Response to Alternative to Xtol

Tim, LED is a good idea, since you can finetune them in accordance with the sensitation gaps of the emulsion and it would even work on colour nicely that way. On the other hand: Pre- postflash does not fog a film if done correctly, since the exposure stays under the threshold. It also does not affect overal contrast rendition, only shadow rendition. Highlights and midtones are virtually unaffected. The opposite is true for positive flashing: Only highlights are affected, midtones and shadows stay more or less the same. The method you describe is just a very clever way to apply this flashing, a way that should be pursued further. I do not see why manufacturers of SLR cameras should not incorporate this. Flashing is for example used in slide duplicating. Bowens uses a glass sheet to creat flare (= fog), Multiblitz uses a fiber optics to channel light into the bellows. You see, there are various ways to do it, but someone has to find workable ways to use it. The xray machine may be a little extreme, but if someone has easy access to one, this certainly is a more than practicable way. A friend of mine for example is working in a building were he has to go through a security check every day. If I should need high speed film (which I rarely do for my work) then I would surely send him a parcel of film to take through several times. Other people may have to find different solutions.

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