Agfa Scala was a wonderful, ISO 200 black-and-white slide film that was produced about 25 years ago. Scala had an amazing tonal range with rich blacks and lovely highlight detail. If there was a downside to shooting Scala, it was that there was only one lab in the US that would process Scala—Duggal Color Labs, in New York City. Luckily, I worked down the street from Duggal so, for me, it wasn’t a hardship.
Then digital technology bulldozed the business and like many films, Scala became a thing of the past, and instead of shooting black-and-white film, we began converting RGB files to monochrome and made the best of the situation.
A few months ago, I was having a discussion with my co-worker, Jill Waterman, about Agfa Scala, which she enjoyed shooting, too. During the conversation, she told me about a fellow named David Wood, a photographer / photographic chemist who has taken the concept of black-and-white reversal film to a whole new dimension. It seems Wood also liked shooting monochrome, and this was part of the reasoning behind his quest to perfect the art and craft of black-and-white reverse-film processing.
Photographs ©2017 Allan Weitz
Dr5-CHROME
Wood's process—dr5 CHROME, which he began tinkering with as early as 1989, is a fifth-generation process designed specifically for processing black-and-white negative film as monochrome transparencies and slides. Basing his experimentation on black-and-white reversal processes like those used in the production of early Hollywood movies, the black-and-white transparencies produced by Wood’s dr5 CHROME process contain greater dynamic range and sharper detail compared to the same films developed conventionally as black-and-white negatives.
According to Wood, E-6 slide films (Ektachrome, Fujichrome, and other films ending with the suffix “–chrome”) have dynamic ranges of about 5 stops. Black-and-white films developed as transparencies via the dr5 CHROME process can display up to 10 stops of latitude, which is one of the reasons I personally became so intrigued by the dr5 process—the tonality is simply stunning.
The terms “transparencies” and “slides” are interchangeable. The difference is that the term “slide” is reserved for 35mm reversal images, while “transparency” is a blanket term for all reversal-film formats.
Using a custom-designed Tecnolab film processor, Wood’s first black-and-white reversal processing line was partnered with A&I Color Lab, in Los Angeles, in 1998. About a year later, he flipped coasts and opened his own lab, on West 38th Street, in Manhattan. This move was followed, in 2005, with a move to Denver, Colorado, which in turn was followed by a move, in 2016, to the lab’s current location, Stuart, Iowa.
Wood’s dr5 CHROME process is compatible with a number of easily obtainable roll and sheet films from Kodak (Tri-X-320, Tri-X-400, T-Max-100, and T-Max-400), Ilford (FP4, Delta 100, Delta 400, Delta 3200, HP5, PanF 50, and
Exposing Black-and-White Negatives for Reversal Processing
Wood has invested much time and effort into establishing optimum exposure settings for each of the recommended film stocks, along with recommendations regarding how far you can pull or push each of the films. Some films can be exposed using the films’ indicated ISO rating, while others require higher or lower ISO ratings for optimal results. The best film for push/pull processing is Kodak Tri-X (TX and TXP), which can be exposed ISOs 100 to 1000. (According to Wood, Kodak Tri-X “sings” when rated at ISO 100-125.)
Pushing the ISO increases contrast, while pulling the ISO sensitivity decreases contrast. It’s also worth noting that a new variation of Scala is available from Adox, and its characteristics are reportedly very close to the original film.
To add a dash of drama into my images, I used an orange filter on some of my earlier rolls of film, which Wood immediately picked up on and admonished me for. Rather than filters, a better way of increasing (or decreasing) contrast is by adjusting ISO sensitivities.
One of the beauties of the dr5 process is that every film has a unique look and, by making small adjustments to your exposures, one can create many “looks” or film signatures to match the mood of your photographs. Best of all, Wood is extremely accessible and eager to help. As he puts it, “All I do is keep the line steady, so six months from now, the results are the same.” As a photographer, these are comforting words.
Something users must keep in mind when computing exposure times is that, unlike negative film, which you expose for the shadows, when shooting reversal films you must expose for the highlights, be they traditional E-6 films or black-and-white negative films processed by dr5 CHROME.
It’s also worth noting that your film can be processed in a choice of two tones using the dr-5 process—neutral monochrome or sepia.
Cameras and Lenses
The photographs accompanying this article were exposed and processed per the recommendations found on the dr5 CHROME website. The cameras I used included a Hasselblad Superwide with a (fixed) 38mm Zeiss Biogon, a Leica MD-2 with a 21mm Zeiss Biogon, and a Nikkormat FT-2 with 55mm and 200mm Micro-Nikkor lenses. I used a Sekonic L-308B light meter to take light readings, and all exposure settings were set manually.
The 35mm slides were scanned using a Nikon Super Coolscan 4000 ED. The medium-format transparencies were scanned on an Epson Perfection V850 Pro scanner.
Fort Hancock, Sandy Hook, New Jersey
The location of the accompanying photographs is Fort Hancock. Located at the northernmost tip of the Jersey Shore, at Sandy Hook, the origins of the fort date back to 1857. Parts of the fort were designed by a then-young Captain Robert E. Lee, of the Army Corps of Engineers. Hancock was an active Army base and artillery range until it was decommissioned in 1974. Today, Fort Hancock is part of the National Park Service.
Some of the original batteries were dismantled to make way for newer fortifications, while others were repurposed or modified to accommodate newer armaments. Some are fenced off and others are totally accessible to pedestrian traffic. All of them are fascinating in their own right, and they translate beautifully to monochrome as photographic subjects.
A Few Words about Shooting Film
I enjoy taking pictures with film cameras and digital cameras, and I’ve learned to appreciate the benefits of both media. Digital cameras offer instant gratification. They also offer the user the ability to see in real time whether exposures and color balance are correct. This is truly invaluable when photographing unique or once-in-a-lifetime moments. If there’s a downside to this convenience, it would have to be the loss of anticipation you get when waiting to get the film back from the lab.
Regardless of how long you’ve been taking pictures, and how skilled you are at the craft, not knowing whether you “got” the picture or not, for days or maybe weeks after the fact, can be daunting. The payoff is that if everything comes out as planned, it’s not because you used a terrific, state-of-the-art camera, but because you did everything right up front. And for me, this is a priceless commodity—and part of the fun of shooting film that I doubt I would ever want to relinquish.
To learn more about shooting and processing black-and-white negative film as transparencies, visit the dr5-CHROME website.
Have you been shooting black-and-white transparencies or slides? Drop us a line—we’d like to hear about your experiences below, in the Comments section.
