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- FIRST REPORT ON EKTAR FILMS
-
- In this final lecture on Ektar, we will discuss gas
- hypersensitization, and applications for comet photography, and the
- final conclusion on these films.
-
- Hypering Ektar films.
-
- Many astrophotographers may wish to shorten the time required at
- the guide scope further by gas hypersensitizing thier film. Ektar
- films respond very well to hypering, using the standard mixture of
- 92% nitrogen, and 8% hydrogen. We used a Lumicon Model 300 hyper
- kit, however with similar setups you can use the following numbers
- as starting points. It should be noted however that with the Ektar
- 1000 emulsion, a slightly bluish cast will be introduced into the
- background color by the hypering process.
-
- Suggested Gas Hypersensitizing Times for Ektar Films:
- Ektar 25.........16 hours, 50 deg C, 1psi, 8x
- Ektar 125........12 hours, 50 deg C, 1psi, 6x
- Ektar 1000.......10 hours, 50 deg C, 1psi, 2x
-
- Exposure times for Ektar films:
-
- For hypered Ektar 25, 10mins @ f/1.4, 20mins at f/2, 40 mins at
- f/2.8, and 80 mins at f/4.
-
- For hypered Ektar 125, 8mins at f/1.4, 16mins at f/2, 32mins at
- f/2.8, and 64 mins at f/4.
-
- For Unhypered Ektar 1000, 3mins at f/1.4, 6mins at f/2, 12mins at
- f/2.8, 24 mins at f/4.
-
- For Hypered Ektar 1000, 1.5 mins at f/1.4, 3 mins at f/2, 6 mins
- at f/2.8, and 12 mins at f/4.
-
- A Comet Film.
-
- As recently as a few weeks back, we did extensive testing of the
- Ektar 1000 on a few comets. Comets Austin, and Cernis-Kiuchi-
- Nakamura were photographed with this emulsion unhypered with two
- instruments, a 14 inch f/5 newtonian, and a 6 inch f/3.6 schmidt
- newtonian. This film is FAST in short exposures, in fact on both
- comets a sky blue color was recorded beautifuly, especially in
- Comet CKN. In a ten minute exposure for example, I shot CKN with
- the 14 inch and recorded details right down to sky fog limit. The
- comets rapid motion did not allow exposures from exceeding this
- duration or the image would be a blurred streak on the film.
-
- Comet Austin revealed a broad fan tail with the Meade 622 schmidt
- newtonian. The relatively fine grain of this emulsion also
- revealed fine structure in the tail edges in the form of curving
- rays. This is the color film I am recomending for this comet. I
- hope that I can relay this information to you in time for you to
- use it on Austin as well as future comets.
-
- Conclusion.
-
- There is an Ektar film for many different aspects of
- astrophotography. One can choose the 25 speed for high resolution
- telephoto and schmidt shots or contrasty planetary work. The 125
- speed Ektar has low contrast, but an extended latitude of exposure
- making it suitable for detailed lunar and deep sky photography of
- bright objects. And finally, the Ektar 1000 is a new vista for the
- astrophotographer with galaxies, open clusters and reflection
- nebulae in mind. Each film is very different, but all have
- applications for the amateur astrophotographer.