Roll Reversal - A Safe Alternative

Many people who know me know that I am all for experimentation with film.  One film I have done excessive amounts of experimentation with is Polypan F.  The one thing I have never done is REVERSAL of it.  I have done reversal with SCALA and Foma 100R (films made for reversal). And lets not forget the Kodak Cinecopy #5363 that I used.  

The one problem with doing Reversals yourself is the harsh chemicals.  Potassium Permaganate is one thing (Found in fish medicine to treat Ich (pronounced Ick)).  The other chemical is Sulfuric Acid.  That is battery acid!  VERY bad chemical to have. It's ... well... acid!  Let's face it Acid is not person friendly, let alone safe and kid friendly!  Those with kids, not the easiest to have these kind of chemicals around.

The other option is to send to Dr5.com, which is a great way to get some absolutely stunning reversals!  However, what if you are not in a place where shipping a roll of film to DR5 is economical... What about doing it yourself without using harsh chemicals... Is there a way?

Apparently there is.  +Kelly-Shane Fuller, who is known for his E3 reversal in modern terms using HC-110 and C-41 to get E3 reversals with more stable colour dyes than the original E3 process...

Well.... lets look at his Chemically Safe B&W Reversal process..
For one, you use Hydrogen Peroxide (available the world over at drug stores) 3% which is as safe as it gets, considering you can pour it over an open wound to clean it out.  The other is Vinegar... Good old fashioned White Vinegar, which is a great thing... You can mix it to make a B&W bleach, or... pour it on your fries....

So he made a 260mL solution...  How?  Let's get into it;

250mL Hydrogen Peroxide 3%
10mL (2 tsp) White Vinegar
Heat to 150°F

So that's it...

Steps required;

Develop Film as normal using your favorite B&W developer...
BLEACH 6 Minutes
Fully Expose to light (take out of the container and off the reel)
Re-Develop to finality (you can reuse your Developer you poured out)
FIX
Wash
Photoflo
Dry

Then you get some beautiful slides!

Kodachrome 64 (Expired) As B&W Slide

Yeah, that's right.  KODACHROME as a slide again! Sadly, no colour, but hey, a Kodachrome slide is something to behold!  Regardless of how it is...

Then there is Polypan F (care of your's truly)... It is absolutely stunning!  I couldn't believe the tonality he got out of itI sent him a few rolls of Polypan F down and he finally got around to trying it out... Man.... Not only did I get him hooked on Polypan (It's an easy thing to do) but he is stunned too over the amazing tonality and look of this film as a reversal.
I'm all for B&W reversal.. And the fact that you can now use a much much MUCH more kid friendly version of the bleach..

Thanks Kelly-Shane Fuller!  

Stay tuned as photos of the film on a light table and under room light to show they are "SLIDES" will be posted later..

Can't wait to try this process myself!!
So until next time... Let's keep those shutters firing!

All images were used with permission from the original author and are direct linked from his Flickr stream.
Images are protected under International Copyright Law.  Use without permission is strictly prohibited.

B&W Slides - The Easier Method

Recently I've tried making B&W slides using the traditional method of, Develop in a selected developer, such as HC-110, Rodinal, TMAX developer, or whatever other type of developer you want, then bleach in a Potassium Permaganate/Sulfuric Acid mix, fog under light for 60 seconds (or longer) and redevelop using a strong developer like DekTOL stock solution to develop the remaining silver.

The slides were usually okay, but because of the age of the product (probably mostly the clearing agent) the slides weren't the best.  And they are also very very delicate after the bleaching process because of the acid softening the emulsion.

Well, I put a challenge out to +Kelly-Shane Fuller, who I truly hope doesn't mind me stealing his image from Flickr for my own nefarious purposes, to use his HC-110/C41 developing method to create a B&W slide from Ilford's XP2.

His method is as follows;

HC-110 Dil. B @ 30°C for 12:00
Dump and Stop (water stop/acid stop)
Pull out and expose to light.  (Time is not really important, but you want to make sure it's entirely exposed to light).
Redevelop using C-41 Chemicals at prescribed time and temperature for C-41 developing.
Rinse
BLIX (Bleach/Fix)
Stabilize
and finally...
Dry.

This method is tried and true for creating beautiful colour slides using all manner of E6 films, like Velvia, Provia, Astia, Ektachrome, etc.  (No sorry, K-Chromes will NOT work with this method).

Now before you start commenting on colour stability with CD3 instead of CD4 chemicals, or vice versa, I am, as Kelly-Shane is, well aware of that.  It is not something terribly alarming, and this method is probably used for immediate results, but cannot guarantee longevity of the film's colour stability.

For Ilford's XP2 Super film, it is probably more that adequate for this, considering it is a Chromogenic C-41 film, and there is no colour anyway.

So, what image came up? And what image did you steal?

Actually, I only stole the link, and if you click on it, it will link right back to his FLICKR page, and I give him every bit of credit, and support, on his image.

So here it is...

Oh and before I share it, I want to also mention that he accepted the challenge, and blew my mind with the results he got!
So much that I'm going to accept any donated rolls of Ilford XP2 super that you want to get rid of, as I will happily accept them.

That said, however, if you choose to keep your rolls, I will also be purchasing some and giving this a go myself!

So Ilford XP2 Super 400 Speed C-41 Chromogenic B&W film (35mm film) exposed at box speed using a 1958 Yashica 44 (Sprocket Rocket Special)

"Puff Ball" - By Kelly-Shane Fuller - Yashica 44 - Ilford XP2 Super

So until next time, keep those shutters firing!

Image is owned by Kelly-Shane Fuller, and used solely as a example of his prowess with developing films through unconventional methods.