Kodak Infrared - quick question

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Hello,

I need a quick recommendation from those in the know. On the weekend I need to shoot and develop a roll of 35mm Kodak HIE infrared film. I usually develop it in D-76. However, the only developers available to me this weekend are T-Max and PMK Pyro. I'd like to hear from anyone with experience or recommendation regarding ISO, developing times etc. in these two developers. Is PMK advisable? I did a basic internet search and got some information but would like to hear about personal experiences.

Thank you in advance.

-- Tim (Timothy_Bolotnikoff@justice.qld.gov.au), January 11, 2000

Answers

Tim: I use HIE all of the time and the best results I have acheived to date is: shutter speed 1/125@f16, use a #25 red filter, focus as sharp as you can and shoot away, it is best in a sunny day with the sun behind you. I develope in Tmax dev 1:4 at 68* for 6.5 minutes. Slowly agitate every minute for 10 sec (remember, you are developing film, not mixing a martini). The harder the agitation, the courser the grain. I have enlarged to 16x20 with little grain. Fix & wash as any other film. Don't panic when you pull the film off of the reel, the apparent sludge on the film will go away with drying. This is for 35mm HIE, for 4x5 I meter at ISO 50 and HC110 Dev. Good luck!!! Problems? Email me, I teach photography.

-- Tom Barrett (tjbarrett@mindspring.com), January 16, 2000.

Thanks Tom for the T-Max info.

I ended up developing the film in PMK Pyro - ISO 200, 20 minutes at 20 degrees C. Agitation - 5 seconds every 30. The film turned out fine, except for some negative spots that are attributable to another source.

Tim

-- Tim Bolotnikoff (bolotnik@hotmail.com), January 16, 2000.


the agitation IS VERY IMPORTANT, I tried it in two occasions, by treating the HIE as TMX 100 tmax 1:4 8@68, the rolls were shot nearly identicaly (including subject matter) and the first one was gently serenaded (yes I love my reels) then I beat the stuffing out of the second one and wow! "!!!agitate aggressively for poor pics!!!" tmax 1:4 8@68 is wrong, but for the sake of argument, the second roll looked like TMZ pushed to 6400ISO unless you like mosaic photos, treat HIE like your wife, lovingly...

Jason

-- Jason Tuck (jtuck80@csi.com), November 18, 2000.


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