Hi:

I just ordered the Photospeed Lith starters kit to give this technique a try. To create the most usefull negatives, I narrowed down my selection of film to Ilford SFX. Any comments how to use this film optimal, with the purpose of lith printing ? The Massive Developers Chart doesn't mention XTOL (my favorite developer). Instead I would use Rodinal. Other suggestions ? Thx, Marc.

-- Marc Leest (mmm@n2photography.com), September 19, 2000

Answers

I tried SFX and developed it in Ilfotec HC 1+31 as recommended in Ilford's data sheet. I set my external meter at ISO 50 and shot through a #29 filter. If you have tried Kodak's High Speed Infrared, SFX may come as a disappointment. The IR effect is not very pronounced. If you want really dramatic results, use real infrared film.

Anyway, you need not limit your lith printing to infrared negatives. Any negative is fine for lith printing, no matter if it's a contrasty one or a soft one, as lith prints can be controlled to give you any grade between less than 00 and more than 6 or even 7.

-- Thomas Wollstein (thomas_wollstein@web.de), September 20, 2000.

If I remember right, I used Xtol at 68F for 6 or 6-1/2 minutes.

Personally, I have found this film to be just as good as Konica IR. I have had excellent effects with the B+W 092 (Wrattan 29) filter.

-- Brian C. Miller (brian.c.miller@gte.net), September 20, 2000.