In praise of Konica 750

[Sid Barras <sbarris@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all,
I'm fairly new to IR, and to this list, but I've done about 20 rolls of
each variety now (Kodak HIE in 35mm, Maco in 120, Konica in 120) and I
think it's time to say out loud the things I've found.

Kodak is neat, it allows me to bracket heavily and therefore always get
the right exposure. (I like it at ISO 40 with an 89B filter, souped in D
76. both stock and 1:1 work fine) BUT, it's too grainy for anything
larger than 8 x 10 for me personally, and since my inclination is fine
art photography and great big fine art prints, it's not suitable for me.

Maco I'm still trying to figure out. It has great potential, but I still
have trouble getting consistent results. (I'm recently using ISO 6 with
89B filter, and ISO 20 with Red # 29; D 76 soup)
does anyone have a formula they've locked into concerning ISO, filter
and developer combinations that gives them consistent results?

Konica is my favorite. And really, I started out with this stuff in
third place, because I thought since it would have the least "wood
effect" of all three films, I would like it the least. but after said
number of rolls of film gone by, I truly love the prints I'm getting.

I live in South Louisiana, and my scenics have been bayous and swamps,
cypress trees with spanish moss, stagnant ponds with duckweed, huge live
oaks with gnarly trunks. My prints are sort of the George Rodrigue (The
blue dog guy) in negative. All his paintings are predominantly black.
And my prints are showing the dark foliage of the swamps as white.

The Konica gives me beautiful 6 cm x 6 cm negs that are very easy to
print and I've gone to 16 x 20 (the limit of my enlarging equipment)
with no sign of fuzziness in the areas in focus. 

(My equipment: a second or third hand old Kowa 6 and either a 85 or 150
lens. Very bargain basement stuff, but amazingly capable, given the
price I paid for the outfit: less than $600, and I got lots of
accessories as well. This is typical for the Kowa stuff too. Check ebay
and see, if you're looking for medium format stuff. But I digress. This
probably needs a separate post.)

Though the film doesn't give that Halo effect like Kodak, the wood
effect is still quite pronounced, and I get images that are tack sharp
and grainless, and I dare say they are as grainless as my Tmax 100
images. (well maybe I exaggerate, but not much.)

Anyway, from my limited experience, and my point of view, you can't beat
Konica's IR.

I would love comments and further discussion on this subject. And I hope
to upload some of my pics very soon, so I can show supporting evidence
for this wonderful film. (Just gotta find some time. The wife and I have
seven kids, (Yes, we've found the cause, and it's name is "Catholicism")
and we're very busy all the time. 

Holiday greetings to all,
Sid B
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