LOW CONTRAST KODACHROME

[Greg Crawford]

Via email, I am trying to talk Dewaynes Lab into offering a flashing service for Kodachrome. I have been in contact with Dewaynes lab trying to see if they would be interested in offering a flashing service for Super 8 clients. Right now I am dealing with the person who checks Email, probably a secretary."

Jenny Gartner,

>what is flashing?

It's a controlled fogging of the film to add density to the shadows and bring down the overall contrast level. The problem for people shooting in Super 8 is the negative color films stocks have to much grain. Kodachrome has very fine grain is much to contrasty for professional looking transfers to video. A couple of film user groups I am involved in are looking for a way to get a low contrast solution. In 16 mm it would not be a problem since the film is so much bigger grain becomes less of an issue. And anyone wanting to "Flash" the film could do so just by running the film thought the camera a second time exposing it to a gray card at 3 to 5 stops under the main exposure. (We still need to test and find out how much fog to add) But with Super 8 their is no way to rewind the film and re-expose it to create the fog exposure.Hope this helps. If you can bring your lab manager or Executives on like on this issue. This service might really set your lab apart!

Sincerely"

[rcroster]

I know very little about the chemistry involved in developing K-40 but some labs used to offer a chemical treatment of 16mm and larger film stocks (not K-40) to effectively produce the same effect as flashing. Perhaps a chem-tone process is possible to K-40 as well, I don't know, but if possible it seems to me that going this route would require far less handling by the lab and would help keep costs down. In my alternative universe, the best option would be pre-flashed Kodachrome or K-40PF (or perhaps K-40LC would be a better designation). Wouldn't that be wonderful! Oh well, back to bed for some more nice dreams. Well not quite yet. What about Low Contract Filters? Does anyone have any experience using these while shooting K-40?

[rcroster]

Ahem, "Low Contrast Filters" pardon my typo.

[Roget]

Jenny Gartner is Dwayne's Kodachrome chemist. She's probably the only person there you would want to talk to about flashing film-especially for chemical processes.

She's posted to this board before.

[Greg Crawford]

Thanks Roger,

I did not know Jenny Gartner was a chemist, when I placed this post. I did not mean any disrespect.

I have since been informed that there is a chemical fogging agent they may also work in place of low levels of light.

Like you say, Kodachrome could be on the way out, but what do you think of a low contrast Kodachrome solution as a quick fix?

[8th Man]

Since we're limited in the amount of backwinding we can do with a cartridge, have you considered doing this with normal 8 or double super 8, where you can run the film through the cam as many times as you want?

[Matt Pacini]

I'd be a little worried about having someone post-flash my film, who didn't even know what it was!

There's no easy way to pre-flash K-40 S8, because you'd have to get it out of the cartridges, flash it, then get it back in, which would be pretty much impossible.

My idea, (which is on the back-burner behind my 50 other projects going on), was to put a tiny tungsten light inside the camerabehind a diffusing screen, with a pot on the camera to control it's brightness, to flash the film inside the camera while shooting.

You know how they always tell you to either keep your eye on the viewfinder, or close the viewfinder while shootng, to keep from fogging your film?
Well, ladies and gentlemen, that is called pre-flashing!!!!!!
Same thing.
The problem is, it's uncontrolled - you don't know if it's too much or too little, and would vary within the shoot, if you're mving the camera.
My thought was to put the light inside the viewfinder chamber somehow, but this is delicate work, and would require LOTS of testing.

Matt

[MovieStuff]

Years ago I created a special matte box for a photographer that had a piece of glass at a 45 degree angle pointing up and a piece of opal glass above. This was used to "preflash" the reversal stock for better printing. He would place different layes of ND material above the opal glass and could see the amount of flashing through the viewfinder. It actually worked pretty darned good and was very simple to use. I've often considered making one for super 8 cameras but, frankly, have had zero time to do much of anything other than attend to business. But it does work and would work for Super 8 K40 perfectly, I'm sure.

Roger