In article <C1KzKz.9Gp@comp.vuw.ac.nz> jenny@gphs.vuw.ac.nz (Jenny Rollo) writes:
>I saw some wonderful pictures the other day which were solely black and white, with no tones of grey. I understand there is a special type of film (line film?) which is used to make these sorts of contrast pictures. Could anyone tell me what type of film this is and whether I can use it on a 35mm camera please? I would also be interested to know how it is developed.
>
You saw pictures which were made from lithographic film. A common type of this
film is Kodalith Ortho, which is available in 35mm and many other sizes (in-
cluding sheets). It is used extensively in the art and printing industries.
Kodalith Ortho 6556 is available in 35mm 100-foot rolls. If you want it in
individual 35-exp cassettes, ask for Ektagraphic HC film (HCS135-36, Cat. No.
159-8655).
You *could* use this film in your camera, but because its contrast is so high,
the exposure must be very accurate. You would probably want to shoot a test
roll, and bracket your scenes in 1/2-stop increments. Actually, several of the
bracketed shots may look ok, depending upon whether you wanted the highlight
detail or the shadow detail. I would think that you would have more success
in these high-contrast derivations if you made them from ordinary negatives.
For this you would need some sort of film dupicating arrangement (a slide
duplicator or a macro lens). Doing this you would be able to get just the
effect you wanted and not risk a wrong exposure on the original picture.
Obviously, if you start with a negative, the next result would be a positive,
and you would need to make a negative from the positive to make a print.
The litho films are developed in Kodalith Super RT or a similar developer
(there are many brands). Kodak publishes a very good book on High Contrast
Images. Perhaps you would want to buy it or find it in a library.
Good luck.
Ron Speirs, Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp., Salt Lake City, Utah
