Ilfochromes at home

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I didn't see anything here about this, and I was kinda surprised, so maybe I missed it somewhere. Apparently a lot of you shoot slide film for color to the point of not using color negative film at all. I just started shooting slide film, and I gotta admit, it looks great on the light table, especially the bigger formats (I'm currently only shooting 645, though I want to get into 4x5 ASAP, but I've seen a friend's 4x5 'chromes, and they're stunning). Anyway, what I'm curious about, is do any of you do your own Ilfochrome printing, and what are your opinions if you do? Is it a huge pain? How about temperature control; is it really picky? Results? I currently do color neg. printing at home, tho it's enough of a pain that I've been farming it out to a local lab whenever I feel a need for proof prints (This is at the request of the model/client, since contacts are good enough for me). So, I'm more or less set for the Ilfochrome process except for the paper and chemistry. I'll cut this short before I ramble too much, I'm just looking for the opinions of people with experience in this area. Thanx much, Brad

-- Brad Daniels (mrspeed@prairienet.org), September 10, 1998

Answers

I shoot chromes in 35mm and 4x5, and while I dont do my own Ilfochromes, I have a friend who does them for me, so I know it is doable. He is able to do up to 16x20 at his home. He uses a spare bedroom, and I dont think his setup is particularly special, as far as temp control and the like.

-- Ron Shaw (shaw9@llnl.gov), September 10, 1998.

Go for it. Ilfochrome material has extreme latitude, so be sure to make *large* corrections. Temp control is relatively easy because of the moderate temp required (75 F). It's designed to be foolproof for the beginner yet fine enough for the advanced worker. Good stuff. Brilliant colors without garish contrast. Highly recommended!

-- Peter Hughes (leonine@redshift.com), September 10, 1998.

Be careful with the Ilfochrome chemicals. They are toxic and caustic. Even a lot of pro labs don't like to deal with them.

-- Philip Greenspun (philg@mit.edu), September 18, 1998.

Good point. I have been using Ilfo(Ciba)chrome at home for over ten years with no porblems, BUT be as careful with the devoloper as you would any devoloper and twice as careful with the bleach (the fixer is no problem). When you are done, mix all the chemicals together to neutralize them (the instructions say all this--READ). It's a little high on contrst, but for the right transparency this can even be an advantage. If you want the colors to last almost forever get the expensive (plastic) paper.

-- Steve Pfaff (spfaff@hrl.com), September 21, 1998.

Be careful with the Ilfochrome chemicals. They are toxic and caustic. Even a lot of pro labs don't like to deal with them.

-- Philip Greenspun (philg@mit.edu), September 18, 1998.

Good point. I have been using Ilfo(Ciba)chrome at home for over ten years with no porblems, BUT be as careful with the devoloper as you would any devoloper and twice as careful with the bleach (the fixer is no problem). When you are done, mix all the chemicals together to neutralize them (the instructions say all this--READ). It's a little high on contrst, but for the right transparency this can even be an advantage. If you want the colors to last almost forever get the expensive (plastic) paper. -- Steve Pfaff (spfaff@hrl.com), September 21, 1998.

Whoa. Ilfochrome P30 developer is really no different than many B&W developers. It contains phenidone, K bromide, hydroquinone, sulfite, K carbonate, and tiny quantities of other stuff. Not that you should drink it, mind you. The bleach is the nasty one. I dont know whats in the P3 developer though, and thats what labs use. But labs also use the P3 bleach, which is even nastier than the P30.

If you mix your own 2-bath developer, you can avoid all of the temperature control hassles within a reasonable temp range. Just adjust your time for blix and fix accordingly. This has made ilfos so much easier-no more spending 20 minutes getting chemicals up to or down to temp. I just walk in and start printing.

-- Wayne (wsteffen@mr.net), April 03, 2000.



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