kodak 5222

[Radu Tomici]

hi, i'm a newbie, student at the romanian film school, cinematography, and i was wandering if someone could tell me a bit more about the developing process of the kodak double-x b/w stock...

 

we've been having problems with it in terms of speed. we first did a test for 200t and 250d and it came out excelent. we then did some aditional tests for lenses and it came out overexposed (and we know for sure that we exposed corectly) and turned out 320d and 320t...

 

i have a feeling that our school lab is keeping us in the dark about some problems they're having, and i was hoping someone could give me a little insight on what should be happening in the lab, chemicals, times, i don't really know how the process should be or how our school is doing it. any posts are welcome

[Dirk DeJonghe]

in my experience most B&W stocks are less than their rated speed.

This was confirmed about two years ago when I exchanged sensotometric strips and processing with Kodak Chalon. I processed their sensitometric strips and vice versa.

 

You have tro adjust the processing time to get a particular gamma, usually 0.65 and accept the speed you get. My clients usually rate 5222 at around 125 ISO or less.

If you would process 5222 by accident in positive developer instead of negative developer, you would get around 400 ISO and excessive contrast and grain.

[Brian Pritchard]

in my experience most B&W stocks are less than their rated speed.

This was confirmed about two years ago when I exchanged sensotometric strips and processing with Kodak Chalon. I processed their sensitometric strips and vice versa.

 

You have tro adjust the processing time to get a particular gamma, usually 0.65 and accept the speed you get. My clients usually rate 5222 at around 125 ISO or less.

If you would process 5222 by accident in positive developer instead of negative developer, you would get around 400 ISO and excessive contrast and grain.

[Brian Pritchard]

Apologies, I hit the send button too soon!

 

The main problem is that B/W processes are not controlled the same way that colour processes are controlled. Each lab controls its process to its own standard using a developer formula that thy have modified.

 

When features were being shot on B/W the cameraman would always do gamma tests with the lab of his choice so that they could both be sure that they were achieving the required gamma, usually 0.65. This would be followed by exposure tests. One of my first jobs in the Motion Picture Sales department of Kodak Ltd was to allocate batches of stock to productions when they had used up their current batch. This was to ensure that they received a batch that had similar gamma and speed to the one they had been using. Every batch was slightly different and might react slightly differently to the particular developer the lab was using.

 

With colour stocks it is essential to make sure that each layer receives the correct development time to avoid crossed curves; pink highlights and green shadows for example. Kodak ensure that every process is as close to aim as possible by checking processes with interlab surveys. This did not happen with B/W processes; in addition there were B/W negative films made by at least half a dozen manufacturers which all reacted differently to the developer formula.

Brian