# Ortho Film



## Allen (Dec 7, 2010)

Has anyone used it?  I'm thinking about buying a box of 25 sheets of 8 x 10 and enlarging some 6x6 negatives.

If I buy the Ilford Ortho, should I develop it in pyro or will DDX work well enough not to put up with the hassle of pyro?

Many thanks,

--A


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## ann (Dec 7, 2010)

allen,

are you going to use these for vdb"s?

I only ask , as i have a student who has been using a product from the Photo Warehouse . She exposes the negative as if it film is paper and then develops it in LPD, a regular paper developer.

When we first order the stuff i thought it was the usual type that produced a print and then you had to contact print it again to reverse the image. Image my surprise when it is the negative. Was a bit mind bending.  

She has been doing a lot of cyanotypes with the negatives and a few VDB, but it is working and isn't expensive and easy.

the only down side has been long exposure times.


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## Allen (Dec 7, 2010)

Years ago I shot a handful of rolls of a monochromatic slide film.  It may have been positively developed TMX; I'm not sure, I didn't process it. 

That is indeed my plan.  
I have some 6x6 negatives I've scanned and I want to compare prints made from Pictorico negatives to real ones and see how much I'm loosing in the inkjet printer. And there is the want to make images entirely by moving atoms with photons. 

I also have am 8x10 pinhole camera and am going to pick up a pack of HP5 to run through it--partly why I wish to know pyro v. DDX.


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## ann (Dec 7, 2010)

ok, i have never used DDX, but years ago for my personal work i started using Pryocat hd even for 35mm and up. At that time several people thought i was crazy but it worked even if it was meant for LF negatives.

Are you using any specific software to convert digital files into negatives? There are several options.  We used Mark Nelson's Pecision Negatives, printed them on Pictorico and believe it or not on Kirkland glossy (cheap paper from Costco.) Contact printed them on silver gelatin paper and it was jaw dropping.

There really isn't any difference in process but a difference in densities of the substrate to be used for the negative.


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## Allen (Dec 7, 2010)

I'm using CS4 for my digital manipulation. 

I've made a few contact prints from Pictorico onto Ilford Multi-grade 4 and was impressed.
Got me thinking, could I make a RGB negative rather than a grayscale and dial in the yellow and magenta into the negative itself?

Usually with Ilford film I prefer to cook it in Ilford chemistry.  I've never developed it with pyro, so...

Off to B&H to start pricing pyro, and doing more experiments.


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## Allen (Dec 8, 2010)

ann said:


> We used Mark Nelson's Pecision Negatives...



Just ordered this.


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## ann (Dec 8, 2010)

My eyes glazed over a bit , but a friend had used it and was a big help.

Just be patience and take your time with the process.


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## Allen (Dec 8, 2010)

By the way, I'm going with DDX to develop the ortho; mostly because I have gallons of the stuff and I need to use it.


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