[LargeFormat] Plus-X

[Skip Roessel]

I'm a big fan of Plus-X and was disappointed to hear it's being
discontinued.  Went down to B&H Photo (in NYC) today to stock up and for
the time being they still have some inventory, so I bought 3 boxes for
my freezer ($138 a box of 100 in 5x7).  It's dated 2/04, so anyone that
likes this film might want to act sooner rather than later.

I've used this film two years out of date in RolloPyro at EI 80 with no
fog problem, and has moisture-proof packaging in the box, 4 packets of
25, so I can shoot it for a while. I might grab some Ektapan while the
getting is good, if I have any money left by the end of the year.

The Elke 100 looks similar but I suspect the Plux-X is sharper, although
I've not done a scientific test shooting the same material.  4x5
shooters in particular might want to lay in a supply.

Skip Roessel
skiproessel@mindspring.com

Richard Knoppow wrote:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Stuart Phillips" <stuart.phillips@rcn.com>
> To: <largeformat@f32.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2002 7:59 PM
> Subject: Re: [LargeFormat] Anyone Home???
>
> > Richard, another amazing answer that goes in the "keeper"
> file. Thanks for
> > your erudition.
> >
>   Thank you.
>   I think perhaps some of the differences seen in old
> photographs come from the characteristic curves of the
> films. In looking over the published curves from Kodak and
> Ansco/Agfa I find that the "portrait" films had upswept
> curves, the general purpose films had either straight short
> or medium toe with fairly long straight lines. In practice
> the difference is in the reproduction of mid gray tones vs:
> highlights and shadows. Very long toe or upswept films
> reproduce mid grays darker than straight line films where
> the same shadow and highlight points are chosen for
> printing.
>   Most modern films are relatively short toe, relatively
> long straight line types. The notable exceptions are Tri-X
> and Plus-X sheet films. Plus-X has now been discontinued but
> Tri-X is still being made. Kodak Ektapan also had an upswept
> curve. I think this type of curve may be helpful in
> producing certain effects in portraits where one wants to
> exagerate skin texture for instance. I've also used Plus-X
> to good effect on some seascapes where the characteristic
> exagerates white caps and clouds.
>   Until some years ago one could also obtain orthochromatic
> films. The lack of red sensitivity changes skin tone
> reproduction. I think the use of ortho film with upswept
> characteristic was what Karsch used for his male character
> portraits. One can see a definite difference in overall tone
> reproduction in his portraits of women. I suspect there he
> used panchromatic film, perhaps with straighter line D-logE
> to brighten the mid tones, including sking tone.
>   Of course there were also lighting differences and the use
> of makeup on women, but the difference in tonal reproduction
> can also be seen in backgrounds and clothing.
>   I think the main differences in modern vs: old photographs
> may be more technique than material, however, there is
> certainly a smaller choice of material for B&W now than,
> say, thirty or more years ago.
>   I think it may be possible to get something of the effect
> of ortho film by using a suitable cyan filter but probably
> not exactly the same.
>   The use of multi coated vs: uncoated lenses is often
> attributed with the differences but I suspect that it
> doesn't account for it, at least not entirely. Remember that
> much old portrait work was done with lenses like Goerz
> Dagors, which don't have much flare. Although lens flare can
> approximate a long toe by reducing the contrast of the
> shadows it has little if any effect on highlight contrast,
> so I don't think this is the answer.
>   As before, I would like some specific description of the
> effect wanted since I am at this point just guessing.
>
> ---
> Richard Knoppow
> Los Angeles, CA, USA
> dickburk@ix.netcom.com
>
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