What darkroom material can make black-and-white transparent prints for backlighting?
Asked 5/3/2019
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I’m trying to find the darkroom material I used in college to make black-and-white transparent prints that could be backlit. It was processed with the normal developer, stop, and fixer workflow. I’m looking for an analog darkroom option rather than inkjet or digital media. Is there still a material available for making B&W transparencies from negatives with an enlarger?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
7y ago
2 Answers
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Chances are the material you used is no longer made. However you could just use film, assuming you are working from negs with an enlarger in the normal way. In particular if you can find an orthochromatic sheet film this would be suitable. Ilford make one which is available in sheets up to 8x10 generally and 10x12 by special order. Because it's orthochromatic it can be handled under (dim) red safelighting so it's not a complete pain to use. It will probably be very fast compared to paper, but it is designed for copying, so it's reasonably slow (they quote ISO 80: I'm not sure what paper speeds are, but I suspect significantly lower than that).
It's going to be an expensive experiment.
Originally by user82065. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user82065
7y ago
0
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The specific material you used may no longer be made. For a darkroom-made black-and-white transparency, the closest practical option mentioned is sheet film rather than paper.
One approach is to use orthochromatic sheet film with an enlarger. Ilford makes ortho sheet film, and because it’s orthochromatic it can be handled under dim red safelight, which makes darkroom use easier than fully panchromatic film. It will be much faster than paper, so exposure times and handling will differ.
Another material mentioned is Kodak Fine Grain Positive Film 7302 in 8x10, which is a true B&W positive/transparency film. However, it may only be available as expired stock from secondary sources.
So, if you want a current analog route, sheet film—especially ortho film for easier darkroom handling—is likely your best bet, though it may take some experimentation.
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