Does anyone do B&W slides?

[alvin]

I did a quick search on google and came up with Agfa Scale 200 as a choice of B&W slide, and some other methods e.g. DR5 processing to get a B&W slide out of normal B&W films. Could you guys share you experiences? I much prefer slides as what I see is what I shot.

For the ilford users, I am feeling sad too. I used Delta 400, but I don't process at home, so its expensive to develop & get an index print from the shoppes. I hope it won't vanish! I personally prefer ilford to kodak. Here's hoping Ilford will survive!

Thanks!

Alvin

[tucker]

intriguing.
would ya like to comment on what ya mean by 'what I see is what I shot' ?

far as I know, it's not cheap to develop and 'print' from Scala either.
and ya can hardly find labs that do traditional slides to print anymore.
(it will not be cheap either even if ya do manage to find them)

good luck ~

[waileong]

All pro labs do colour slides. It's not expensive. $5-6 for developing, $2-3 to mount. Printing is expensive-- but why shoot slides if you want to print? However, large enlargements (8R up) are practically the same price as negative prints.

B&W slides very expensive, apparently there is one place that processes it at Peninsula, but anyway no one sells scala film here. DIY if you want, Ilford website has instructions for positive processing, but need quite a lot of chemicals.

What you see is what you get means that slides show you whether you screwed up or not. There's very little latitude, and since there's no printing, there's no corrections.

===

Originally Posted by tucker intriguing. would ya like to comment on what ya mean by 'what I see is what I shot' ? far as I know, it's not cheap to develop and 'print' from Scala either. and ya can hardly find labs that do traditional slides to print anymore. (it will not be cheap either even if ya do manage to find them) good luck ~

[student]

I shoot Agfa Scala regularly, both in 35 mm and 120. In fact I just sent off last week 20 120 rolls to Duggal Color in New York for processing. Hopefully I received them by this week!

The Scala is a gorgeous film, and produces a tone like the Velvia, but in black & white. When projected, I think it beats any digital capture anytime! Unfortunately it is indeed expensive to use this film, and for the purpose of projection, I think it will die. It just cannot compete with the ease of digital capture, even if the digital images cannot match the Scala!

I use the Scala to make enlarged negatives, say 8x10 inches or whatever, and then use the enlarged negatives for contact printing purposes. The enlarged negatives are made using Bergger BFPF-18. Produce a beautiful tone!

For "tucker", "what I see is what I shot" means that it is the positive, not the negative, that you see on the Scala.

[student]

Originally Posted by waileong B&W slides very expensive, apparently there is one place that processes it at Peninsula, but anyway no one sells scala film here. DIY if you want, Ilford website has instructions for positive processing, but need quite a lot of chemicals. What you see is what you get means that slides show you whether you screwed up or not. There's very little latitude, and since there's no printing, there's no corrections. ===

1 Nobody process Scala in Singapore. In the Asia-Pacific region, I know only of Tokyo and Australia which have this facilities. Whoever in Singapore accepts Scala sends it out for processing. Development of the Scala is by a proprietary process licensed by Afga to certain establishments. It cost about US $5/- to process a roll (push/pull more). You cannot DIY scala.

2 You know whether you had screwed up by looking at your films, whether slides (positives) or negatives (well - negatives). You see the actual images on Scala as in color slides, not an inverted image as in negatives

3 There have been a lot of mention of Ilford. If it refers to Scala it is wrong. Scala is made by Afga, not Ilford. Looking at the Ilford website will not help you as far as Scala is concern.

[jcryan55]

Someone said over the net some time back that the Agfa lab beside Konata does process Agfa's slide film SCALA. No sure, though, can someone check & confirm?

If u r really keen to do slide in b&W, try shooting in TMAX 100 or 400. Kodak has a chemcial that can make negative into positive, the code is J87. Ruby will bring it in specially if u order from them. But the waiting time is abt 4-6 months. Have tried it before quite easy to use but the timing must be accurate. So far only tried it on TMAX as the instruction says so, haven't try on other Ilford or Agfa film though.

