This is a website that tells you how to make a simple device that allows you to scan transparencies on a reflective only flat bed scanner. http://www.abstractconcreteworks.com/essays/scanning/Backlighter.html This site may have been posted here some time ago here by someone else. Also as George said, Farmers reducer can work wonders, if you are careful. One way to work is not to mix the Hypo and Potassium Ferrocynide but to use the a diluted P.F. solution first to bleach your neg to printable densities and then fix it in hypo. If you over bleach you can always redevelop the negative in your favorite developer in daylight as long as it has not come into contact with fixer(hypo) and try again. Keep in mind that the negative will become a little less dense when fixing so it is best underbleach a touch.
In a message dated 8/23/01 11:20:40 AM Eastern Daylight Time, pinhole-discussion-request@p at ??????? writes: << --- Benjamin Privitt <five...@hotmail.com> wrote: > Hi folks, > > This question may have more to do with general darkroom procedure rather > than being specifically pinhole-oriented, but here goes. I have very dense > negatives from a Zero 2000. These are outdoor, full sunlight images on a > variety of films that have lots of detail, and lots of grain. My previous > experiments with filters and high contrast paper have wiped out the images > altogether (which speaks to the experimental stage I'm in with my darkroom > technique, perhaps). And scanning has yielded a grainy white blob where the > exposure was. Does anyone have experience processing high density > negatives, and bringing out more contrast and detail? When I expose Kodak Infrared at EI50, I get very dense, grainy negatives (this is what I am looking for). Printing is simply a matter of exposing the paper for a longer period of time (my exposures can run up to 15 minutes with the enlarger lens wide open). Also, using a fast paper (like Forte Warmtone) can help. If you do not want dense, grainy negatives, simply reduce your exposure time. It sounds to me like you simply need to do some testing. I don't know what film you are using, but set your camera on a tripod and make an exposure 1 sec, 2 secs, 4 secs, 8 secs, etc. Develop the film and print EVERY frame - even the ones you know are not going to work for you. This will give you an idea as to what the film within that particular camera can do. If you are still getting dense negatives on every frame, and you are sure that you are developing the film as per the manufacturer's instructions, then you will need to use a slower film. I would suggest TMX, or at the extreme, Tech Pan. If your existing film is important and really cannot be printed, you could always try some judicious use of Farmer's Reducer, though you'll want to be very careful with this (if the film is not important, then using this soup as a test will be valuable later on). Cheers - george >>
