[John King]

Where do you live I am going to burgle your house and steal it!!!

Just joking of course but Kodak HIE was one film I do miss since it was discontinued. There is nothing to equal it before or since. The Rollie version just doesn't have that 'look' about it, no glow around the edges of highlights which was it's trademark. The Ilford SFX isn't too bad but it is not the same.

As for exposure, I used to bracket 1 stop under and 1 stop over as well as what my seperate meter said I should use. I always set the speed at 400ISO for most of the year but on bright summer days I would 'up' it to 800.

For a fussy film that is now 13 years out of date, why not do a clip test starting at 100ISO and going up to 800 in full stop increments (with the filter in place but using a seperate meter . Then develop that for the normal time and see what that gives you. That way you only loose 4 exposures plus a bit for a new leader. You may like to 'up' the development time by 10% as well to boost the contrast. Let us know how you get on.

[vincent]

Thanks Neil & John, I'll take your advice on board and try out the film come summer. I will let you know how I get on.

[Maris]

I just tested some Kodak HIE 35mm that had been in room storage since it expired in 1999. Behind a #25 red filter a useable EI was 50. Base fog was 0.6, a very high value, but the negatives enlarged onto variable contrast photographic paper with a #5 contrast filter. Results show the Wood effect with lots of (too much?) glow. Interesting and disappointing at the same time.

[B&W Neil]

Originally Posted by vincent

Thanks Neil & John, I'll take your advice on board and try out the film come summer. I will let you know how I get on.

Vincent, it will always be a bit a gamble with this film, at this age, but the fridge storage will probably help. You have nothing to lose but a little time

Neil.

[vincent]

Originally Posted by Maris

I just tested some Kodak HIE 35mm that had been in room storage since it expired in 1999. Behind a #25 red filter a useable EI was 50. Base fog was 0.6, a very high value, but the negatives enlarged onto variable contrast photographic paper with a #5 contrast filter. Results show the Wood effect with lots of (too much?) glow. Interesting and disappointing at the same time.

Thanks a lot for that Maris. That's very encouraging and I look forward to the summer to carry out a trial test.

[monst]

you can get the glow back on the modern ir films by printing through a soft filter or stocking over the enlarger lens. not quite the same but it does work

[vincent]

Originally Posted by monst

you can get the glow back on the modern ir films by printing through a soft filter or stocking over the enlarger lens. not quite the same but it does work

I've heard that before but I never got around to trying it out. I'm shooting Rollei IR 400 now so I might have a go at that.

[Svend]

This is a timely thread. I received a single roll of HIE (exp. 2000) with a bunch of old film and printing paper when I bought a used darkroom kit a few months ago. It had been refrigerated, so presumably still in decent shape. I almost tossed it, thinking "What the heck am I going to do with this?" Now I'm glad I didn't, and will wait until summer to shoot it. And I know just the scenes to use it for. I've never shot IR before, so this will be a fascinating experiment.

Great advice here -- thanks!

Svend