[student]

Originally Posted by jcryan55 Someone said over the net some time back that the Agfa lab beside Konata does process Agfa's slide film SCALA. No sure, though, can someone check & confirm? If u r really keen to do slide in b&W, try shooting in TMAX 100 or 400. Kodak has a chemcial that can make negative into positive, the code is J87. Ruby will bring it in specially if u order from them. But the waiting time is abt 4-6 months. Have tried it before quite easy to use but the timing must be accurate. So far only tried it on TMAX as the instruction says so, haven't try on other Ilford or Agfa film though.

I had previously checked with Agfa website for its accredited scala processing sites. Singapore was not one of the countries. Before fotoguide closed, they too accept scala. But they sent the film to Australia/ Too more than a month!

There are other ways to do B&W slides using conventional b&W negatives. The easiest way is to use T-max as you mentioned. The other way is to send your b&w to www.dr5.com as mentioned by Alvin. People had said that the Dr5 process was very good. A friend of mine who only shoot with scala had tried the dr5 approach, but did not find the tonality to be equal to scala.

[insomia]

LAst time was at Nelson's he had Scala film in stock but only for 135mm format.

Jeffery - Singapore was never on the processing lab list. According to the then Afga distributors - MOE would not approve the lab unless they installed chemical treatment system that went beyond the normal. Somthing about about the chemicals used. Go figger. Suspect real reason is that there is no market to support such a lab. If the Afga lab (Konota's other hand) accepts it then its the same as passing it to Nelson.

Student - Is there any particular reason why you use the lab in NY and not Australia or Japan.

[alvin]

Good morning everyone!
Tucker, what wai leong described is one of the properties of slides that I want. But more importantly, I can bring my slides out with a light box and show my friends. I can't do that with negatives, and prints are more expensive and not as eye popping.

Waileong: I will check the instructions on ilford's website. Thanks! I went through my old B&W photos last night (Delta 400 & 3200), they have such a unique feel vs colour slides. Emphasizes texture, shape and more without the distraction of colour.

student, jcryan55 and insomia, thanks for your input! I will learn a bit more from you guys. BTW, I will be heading down to konota today to ask 'em if they do this service - printing some 135 & 120 slides to 8r.

Thanks all!

Regards,
Alvin

[student]

Originally Posted by insomia Student - Is there any particular reason why you use the lab in NY and not Australia or Japan.

The basic reason is that my friend uses this lab (Duggal color). There are at least three labs in US - NY, SF and LA. My friend lives in California. He uses Scala to make big negatives for platinum printing (up to 20x26 inches), and his prints are in many museums worldwide. As far as he is concerned, in US, only Duggal matters to him.

In Singapore, I have to send them out anyway! So, I decide on Duggal.

[insomia]

Student wats cost like for processing at Duggal's. Have 5 rolls sitting in the fridge - so have to start using them.

[alvin]

Yo everyone!
Just back from Kex's place for slide scanning and peninsula plaza. I checked at the shop inside konota, the Scala 200 is 11++ per roll, 135, and costs 30 bucks to send to Japan for development. Ruby i didn't check the prices, but they have Scala too, and sends to Japan too. Haiz guess slide film is still cheaper. Especially with the way I shoot heheh.

Thanks everyone!

Alvin

[student]

From Alvin's information from Konota, it appears that the prices from Duggal is a little cheaper USD 5 per roll. But shipping is excluded! Fom here you pay SGD 30 for shipping to Japan.

But I have to send FedEx to and from NY.

[alvin]

Why must the film be sent by Fedex? What about just using plain old registered post via SingPost? I've not used fedex before...

If SingPost is used to send the film, and then use Vpost.com.sg to get it back, will it be cheaper? It seems that if I use Vpost to get items back from states, its cheaper then getting the people to send the item to be direct. Not tried though! Going to try soon on a book i'm bidding on =)

I'm real impressed you actually sent your film over just to be developed. Just thought of possible xray scanning scares me. Ah well... I'll stick to slides till I got more spare cash.

