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Using Kodak Aerographic 2645 Film

3/5/2018

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I am enjoying trying out an assortment of TLRs that make 4x4 images on 127 film. But I am not keen to pay about £12 per roll of film, especially as some of these first trials are more likely to produce lists of problems to fix, than artistic pictures.
​
In the back of a cupboard I find several rolls of Kodak Aerographic film, 240mm wide and 20m long. Packed in an amazing cassette, like a 35mm cassette but huge. If cut down to 610mm long and 46mm wide, that is really a huge number of 127 films, just for the trouble of cutting it up and sticking to the backing paper of used rolls of 127, or even backing paper from 120 suitably cut down and marked with frame numbers by hand.
Picture
This is the film I am using - a sealed box just opened. Made in 1990 and used in 2018, and not kept refrigerated, so will it be OK? And how to use it? The web contains almost nothing about this particular Kodak film, though there is plenty on other varieties, most of which seem to have extended red and reduced blue sensitivity; a bit like having a yellow filter on the lens, permanently?

​After a preliminary trial of developing conditions, I fixed on 8 minutes at 20°C in Gainer's Ascorbate developer, something I have using a lot recently. Here is a result:
Picture
Exposed at 50ASA in this case. Exposing at 200ASA produced a less dense but quite usable negative, so this film has good latitude. Taken with a Koni-Omega Rapid using Aerographic film hand-cut down to 60mm wide and mounted on recycled 120 backing paper.

​How does it compare for resolution with other films? I have not done a comprehensive survey, but here is an example:
Picture
Kodak Aerographic - detail scan from the previous picture. Little grain, excellent definition!
Picture
HP5+ in Rodinal - admittedly not expected to be the sharpest of the bunch, but I happen to have the same scene taken a day earlier with the same camera. Same magnification. Big big grain.

Conclusion so far - very promising, and the film is still excellent after 28 years of cupboard storage. I shall be taking some 127 pictures soon!
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    Reflected

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  • Home
  • Reflected
  • Gallery 1
  • Gallery 2
  • Techniques
    • Nikon D70 Macro
    • Rodenstock Imagon
    • Budget Fisheye
    • Slit Scanning
  • PhotoHistory
    • Lectures
    • Mizuno
    • 35TLR
  • Restoration
    • Fotochrome
    • Gami-16
    • Graphic 35
    • Karma-Flex
    • Kirk Stereo
    • Komaflex-S
    • Leatherwork
    • Lens Caps
    • Megoflex
    • Panorascope
    • Pressmaster
    • QRS Kamra
    • Walz Automat
    • Watkins Darkroom Clock
  • Harmonograph
  • Fractals
  • Contact