Alvin

[student]

Originally Posted by alvin Why must the film be sent by Fedex? What about just using plain old registered post via SingPost? I've not used fedex before... If SingPost is used to send the film, and then use Vpost.com.sg to get it back, will it be cheaper? It seems that if I use Vpost to get items back from states, its cheaper then getting the people to send the item to be direct. Not tried though! Going to try soon on a book i'm bidding on =) I'm real impressed you actually sent your film over just to be developed. Just thought of possible xray scanning scares me. Ah well... I'll stick to slides till I got more spare cash. Alvin

Why FedEx?

1 Because they check the content before they receive it, and somehow can avoid the films being x-rayed.

2 They are reliable. Forgot to tell you that the rolls of Scala I sent last week came back yesterday. A total of 8 days. My previous experience from fotoguide took almost 2 months.

3 Today, I will start to make my enlarged negatives if the weather is not good for shooting outdoors!

[ratboy]

Hi Student

I gather you are located here in Singapore ?

Questions...

Why not just shoot plain E6 slides and enlarge on to the Bergger BFPF-18 directly ? ( not that i have tried it ... )

Where do you get your Bergger BFPF-18 from ?
I would like to try to enlarges some of my stuff : )

Thanks - Lam

[student]

Originally Posted by ratboy Hi Student I gather you are located here in Singapore ? Questions... Why not just shoot plain E6 slides and enlarge on to the Bergger BFPF-18 directly ? ( not that i have tried it ... ) Where do you get your Bergger BFPF-18 from ? I would like to try to enlarges some of my stuff : ) Thanks - Lam

Making a negative from color slides is like making a black & white print from a color negative - terribly horrible- even thought I have the special kodak paper for this purpose. Nowhere comparable to a true black & white fibre paper print!

I am in Singapore. Got the Bergger from ww.bostick-sullivan.com

[ratboy]

Originally Posted by student Making a negative from color slides is like making a black & white print from a color negative - terribly horrible- even thought I have the special kodak paper for this purpose. Nowhere comparable to a true black & white fibre paper print! I am in Singapore. Got the Bergger from ww.bostick-sullivan.com

Ah.. i see
the Berger is a ortho film ...
and wow, the film is very expensive hor !!

Me actually thinking of using a pan film,
than enlarging from a projected E6 slide...
would be like exposure to the original outdoor outdoor scene ?
and can use filters to adjust negative contrast etc ...

Lam

[student]

Originally Posted by ratboy Ah.. i see the Berger is a ortho film ... and wow, the film is very expensive hor !! Me actually thinking of using a pan film, than enlarging from a projected E6 slide... would be like exposure to the original outdoor outdoor scene ? and can use filters to adjust negative contrast etc ... Lam

I use Kodak Panalure for making b&w prints from color negatives. Those special events that I want to preserve. Despite filtrations, the prints are still not satisfactory.

I am sure that using a pan film and a color slide as source, you can get some negatives. I may be wrong, but unlikely to have a good negative.

[kex]

Originally Posted by student I shoot Agfa Scala regularly, both in 35 mm and 120. In fact I just sent off last week 20 120 rolls to Duggal Color in New York for processing. Hopefully I received them by this week! The Scala is a gorgeous film, and produces a tone like the Velvia, but in black & white. When projected, I think it beats any digital capture anytime! Unfortunately it is indeed expensive to use this film, and for the purpose of projection, I think it will die. It just cannot compete with the ease of digital capture, even if the digital images cannot match the Scala! I use the Scala to make enlarged negatives, say 8x10 inches or whatever, and then use the enlarged negatives for contact printing purposes. The enlarged negatives are made using Bergger BFPF-18. Produce a beautiful tone! For "tucker", "what I see is what I shot" means that it is the positive, not the negative, that you see on the Scala.

hi student,


i'm asking out of curiousity,wouldn't it easier to just enlarge the scala to 8x10 or larger than doing a dupe with the bergger film ?

i have not try B&W internegative b4 but duplication from my past color internegative always seems more contrasty and lose abit of sharpness..